after this season even if the Falcons do make the playoffs. For anyone who was away and completely missed the debacle against the Browns, Atlanta got the ball with 2:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, trailing 23-21. The two minute warning came on a 3rd and 1 at Cleveland's 46. Atlanta converted the third down - and then mysteriously went into hurry-up mode. They went no-huddle, called pass plays, and even called a time out - preserving as much clock time as possible (and preserving Cleveland's time outs) before kicking the field goal. The result was that Cleveland got the ball back with 44 seconds, all three time outs, and only needing a field goal to win the game. The Falcons had a much better outcome this week against Arizona, but once again Smitty's clock management was baffling. Atlanta got the ball with 2:42 remaining in the second quarter. They proceeded to march down ghe field at a somewhat leisurely pace. They ended up kicking a field goal on third down with the ball at the Arizona five yard line because they had run themselves out of time - after running two and a half minutes of a two minute drill without ever once calling a time out. Keep in mind that they were only up by seven points when they kicked that field goal. They left a chance at four points on the table, and as we all know from the Detroit game as well as last week's gaffe, those extra points can be critical. So... our coaching staff has shown they have learned NOTHING about clock management. At least one loss (Cleveland) and arguably two (Detroit) were wins in hand that became losses due to the coaching staff. That's the difference between 5-7 and having a 7-5 record with a two game lead plus tiebreakers in the division race. Even if they do win the dung heap that is this year's NFC South, odds are that Arthur Blank makes a change in January.
As they should. Smith's contract currently runs through 2015. If he's going to be here in 2015, he shouldn't be a lame duck.
The worst clock manager in the history of football is Andy Reid. He's had a nice career, despite not knowing how many minutes are in a football game.
I would *not* assume that Mike Smith will automatically be safe if the Falcons do make the playoffs. The opposite is almost certain - fail to make the postseason, and it's virtually guaranteed that he's out. But there's a very strong chance that he's out even if the team wins the NFC South. Part of it will depend on the team's final record. 8-8 might do the trick, but 7-9 would be the second straight losing season. With that record, you really haven't accomplished a whole lot even if it's enough to take the division. Arthur Blank had expectations of a title run in 2013 and made his frustration clear coming out of that season. His displeasure this season has become known as well. Most notably, he was quoted as saying "there's no way you lose that game" after the debacle in London. Since then, he has maintained a much lower profile than usual with the media. That's NOT a good sign.
On the Jamie dukes show, they were saying, the falcons should make a run at ray rice. I say no way,word on the street is that skittles will not be coming back to the seahawks. We should bring beast mode here. We need that power runner.
Then again maybe night. I hear that lynch is considering retiring next year. If his heart is not in the game anymore, than forget it. But that could be a ploy to get more money.
