SB Nation User Blog: tom slick

Falcons quiz

tom slick — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:28:03 -0000

Falcons quiz

Time to roll up the sleeves and separate the men from the boys. Actually, the quiz is pretty easy. If nothing else, it gives us reason to congratulate ourselves on how smart we are! Good luck, Mr. Phelps.

San Diego favored by 5 points? Why?

tom slick — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:23:44 -0000

Oddsmakers are a little like movie critics, their opinions are read by many and are frequently wrong. To wit, the Danny Sheridan line on the Falcons-Chargers game really has me scratching my head. For the life of me, I don't see what makes a 4-7 team five points better than a 7-4 team, home field advantage notwithstanding. A very broad comparison of some of the two teams' offensive and defensive stats (for what they're worth) follows...

		ATL	SD
Offense	rush yds/att	4.4 (5th)	3.9 (22nd)
	pass yds/att	7.8 (6th)	8.6 (1st)
Defense	rush yds/att	4.9 (29th)	4.1 (17th)
	pass yds/att	7.0 (16th)	6.9 (13th)

The closest thing I see to a mismatch is San Diego's passing game against Atlanta's pass defense. Perhaps a little scary on paper, but the Falcons have performed pretty well defensively this year. Despite giving up a lot of yards, they haven't given up a lot of points. In fact, our D is 9th in the league in points allowed per game.

What in the world is it that makes San Diego 5 points better than the Falcons? Obviously, I'm missing something. Perhaps I've got the dreaded 'Simpson gene' that dooms males to get stupider as they get older. Enlighten me, mighty Vishnu and fellow Falcoholics! Go Falcons!

Todd Weiner has quite a pair!

tom slick — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:51:00 -0000

Todd Weiner has quite a pair!

I've never been a huge Todd Weiner fan, but this article gave me a newfound respect for the man. This guy is tough. Nice profile by Carroll Rogers.

Falcons' day off

tom slick — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:14:11 -0000

Falcons' day off

Fairly mundane article until you read the last paragraph, concerning how the players spent their day off Monday. Gotta love these guys!

When the Falcons start 6-3 or better

tom slick — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:16:24 -0000

Great win, but history may suggest some caution about the Falcons' prospects when they start a season 6-3 or better.

Here's a look at the historical record at this very exciting juncture of the season.

The Falcons have started 6-3 or better only six other times in their 42-year history.

In 1973, they finished 9-5 and missed the postseason.
1980, 12-4, 0-1 postseason.
1995, 9-7, 0-1.
1998, 14-2, 2-1.
2004, 11-5, 1-1.
2005, 8-8, missed postseason.

For what it's worth, this year's model is the first Falcons team ever to start 6-3 after winning less than 5 games the year before. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, but damn this year has been fun so far! These guys seem to get better every game.

Keep up the good work and Go Falcons!

Don Banks SI article on the Falcons

tom slick — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:02:59 -0000

Don Banks SI article on the Falcons

He's no Terence Moore, but he has lots of nice things to say about the Falcons after the Bears game. Page 2 includes observations on Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub and Warrick Dunn.

Outlook for the Bears game?

tom slick — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:11:05 -0000

Surprisingly little chatter this week about dah Bears, so here we are...

My brain wishes the Falcons luck, but my gut fears the Bears may be too much for them. Chicago may have the best defense we face this year; they’re 3rd in yards allowed per pass and 7th in yards allowed per rush. If the Bears get after Ryan the way Tampa or Carolina did, it could be a long day. Fortunately, Chicago's offense is pretty average. If we can snag a timely turnover or two, perhaps we might parlay that into a low scoring upset win; I don’t think the Falcons win a shootout type game, especially if White can’t play.

The Bears will likely be our toughest test yet, and I can’t rationalize setting the bar very high on Sunday. I just want to see a spirited game without a lot of mistakes, and watch this team continue to make a little progress each week. A win would be a welcome bonus.

That's my wildly uninformed and optimistic 2 cents worth. Go Falcons!

Video streams for you out of town fans

tom slick — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:37:15 -0000

Video streams for you out of town fans

There's a link in this post that may prove helpful to you out-of-town fans that can't view our games. Don't know how well it works, but it probably beats 'a kick in the ass'.

Good luck, hope it works!

Chiefs game sold out, no local blackout

tom slick — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:55:33 -0000

That bastion of fine journalism, the AJC reports that Sunday's game is sold out (by the fans, no corporate mass ticket purchase) and will be televised.

Kind of surprising, actually, given the way the Falcons played on Sunday. I guess we'll take it, and like it.

I didn't realize that Georgia Tech's and Dallas' beloved former head coach, Chan Gailey, was now with Kansas City as Offensive Coordinator. How wonderful that his many Atlanta fans will be able to cheer him on Sunday! Gailey may well be the most average coach that Tech has ever had, a living monument to mediocrity. The Emil Faber of the football world.

Let's look forward to a good performance Sunday. If we play like we did against Detroit, this will be a lot more fun to watch than last week.

Go Falcons!

Claude Humphrey is a HOF finalist

tom slick — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:46:07 -0000

From the AJC comes news that Claude Humphrey was named a Hall Of Fame finalist on Wednesday. #87 played for Atlanta from 1968-78 and was the Falcons' first really dominant Defensive End, in the olden days before sacks were an official stat. UNoficially, he had something like 120+ sacks in those years of playing 14 game schedules.

I doubt that many readers under 40 or 45 years old will remember Humphrey, but those who do know that he was a beast. The Falcons defenses that had Humphrey and John Zook at DE were some of the better ones in those early years.

I read recently that Humphrey is in failing health, and has almost lost his eyesight due to diabetes.

He would be the first Falcon inducted into the Hall of Fame. Good luck, Claude!