The last time we saw the Atlanta Falcons, they were trudging off the field in Houston, heads down, fighting back (or giving in to) tears and refusing to watch the New England Patriots鈥� joyous Super Bowl celebration going on behind them.
Twenty-eight to three. That score will live in infamy forever around the Falcons and the city of Atlanta. The 28-3 score the Falcons led by midway through the third quarter of Super Bowl 51 is now a punchline. The Patriots not only came back to win 34-28 in overtime, thanks to a number of highly questionable decisions by the Falcons, but they rubbed it in by having 283 diamonds inserted into the Super Bowl rings owner Robert Kraft ordered to commemorate the title.
Later this week, the Falcons start the 2017 season and the world will be watching. Will they follow the lead of the Super Bowl loser from the year before, Carolina, and miss the playoffs? Or will they rebound and get back to the big game next February?
Coach Dan Quinn鈥檚 Falcons get an easy game to start, taking on the Bears in Chicago this Sunday, but then get into the heavy grind of the NFL season with a Sunday night game against the visiting Green Bay Packers in Week 2.
Quinn will need to muster up his best coaching skills to get the Falcons to mentally block out Feb. 5, 2017 and have them play with the same offensive intensity they used to win the NFC title. Quarterback Matt Ryan had an offensive year for the ages and says he will not be scarred by the Super Bowl disaster. He said he rewatched the game two days after the Houston debacle, then again three days after and finally, watched it again the fourth day after. It wasn鈥檛 a case of Ryan masochism at its best, but rather a professional鈥檚 approach to to try to learn from mistakes.
Coach Quinn, meanwhile, now has two Super Bowl ghosts to exorcise. He was the Seattle defensive co-ordinator when the Seahawks lost the 2014 Super Bowl to the Patriots thanks to a last-second goal-line interception by Malcolm Butler. Now, he adds to that being the head coach of a team that had an almost guaranteed Super Bowl title snatched from him in the most painful fashion.
How the Falcons respond to their Super Bowl disaster will be one of the most interesting stories of this year鈥檚 NFL season. Please pass the remote.
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: 鈥淎 man who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game nailed a photographer in the groin. Now the photographer has a story he can tell his children 鈥� assuming he can still have any.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Janice Hough of , on bettors in Las Vegas plunking down more money on the Raiders to win the Super Bowl than any other NFL team: 鈥淎nd if anyone has wondered how they get money to build all those big shiny hotels 鈥︹��
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Norman Chad of the Washington Post, on the recent Mayweather-McGregor fight: 鈥淚n terms of legitimate sporting event, Jesse Owens versus a racehorse in a 100-yard dash in 1936 probably eclipses Mayweather-McGregor in 2017 鈥� at least the Olympic gold medalist and the 5-year-old gelding both knew how to run.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Chad again, on the same event, given that McGregor is not a boxer: 鈥淧aying McGregor $100 million to box is like paying Justin Bieber $100 million to drywall your family room.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Headline at : 鈥淣ASCAR adds gravel warning track to alert drivers of wall.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Reader Paul Walorski, in a question to Norman Chad of the Washington Post: 鈥淭he NFL keeps score in preseason games. Should Major League Baseball track batting-practice stats?鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: 鈥淕olf icon Tiger Woods had Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien and THC in his system when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Jupiter, Fla., in May, according to a recent toxicology report. In other words, a solid four over par.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Brad Dickson again:聽 鈥淭he NFL is going to begin paying some referees a full-time salary in hopes of attracting better talent. Hey, that worked for SEC players.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� RJ Currie of : 鈥淧atriots QB Tom Brady posted a picture of himself touching the Stanley Cup. In a related story, the Boston Bruins are suddenly favoured to win the NHL championship.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Dwight Perry again: 鈥淟PGA rookie Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong will be the first golfer ever disqualified for running out of ink while signing her scorecard.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Headline : 鈥淧assing the torch: Browns send Jets keys to NFL basement.鈥�
鈥⒙犅� 鈥� Vancouver comic Torben Rolfsen, after British Columbia banned trophy hunting for grizzly bears: 鈥淯nfortunately, it came 17 years too late to save our NBA team from being poached.鈥�
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