Falcons: TD was the happiest kid on earth after that FG!

[RFlagg]

I'll be honest, I'm surprised they got video of TD doing this. He's always so calm, cool and collected. I'd read an article about his reaction, and they noted that after a few seconds, TD realized how he had reacted, calmed himself and straightened his suit.

[TeamPlayer1]

(01-15-2013 06:59 PM)Aftermath Wrote:  I don't think that getting rid of a coach that had obviously plateaued with the team (if he went 0-4) would be dumb at all. Sooner or later you have to ask yourself if regular season success is enough without progress in the playoffs. TD pulled Smith out of nowhere, sure he could do it again. I have a feeling that was one of the reasons that they extended Koetter. Not saying that Smith isn't a good coach by any means, but aside from discipline and consistency he doesn't really bring that much to the table. He isn't a Sean Payton, or a BB, or a Harbaugh, he wouldn't be incredibly hard to replace IMO.

Going 0-4 in the playoffs would have been a tremendous setback for this franchise, they have been under tremendous pressure all year and it would have been unbearable next year. If I'm Arthur Blank and my HC goes 0-4 and gets flat out embarrassed in the last 3 I'm going to have to consider whether or not my HC has what it takes to get it done. Of course, its a non issue now so there is really no point in arguing about it. As long as we don't get blown out by the 49ers Smitty should have bought himself another two years at least.

Smith did not plateau and did not go 0-4 so these "supposedly said" talking heads do not apply.

The NFCCG is next week and we shall see what happens. Smitty is secure either way and Matt Ryan will get a Brees size contract.

Choke on that!

[Beef]

(01-15-2013 06:59 PM)Aftermath Wrote:  I don't think that getting rid of a coach that had obviously plateaued with the team (if he went 0-4) would be dumb at all. Sooner or later you have to ask yourself if regular season success is enough without progress in the playoffs. TD pulled Smith out of nowhere, sure he could do it again. I have a feeling that was one of the reasons that they extended Koetter. Not saying that Smith isn't a good coach by any means, but aside from discipline and consistency he doesn't really bring that much to the table. He isn't a Sean Payton, or a BB, or a Harbaugh, he wouldn't be incredibly hard to replace IMO.

Going 0-4 in the playoffs would have been a tremendous setback for this franchise, they have been under tremendous pressure all year and it would have been unbearable next year. If I'm Arthur Blank and my HC goes 0-4 and gets flat out embarrassed in the last 3 I'm going to have to consider whether or not my HC has what it takes to get it done. Of course, its a non issue now so there is really no point in arguing about it. As long as we don't get blown out by the 49ers Smitty should have bought himself another two years at least.

Basing this argument on the 0-4 playoff record is retarded. Teams don't ever go from 3-13 worst in the league record to being in the playoffs 4 of the next 5 years. The fact we did it is beyond extraordinary. Arthur Blank certainly didn't have such an unrealistic expectation when he started this new regime. He was more likely just hoping we would get into the playoffs at all by year 3 or 4. His biggest hope was likely to just get back to back winning seasons for once. So for us to even make it to the playoffs in year 1 far exceeded any expectations. So complaining about 0-3 when it very well would have been acceptable to just make it to 0-1, is absolutely idiotic.

This goes for TD, Smith, and Ryan. If we didn't even make it to the playoffs in 08, but did much better than 3-13, Blank would have been ok with it. Then even if we didn't make it to the playoffs in 09, but had a decent winning record, Blank would have been ok with it. Then if we finally turned in back to back winning seasons yet still no playoffs on 2010, Blank would have been very happy with the obvious year to year improvement and finally getting over that huge hump. His expectations from that point would have been lets get to the playoffs and then next year win a game and hopefully by year 6 be a SB contender. From 3-13 to back to back winning seasons by year 3, to perennial playoff contender by year 4, to perennial SB contender by year 5 or even 6.

THOSE are reasonable expectations. To be mad because we far surpassed anything close to what's typically reasonable or realistic and as a result have this unexpected monicker of 0-3 in the playoffs would be moronic. Aside from Belichick and Brady, Smith and Ryan have the best record in football over the past 5 years. They've broken nearly every record this franchise ever had. They've had 5 straight years of winning records after 40+ previous years of never winning back to back once, twice winning the #1 seed. And are one of only 2 teams to make the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years.

And you actually think Blank would fire any of these guys???? If that happened, it would be the all time dumbest mother fucking blunder of a decision in the history of football. Yeah let's fire a coach because he over-achieved and got too many playoff losses in the process of coaching far above expectations.

