How is Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith still justifying his decision to punt on forth down in the closing minutes of last week’s loss to the Saints?
Smith believed the Falcons’ defense was smart and stout enough to force a three-and-out and let rookie quarterback Matt Ryan try for a miraculous finish, but the Saints never gave back the ball.
“I’ve got no reservations about it,” Smith said Monday. “With 3:15 to go, fourth-and-5 from our 35, I felt like we’d punt them back, which we did. Michael (Koenen) hit a big punt. They had the ball first-and-10 on the 13 with 3:15 to go. We had two timeouts and the two-minute (warning). If we are able to stop them, we were going to get the ball back to our offense in better field position than if we’d taken the gamble on fourth down.”
Hello! What a piss poor call. You are down by 4 so a field goal is not going to hurt you, and you are just as likely have having the Saints run out the clock. The defense did not stop the f’ing Saint all day, so I have no idea why Smith thought his defense was get pick up some magic IQ points.
After the game, this dumb ass had the audacity to compare Ryan to Vick. Let’s don’t go there. He could have gotten his point across without the needless comparison.
Anyhow, tomorrow’s game versus the dreaded Buckaroos from Tampa Bay ought to be a good one. When I purchased my season tickets this year, I never would have predicted that the Falcons would be in prime playoff position with three games to play. What a great turnaround!
