Central Georgia Sports ReportComment

Monday Morning Quarterback: Atlanta again puts the F in … Falconing, but there’s progress even in that; Surprises; Loughdmouthings galore

Central Georgia Sports ReportComment
Monday Morning Quarterback: Atlanta again puts the F in … Falconing, but there’s progress even in that; Surprises; Loughdmouthings galore

          It’s time for Atlanta to replace Samuel Jackson with Brittany Spears as marketing face of the franchise.
          Oops, they did it again.
          One of us texted a friend that Michael Penix needs to be more of a threat with his legs, and minutes later, a first down and touchdown.

By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com

          Then one of us posted that the Bucs tried to Falcon it away, but that there was still time for Atlanta to Falcon after the field goal for the lead (following an iffy end-of-possession set of plays)..

          And they did, after such a glorious drive, aided by Tampa Bay mistakes. It was a sweet possession.

          Then, well, the game-leading TD is followed by giving up too much on the return, and then bending on defense to give up the game-winner.

          Who knew that Koo would botch that badly a routine field goal?

          What a tease of a game.

          Penix was fine. His 50-yard TD pass pass traveled about 6 yards in the air. Atlanta needs more downfield success, whether Drake London is on the field or not.

          Speaking of which, Atlanta can’t fold in the passing game if he’s not on the field. He had 15 targets, almost twice as much as anybody else. Uh, Kyle Pitts was second with eight, seven catches, a good sign.

          This wasn’t as bad as the usual Falconing, even though, yeah, it was pretty much the usual Falconing, result-wise.

          Those in charge need to start taking seriously the Falconig, or show us they are by their actions and voices.

          Raheem Morris seems likable, but he inspires little confidence from me with his pressers or sideline chats. Like AI comments, right out of the manual. Blood pressure hardly fluctuates.

          We need a tantrum. We need a profanity to slip through. We need players and coaches to start worrying about executing. We need fewer clichés after these kinds of games, no matter how many positives.

          The Falcons were hurt by basic footballness, the desire and obsession of coaches to overcomplicate things. More than anywhere, it affects pass coverage.

          Tampa Bay got open at clutch times, and Atlanta spent an afternoon barely missing Baker Mayfield, who led the Bucs in rushing, with all of 39 yards, which is a defensive failure.

          Another annoying Sunday with Atlanta, no question. But there wasn’t really any major bungling, coaching atroscities, just execution of a little of little things that added up.

          Of course, little things are not, in fact, little things. They’re relevant things.

          I’ve sat on a 12-5 prediction for about four straight years now. Clarification: This is a 12-5 roster with an 8-9 coaching staff right now.

          There’s all the stuff about losing your first game and making the playoffs. This division is too tight, too even for that to matter. The Bucs and Falcons, and maybe the Saints, will be fighting for first into January.

          Atlanta mostly played winning football – more yards, more first downs, no turnovers – and winning slipped away.

          The Falcons can be in first place within three weeks. They can win the division.

          But they won’t make it easy, on themselves or the rest of us.

Surprises

          ACE Charter going into Eastman and winning isn’t the biggest shock in the world, but it’s the surprise of the week.

          Didn’t foresee Dublin sweating out Washington County like that, but the Irish lost starting quarterback Jeff Davis and were down to No. 3. Still, one thought the gap was wide enough to not be quite the same four-quarter game.

          Didn’t foresee Howard getting kathumped by West Laurens to soundly, but a regular bout of Bibb-itus – five-penalties galore – hurt. And goodness, West Laurens has speed, and the defense is good.

          Didn’t see Tattnall get throttled by 35, and shut out.

          Didn’t see Southwest getting taken out that hard by Bleckley County, but a regular bout of Bibb-itus – five-yard penalties galore, almost predictable – will do that.

          Houston County by 34 over Warner Robins was a bit more than forecast here, and Peach County sweating out Crisp County wasn’t expected.

          Sure didn’t see East Laurens putting up 58 on Central, nor Rutland giving Lamar County such a tussle in Barnesville.

Loughdmouthings

          Granted, it's Miami, which - contrary to broadcast bozos and the increasing hackery smooching of "media" - is not back until they win a playoff game, but don't be surprised if Carson Beck of 2025 is close to the Beck of 2023. Amazing the stats if receivers receive and RBs stay healthy. …

          Ryan Day is likable every time I see him on the tube. Really, he comes off as a normal good person who understands having a life and being around people, and not a coachbot like some folks not far away.

          And I’ll always pull for him to succeed, for that makes miserable people – who populate 71 percent of 95 percent of all major college fan bases – more miserable. ….

          There are 10 winless teams in Central Georgia: Northside, Rutland, Central, GMC Prep, Twiggs County, Wilkinson County, Macon County, Mount de Sales, Tattnall, and Gatewood.

          Mount de Sales and Tattnall play each other, as do Mount de Sales and Gatewood (this week).

          Wilkinson County, GMC Prep, and Twiggs County are in the same region, so they’ll play. Expect Wilkinson County to win both, with GMC-Twiggs County a coin flip.

          The same goes for MdS-Tattnall and MdS-Gatewood. Last year, Mount de Sales led Tattnall in the second half before losing by 13.

          One is currently a toss-up, and Wilkinson County will win in the other.

          Northside has lost to two teams it beat, and is an underdog the rest of the way. Rutland will also be an underdog the rest of the way, but the Hurricanes have clearly improved, and have four winnable games left.

          Macon County is a 2-2 team in an 0-4 uniform. And don’t be surprised if the Bulldogs run the region table, or have one loss. Gatewood is looking at a 3-7 or 4-6 season, its second straight sub.-500 year, which happened in 2021-22.

          Alas, we’re going to have four winless teams this season. Sorry. And more power to ‘em if they bow up and pull off a surprise. …

          Maaaaan, losing Lee Corso and keeping Desmond Howard (a contract extension? Oh dear Lord, what did we do?) and QuackAfee is, ugh, that's a trade only Jerry Jones would make. …

          There are many schools in the area that don’t post stats on MaxPreps, or Hudl, or anywhere. Feel free to ask ‘em why. …

          It’s not news, just a reminder after perusing some social media offerings the past few weeks on a couple different local topics: The difference between bots and people is dwindling, and bots are apparently becoming smarter than a lot – a lot – of people. …

          From Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:

          “I don’t mind ESPN acquiring the NFL Network, but the four-letter network now also owns the NFL’s popular RedZone Channel, which is how many of us consume the NFL on Sundays.

          Do we really need Stephen A. Smith popping onto the screen every time a touchdown is scored just so he can scream, “THIS DEFENSE IS AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE!”