Fucking retarded. Sorry, I tried to be civil, but come the fuck on.

[juraitwaluzka]

(01-15-2013 06:42 PM)Aftermath Wrote:  Sound like Guido with the whole "zero chance" schtick though. Wouldn't have been surprised at all if Smith got fired for losing a game after having a 20 point lead in the 4th quarter. Now we will never know one way or another.

It's not a schtick. It's listening to what Arthur Blank has said, observing how he has run his businesses, and using your brain and a little common sense.

Blank has talked time and time again about the importance of consistency with respect to the coaching staff. He references teams like Pittsburgh and New England. He's not going to make a reactionary decision and blow things up over one game, playoff or not.

He's also very aware of the team's history. I've heard him directly reference the poor choice that was made the last time this franchise thought they had plateaued and fired a winning coach. In case you weren't around back then, the Falcons had made the playoffs in 3 of the previous 5 seasons (78, 80, 82), then after losing in the playoffs in 1982 the owners fired Leeman Bennet, the winningest coach at the time and the only coach to have ever taken the team to the playoffs. They said the team had plateaued.

Well, the plateau looked nice in comparison to the cliff that Dan Henning and the second stint of Marion Campell drove us off of. It took damn near a decade before the Falcons saw a winning season or the playoffs. It was without question the darkest era in Falcons history. You replace a coach that was making the playoffs 60% of the time with some that made the playoffs 0% of the time. All because they were impatient and drooled all over the Redskins offensive coordinator.

Absolutely nobody was getting fired if we lost yesterday. Sure, you can say technically that no one knows for sure, but that's just as dumb as the people who were saying that Mike Smith called an onside kick, which in the same sense is technically possible, yet supremely imbecilic.

Blank was not going to forget to take his lithium and do a complete personality 180. It would also make him one of the most insincere and full of shit people out there to go against everything he has publicly preached so many times. And if you have ever had the honor to personally speak with the man you know he is one of the most sincere and genuine people there is. He is also one of the most successful. The path to success is not to fire a coach that is making the playoffs 80% of the time and has never had a losing season.

So, you can look at the evidence and come to the only possible reasonable conclusion or you can get it backwards - the argument that someone was going to get fired is _exactly_ like some of the ridiculous conspiracy stuff that Guido was spewing for a while there.

Quote: If I'm Arthur Blank and my HC goes 0-4 and gets flat out embarrassed in the last 3 I'm going to have to consider whether or not my HC has what it takes to get it done

And this is exactly why he's the billionaire franchise owner and you're not. If he thought like that he would have never gotten to where he is.

[AUTiger7222]

(01-15-2013 06:14 PM)evo Wrote:  http://www.atlantafalcons.com/media-loun...af04d83dc1

Just watch the video, around 2:20. You can see TD was jumping up and down like Fat kid see his candies!

Seeing moments like that reminds me why i go through the BS just to be a Falcon fan

Man was that awesome! I have never had the pleasure of going to a Falcons game but I would die to go to a game, especially a playoff game. That was off the hook! And it's gonna be even crazier this Sunday. Falcons making history baby!

[BC32Falcons513]

Mike smith said the ball was suppose to go somewhere between where it landed and the returner.. Talking about the kickoff after FG.

http://youtu.be/2uZM0jBZfPY

[Aftermath]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/201...-had-lost/

As the Falcons were in the process of blowing a 20-point lead against the Seahawks on Sunday, I wondered aloud on Twitter whether anyone, everyone, or no one would be fired if the Falcons lost.

In the end, the Falcons survived (in case you hadn’t heard). But it remains tempting to wonder what the aftermath in Atlanta would have been if quarterback Matt Ryan hadn’t guided the team into field goal range with the same 31 seconds that were on the clock when the Broncos decided a day earlier to take a knee and go to overtime.

The Falcons, of course, had no choice; they were trailing. And owner Arthur Blank may have felt like he had no choice but to make changes in the wake of five straight winning seasons but four playoff defeats punctuated by the worst fourth-quarter postseason collapse in NFL history.

Dan Patrick has mentioned during his daily radio/TV show that the buzz at the BCS national championship game among folks from Atlanta with the financial wherewithal to attend the game was that, if the Falcons were to lose, Blank would fire coach Mike Smith.

That would have been a bad move. Despite the postseason struggles, the Falcons routinely are knocking on the door. Sooner or later, they’ll kick it in. Or come close to doing so.

