Fun and games with the Falcons

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, February 02, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

Atlanta Falcons
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It's been less than a month since the Atlanta Falcons' 2006-'07 football season ground to a disappointing halt, and the team has already had an eventful off-season.

So eventful, in fact, that new coach Bobby Petrino might already be wondering what sort of funhouse he has stumbled into.

The firing of Jim Mora apparently produced mixed reactions in the Falcon clubhouse, so there was that, plus the usual Mike Vick grumbling.

In fact, one trade rumor that was circulating had Atlanta swapping Vick and its first-round draft choice to Oakland for wide receivers Randy Moss and Jerry Porter (you know Moss' history, and Porter is never mentioned without the word "disgruntled" attached) and the Raiders' No. 1 overall pick. To Petrino, that must have sounded like fingernails scraping down a blackboard -- two head cases for the price of one.

Shortly thereafter, Vick was relieved of a water bottle while passing through customs in the Miami International Airport. The bottle supposedly had a small compartment that contained dark residue that smelled like marijuana. And then...it didn't.

First of all, why would anyone have a small compartment in his water bottle? Secondly, if it wasn't pot, what was it? Maybe Vick convinced them the bottle really belonged to Ricky Williams. The whole affair smacked of "It's too small an amount to worry about, we can't really prove anything, so let's just forget it."

But why was Vick apparently reluctant to hand the bottle over?

Last we heard, the Falcons' management said they were definitely keeping Vick around, at least for another year. But longtime backup and soon-to-be restricted free agent Matt Schaub is expected to stick around.

Finally, offensive line guru Alex Gibbs got lost in the coaching shuffle and wasn't retained. He was the architect of a "zone blocking" scheme that helped the Falcons lead the league in rushing three straight seasons.

Petrino, by all accounts, favors more blunt force than finesse when it comes to running the football. His idea of a running back is Michael Bush, the 6-foot-2, 255-pound monster who played for him at Louisville, not someone like 5-9, 180-pound Warrick Dunn.

Dunn went over 1,000 yards for the third straight season, but spent little time in the end zone -- four touchdowns on the year. In fact, the Falcons only produced nine rushing touchdowns despite their league-leading overland yardage.

One reason Gibbs may have been shown the door was that the Falcons were terrible in the red zone in '06. Thus, Petrino reportedly wants to use the free-agent market and the draft to find a power running back and a couple of stalwart O-linemen.

As for Vick, Petrino is stuck with him, at least for '07. Perhaps a coaching change is what the former Virginia Tech star needs to finally come close to filling his undeniable potential.

In the NFL, it's really not a good thing if your quarterback rushes for 1,000 yards.

Weekly Atlanta Falcons coverage, courtesy of RealFootball365.com
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