The bigger the moment, the bigger the flop

[juraitwaluzka]

My main point of dispute is the "Same Old Falcons" line. It's simply not true. I think people that say this either didn't live through the horror of the past or have a terrible memory, I don't know.

I have no problem with people venting or being frustrated, I did my share of that over the weekend too. However I do have a difficult time when something is said that just doesn't agree with hard numbers, so here we go.

In 36 seasons before Blank bought the team, our record was 212-327-5, a winning percent of 0.389. In 36 seasons we had 6 total playoff appearances, averaging 1 playoff appearance every 6 seasons.

In the 9 seasons of the Blank era our record is 77-66-1, a winning percentage of 0.535. We have made the playoffs 4 times in those nine years, averaging a playoff appearance every 2.25 seasons.

If we break it down further to include only the Smitty era, in 3 seasons we are 33-15, a winning percentage of 0.688, 2 playoff appearances, averaging making the playoffs 2 out of every 3 seasons.

There is still work to be done, but nobody can deny that this is a hell of a start. If you drew a trend line it's not hard to figure out which direction it's going.

The breakdown of "eras" is like this:

Now 0.688
Blank 0.535
2000s 0.500
1990s 0.450
1980s 0.375
1970s 0.417
1960s 0.218

How about record?

Since Blank: 5 winning seasons, 3 losing seasons, 1 500 season

Before Blank: 8 winning seasons, 26 losing seasons, 2 500 seasons

So, if the conclusion one draws from this is that these are the "Same Old Falcons", that's fine, go ahead, you have every right to be to be incorrect.

What I see is that these are two completely different organizations who should be judged independently.

For a full breakdown:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/atl/