Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017

How soon they forget.

The "they" is fans, and the forgetting usually comes quickly, like quarter to quarter, let alone a few years later.

Plus, it's easy to fire off cheap shots against Steve Sarkisian – this is a nation of knee-jerk cheap-shot artists – than recognize reality, or revisit the past a little bit.

For one, yes, silly sweep call - quite similar to a Georgia call last year with lean Isaiah McKenzie going outside when the Bulldogs had much better, and more logical, options elsewhere - criticism is warranted. And no doubt a few other playcalls Sunday night were interesting.

Otherwise, well, again, blockers gotta block, tacklers gotta tackle.

The memory lapse in this case regards the Falcons in 2015 and 2016.

Absolutely not a soul on the planet predicted what Atlanta and Matt Ryan would do in 2016. Nobody. Not Momma Ryan, nor Momma or Poppa Shanahan, or anybody connected to the Quinns or Blanks.

Certainly not the people doing the same whining in 2015 of the job done by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

2016 erased memories of 2015, and got Shanahan the head coaching job, against allllll wisdom, at San Francisco.

Most don't remember how flimsy that 5-1 start was in 2015, and how surprising, and then grousing that followed.

The Falcons, of course, followed that surprising 5-0 start with a Falconsy finish to 8-8, not exactly leading anybody to predict what 2016 brought.

So throw in a new OC in 2015, the stunning 2016, and another new OC in 2017 and a different start to 2017 than 2015, and it's a mess trying to compare things at the same point in time.

For a better gauge of Sarkisian, the recipient of some quality superiority jabs from elite human beings on social media, we'll have to wait out the season and see what the players - remember them, the millionaires paid to do something well? - do down the line.

No doubt there are some fascinating aspects to this season, statistically and aesthetically.

Does Sarkisian ignore Julio Jones, or does Matt Ryan?

Does a tougher schedule have anything to do with inconsistency? Is the defense quite as good or making some silly mistakes.

The bottom lines are many.

First, the Falcons are currently about a 10-6 organization. 2016 was a fluke, and folks need to just suck it up and admit it. A glorious year, no doubt, but a fluke.

Second, Ryan is a nice quarterback, but he's not elite. Has never been. A winning quarterback? Yes. A plus quarterback? Sure. Leader? Certainly (although he sure could have changed some plays at the line in both games against New England, yes?)

One can be good, and one can be overrated.

Third, defenses adjust, and maybe they're just adjusting to who the Falcons really are, the non-2016 Falcons.

Granted, it's stunning that we all had as many TD catches as Julio Jones through mid-October. But do you really think Sarkisian reworked the progressions in the passing game to make Jones like third? Or is a fair amount of it the decision-making of a quarterback?

After all, two positions determine the impact of a receiver, and one of them is the quarterback. And the quarterback is as good as the offensive line and the running game and the situations left by the defense.

The cheap shots to Sarkisian from all the tea-totalers notwithstanding, the reality is that Atlanta wasn't going to be like 2016 this year, what with the offense's third coordinator in four seasons.

Continuity sure does help, doesn't it?

Atlanta was 5-1 in 2016, is 3-3 in 2017, under similar circumstances, including a fan base still blinded by 2016. Development takes time, and with some organizations, more time than others.

So how about holding off on the bellyaching until more of the season plays out, and we see what adjustments the offensive staff makes plus if the players on both sides get better.

New Orleans has found a groove, and is all of a game ahead of Atlanta. Take a look behind the NFC division leaders, and it's a race with a lot of 3-3s.

Here's a discussion.

Players can bail out coaches, and coaches can bail out players. Both sides need to do that more often.

Loughdmouthings

A look at Thursday: Georgia State is a one-point underdog to visiting South Alabama.

And it's not like the Panthers utilize much of a home-field advantage. The crowd will be typically small for a home game, but they'll see a 6-point win.

Early look at Saturday: It's homecoming at Fort Valley State, meaning the noses of dogs nearby will be twitching all afternoon with the smells of grills.

The noses of the fans will be twitching with a two-touchdown win over Morehouse.

Georgia Southern's optimism at the coaching change is likely to remain just optimism rather than a massive change in execution. Things will be better at Troy, but alas, still in a close loss. The Eagles are a 26-point underdog, and Troy ain't in the SEC.

It should be a battle of unbeatens, but Georgia Tech has two losses and Clemson one. That both should be unbeaten doesn't mean they're all that even, although we're still unsure about Clemson, which had a week off after the stunning loss at Syracuse.

As it is, Clemson in prime time in Clemson is Clemson covering the 14 in the fourth quarter.

And in Jacksonville, a back-and-forth and at times kinda ugly first half turns into Georgia taking over in the second half to cover by a touchdown. ...

Dear NFL Network - and assorted local Friday nighters: It is offensive to give the score backwards, ala, "Atlanta won 24-30" or "Tennessee lost 20-22."

No. In America, winner/leader first. Or give up the microphone. ...

Of course, one Falcons issue may be Julio Jones and some level of perception issues.

The fog slowed down the Falcons in New England? Sure, the physical one no doubt had a little impact, but it's pretty clear the Falcons came to down with their own fog, and stayed there. ...

How archiac were all these redundant weekly "hype" videos before drones could do the sloowwwwww paaaaannn from above?

Back then, they were just redundant. ...

All three levels of football need to do the 5- and 15-yard facemask. And frankly, there are a few other penalties that could use a degree of penalty.

Plus, they're all goofed up on spot fouls. Never liked the NFL having that 42-yard penalty for interference, etc., and man, my senility is showing on spot fouls in college and high school behind the line of scrimmage going from the spot rather than line. ...

Reality check: The NFL continues to hammer NASCAR in the TV ratings. Has done so for awhile, and the Sunday competition isn't helping NASCAR. ...

Dear TV Broadcastcomtwits: Please cease and desist with the close-up crowd shots of idiots - future department heads and political clowns - screaming and screeching and shaking their heads and basically looking quite idiotic.

It's as redundant as replaying broadcasts of big plays, 98 of which sound 98 percent the same. ...

Courtesy of the Seattle Times: "Anti-Dean Spanos message towed behind a plane over the transplanted Chargers’ home game ... : ‘If Spanos wants to see a sellout, he should look in the mirror.’ ”