The reality is that there’s only one team every year that wins the Super Bowl. It’s much easier to become that team if a team is consistently in contention. The Falcons are, and Smith is a big reason for that.

So apart from the fact that Ryan’s last-minute heroics saved the team’s season, the quarterback may have saved the owner from making what would have been a huge mistake.

[juraitwaluzka]

Drivel.

[Beef]

(01-17-2013 04:41 PM)Aftermath Wrote:  http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/201...-had-lost/

As the Falcons were in the process of blowing a 20-point lead against the Seahawks on Sunday, I wondered aloud on Twitter whether anyone, everyone, or no one would be fired if the Falcons lost.

In the end, the Falcons survived (in case you hadn’t heard). But it remains tempting to wonder what the aftermath in Atlanta would have been if quarterback Matt Ryan hadn’t guided the team into field goal range with the same 31 seconds that were on the clock when the Broncos decided a day earlier to take a knee and go to overtime.

The Falcons, of course, had no choice; they were trailing. And owner Arthur Blank may have felt like he had no choice but to make changes in the wake of five straight winning seasons but four playoff defeats punctuated by the worst fourth-quarter postseason collapse in NFL history.

Dan Patrick has mentioned during his daily radio/TV show that the buzz at the BCS national championship game among folks from Atlanta with the financial wherewithal to attend the game was that, if the Falcons were to lose, Blank would fire coach Mike Smith.

That would have been a bad move. Despite the postseason struggles, the Falcons routinely are knocking on the door. Sooner or later, they’ll kick it in. Or come close to doing so.

The reality is that there’s only one team every year that wins the Super Bowl. It’s much easier to become that team if a team is consistently in contention. The Falcons are, and Smith is a big reason for that.

So apart from the fact that Ryan’s last-minute heroics saved the team’s season, the quarterback may have saved the owner from making what would have been a huge mistake.

LOL, what a pile of magnanimous horse shit.

Dan Patrick heard some "buzz" from "some folks in Atlanta who attended the BCSNC"......

Like who? My next door neighbors are wealthy Bama fans and were at the game. Maybe it was them.

Again, it would have been the most idiotic dumb mother fucking blunder of all idiot blunders to fire Mike Smith for being 0-4 as a result of vastly over-achieving the first few years of this regime.

Can you imagine Arthur Blank doing this: "Hey Mike, I know you're the winningest coach in the history of this franchise and you have more wins in the shortest amount of time and the second most wins overall in the last 5 years out of every other coach in the NFL next to Belicheck, and I know you over-achieved and shouldn't even have sniffed the playoffs your first 2 years after a 3-13 season and going into complete rebuilding mode, but problem is, you did too well. If you didn't make the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years and just had back to back winning seasons, I would have been happy. I mean, if you wouldn't have over-exceeded expectations, we might have only gone to the playoffs once or twice in 5 years and be only 0-1 or maybe 0-2. That would have been acceptable. But this 0-4 is just too much to take. Sorry, but next time, you might want to try to not exceed expectations so quickly."

Yeah, like I said, fucking retarded.

[AUTiger7222]

(01-17-2013 09:38 PM)Beef Wrote:  LOL, what a pile of magnanimous horse shit.

Dan Patrick heard some "buzz" from "some folks in Atlanta who attended the BCSNC"......

Like who? My next door neighbors are wealthy Bama fans and were at the game. Maybe it was them.

Again, it would have been the most idiotic dumb mother fucking blunder of all idiot blunders to fire Mike Smith for being 0-4 as a result of vastly over-achieving the first few years of this regime.

Can you imagine Arthur Blank doing this: "Hey Mike, I know you're the winningest coach in the history of this franchise and you have more wins in the shortest amount of time and the second most wins overall in the last 5 years out of every other coach in the NFL next to Belicheck, and I know you over-achieved and shouldn't even have sniffed the playoffs your first 2 years after a 3-13 season and going into complete rebuilding mode, but problem is, you did too well. If you didn't make the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years and just had back to back winning seasons, I would have been happy. I mean, if you wouldn't have over-exceeded expectations, we might have only gone to the playoffs once or twice in 5 years and be only 0-1 or maybe 0-2. That would have been acceptable. But this 0-4 is just too much to take. Sorry, but next time, you might want to try to not exceed expectations so quickly."

Yeah, like I said, fucking retarded.

Yep. And correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Blank say years later that he made a mistake in firing Reeves?