Before calling it a night, I decided to read one more NFL preview article. This one really caught my attention. Maybe I was just tired. The article predicted a 7-9 record for the Falcons and a last place finish in the NFC South. Interesting! The Falcons went 8-8 last year with a few games that should have made them 10-6.

In the offseason, they simply added John Abraham, Lawyer Milloy, Chris Crocker, drafted Jimmy Williams, traded for Wayne Gandy, got Ed Hartwell back for the season (hopefully), and got Jordan Beck back for the season, but they are going to finish one game worse than last year? Is the author going to tell me strength of schedule? The Falcons didn’t play New Orleans 16 times last year. By the way, did I sleep through the part where New Orleans just got better than Atlanta? The Falcons lost 4 games to Carolina and Tampa. It can’t get worse than that.

The Falcons were called too unpredictable on both sides of the ball. Apparently, the O-line needs to play better. I guess consistently rushing the ball and leading the league in rushing is not good and not very predictable. They were predictable on defense also last year. They would get after you on the ends, but had no answer in the middle. Along with the weakness in the middle, the safeties wouldn’t hit anyone. Fixed and Fixed. Grady Jackson is now a Falcon. Hartwell and Beck are back moving other linebackers to their natural positions, and Milloy and Crocker are going to knock the crap out of people if they do nothing else.

I guess I could end up crying by the end of the season because we underperformed. Everyone seems to be expecting to win over 10 games. Someone has to disappoint. 7 teams between the NFC South and NFC East alone believe they have real play-off hopes.

Fine by me though. Let the Falcons fly under the radar. If they make it to the NFC championship game, I doubt they will get respect. They are going to need to dominate some teams along the way to get respect. However, Vick will never get his due. If the Falcons win a significant play-off game with Vick throwing for 150 and no touchdowns, credit will be placed with everyone except him. He will be given his usual unjust judgement. For those morons I say 123/0/2. That is Roethlisberger’s line in the Super Bowl. 123 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions. However, he was a king this offseason. The world crapped their pants when he had his motorcycle accident. Something smells off here. Whatever it is, let it be. The Falcons don’t need national approval to win games.