What is wrong with the Falcons?

I backed into tickets for last weekend’s fiasco against the Giants. It seems like there is a lot of finger pointing to go around, but what is really wrong with the Falcons? Vick is not accurate, but when his receivers drop passes in the endzone, it has to affect his confidence. Do the receivers drop passes because Vick throws so many balls at their knees and above their heads, so they are completely caught off guard when the ball actually hits them in the hands?

I do not know if a site keeps up with dropped ball statistics, but I counted at least 3-4 passes that should have been caught, including Jenkins dropping one that would have put the Falcons up 14-3 at the half.

Jeff Schultz thinks Mora should shoulder the blame

“There is a tendency in times like these to blame the quarterback. While you’re throwing your beer can at the TV, it’s easy to forget this is the same Michael Vick who four years ago won a playoff game in Green Bay, who two years ago led his team to the NFC title game, and who has played in three Pro Bowls in as many full seasons.

There is a tendency to look at the obvious, like receivers who can’t get open, or drop the ball when they do, or suddenly think they must be good because their paychecks say so.

But this is not about players. It’s about direction. That starts and ends with coaching.”

Schultz makes some great points, and if you can make it through some of the crap blog posts, there are some real gems to be found in the readers’ comments.

In the past I have waffled on Vick; I love him, and I hate him. While Vick is an amazing entertainer, his QB rating is just not very good. At this point in his career, Vick has a career passing rating of 75, which just plain stinks. If you say that Vick is a different type of QB, on the surface I could buy that argument, but take a closer look at what that means. If you say Vick is running QB, it is worth noting that he has 3,221 rushing yards, compared to 9,707 passing yards. That amounts to about 206 total yards/game. I do not have time today to look to see how these numbers stack up to other QBs, but a damning statistic has to be Vicks propensity to fumble the ball. In 63 games, Vick has put the ball on the ground 51 times, resulting in 25 turnovers. Vick clearly puts the ball on the ground way too much. [nfl.com source for statistics]

I am not sure what the heck is going on with the Falcons, but Vick has clearly regressed under Mora. I hope they get it figured out soon, because the Falcons’ remaining schedule is brutal. The Falcons are capable of wins against Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, and Tampa Bay. I do not think they will beat Baltimore, New Orleans, Dallas, Carolina, or Philadelphia. That would put their record at 7-7, with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati as swing games. It could get ugly in a hurry.

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