Leftwich now looking over Harrington’s shoulder

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, September 19, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Atlanta Falcons
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This could be the perfect marriage -- a team with nothing to lose and a quarterback in the same position.

On Tuesday, the Atlanta Falcons finally pulled the trigger and signed Byron Leftwich out of limbo for $7 million over two years. Leftwich had been cut right before the start of the season by the Jacksonville Jaguars, who decided David Garrard was their guy, and had been sitting on the table for weeks, like the last piece of pie nobody wants to take.

The Falcons are 0-2, and Joey Harrington has been predictably unsatisfactory as Michael Vick's heir. Think replacing a Ferrari with a used Taurus.

The biggest concern with Leftwich was his physical condition (he has suffered from knee and ankle problems in recent years), but he passed his Falcon physical and promptly immersed himself in the playbook.

"It's the same plays," he said, "just a different terminology."

Coach Bobby Petrino's problem with Harrington isn't that he's throwing picks -- his problem in the past -- but rather, that he's not throwing.

"He's holding the ball too long," Petrino said of Harrington's 13 sacks. "I think right now Joey is playing a little bit conservative, a little bit not to throw the interception."

If Harrington holds the ball too long this Sunday against Carolina, voracious Panthers D-linemen Julius Peppers, Mike Rucker and Kris Jenkins may leave only scraps of him on the floor of the Georgia Dome.

Leftwich probably won't play this week, unless Harrington gets hurt (a distinct possibility). But he'll remain a looming presence on the sideline, reminding the Atlanta starter that he needs to repair his psyche soon.

Last season, Leftwich threw for 1,159 yards in part of a season, with seven touchdown passes and five interceptions. Harrington produced more real estate as a Miami Dolphin, but he had a lower QB rating (79-68) and a worse TD-to-INT ratio (12 to 15).

Leftwich said he was watching TV in the basement of his mother's house in his native Washington when he got the call from Atlanta.

The way the Falcons are going, that might be appropriate.
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