Larry Brown Sports

Osi Umenyiora was unhappy with the way his role had diminished with the New York Giants over the past couple of seasons, which is why the veteran defensive end seems thrilled to have signed a two-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Umenyiora played a significant role on two Super Bowl champion teams in New York, but those teams were not the best he has seen from a talent standpoint. You can probably guess which one is.

“This team is the most talented team that I’ve probably seen in my life,” he said during a press conference on Thursday, according to Around the League.

Is that so? Umenyiora comes from a team that featured a two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback in Eli Manning. When healthy, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz make up one of the best receiving duos in football. On defense, New York has a front seven that boasts Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul. If the Giants weren’t loaded with talent, Umenyiora probably wouldn’t have had an issue with playing time nor would he have had to accuse the team of making him look bad.

“They had some very good football players there (in New York),” Umenyiora said. “Obviously I wasn’t able to play as much as I’d have liked. There was just no way you could put all of us on the phone at the same time. Statistically, that definitely played a role. You’re only going to be able to produce as much as you’re out there on the football field. I wasn’t able to be out there on the football field as much as I’ve been accustomed to.”

Again, that was probably because the Giants had so much depth and talent. The Falcons are undoubtedly loaded with talented players like Roddy White, Julio Jones, Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez. Umenyiora’s comments are simply a bit strange in that he won two championships with that team he refused to mention by name. I believe the scientific term for that is “sour grapes.”

The Atlanta Falcons waived defensive lineman Ray Edwards earlier in the week, less than two years after signing him to a five-year, $27.5 million deal. Edwards was a disappointment with the Falcons, racking up just 3.5 sacks in 25 games with the team. Now we’re learning that he did something that may have been a factor in his release.

Jay Glazer reported on FOX NFL Sunday that Falcons head coach Mike Smith asked his team to come together for a postgame speech after a Week 10 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Edwards apparently was asked three times to come in for the speech, and he ignored the coach all three times. Glazer says the players had to tell him to bring it in for the speech.

Glazer says the display from Edwards occurred in front of team owner Arthur Blank and GM Thomas Dimitroff. The team is so focused on chemistry, Glazer says they will release a player if they feel like he will be a problem in the locker room. It seems like that’s exactly what happened with Edwards.

We felt from the start that the signing was a reach for Atlanta. Edwards was the beneficiary of playing with excellent teammates in Minnesota. Without Jared Allen and Pat and Kevin Williams next to him, he has failed to be an impact player.

You didn’t expect the Falcons to care that the Giants and other teams have accused them of playing dirty, did you? If playing cheap has helped Atlanta get to the playoffs and kept their Super Bowl hopes alive, they aren’t going to stop now. Chances are Justin Tuck was just looking to work the refs when he called the Falcons offensive line a bunch of dirt bags earlier this week, but the birds aren’t letting it bother them.

“Maybe we should start branding this and make a profit in the New York market,” Falcons tackle Will Svitek joked according to the NY Daily News. “Maybe it’s an opportunity. Who knows (why Tuck said it)? We don’t get upset about it. We might joke about it, the whole dirt bag comment, but who knows? We’re always going to be there. We want them to know we’re there because if you don’t play to the whistle, they’re going to be taking shots. We don’t view it as cheap. We view it as physical. If that’s his point of view, so be it.”

Atlanta is not bothered by the accusations — nor should they be.  I’m not advocating dirty play if they have indeed been playing that way, but you don’t start worrying about your style of play when the playoffs start.

The Giants like to talk, so the Falcons would do well to just keep quiet and let them do their thing.  As cliche as it sounds, the games are won on the field.  The Giants like to try to win them during the week, too.

A number of defensive players have taken issue with the way the Falcons offensive linemen have played this season. Players from both the Packers and Lions accused the Falcons of dirty play earlier in the season. As the Giants prepare to take on Atlanta in the opening round of the playoffs this weekend, it should come as no surprise that Justin Tuck seized the opportunity to chime in on the topic on Monday.

“We know they have that quote unquote reputation,” Tuck said according to ESPNNewYork.com when asked about the Falcons offensive line on Monday. “But in a way it kind of is exciting. Most people, you would call them dirt bags. But it is what it is. We got to make sure we do our job and if we are doing our job well, then they will be upset and they will be trying to do things to get us off our game and we got to take that as a compliment. But in the same sense you got to protect yourself and hopefully the referees have 20-20 vision this week.”

You might remember when B.J. Raji accused the Falcons of foul play earlier in the season when he said they are “coached to play after the whistle.”  Ndamukong Suh (hilarious, right?) made a similar accusation after Detroit’s meeting with Atlanta.

While Atlanta has certainly built a reputation, this is the playoffs.  If there is stuff the refs have been letting go all season long, it’s highly unlikely they’ll start throwing unsportsmanlike conduct flags that will affect the outcome of the game in the postseason. Regardless, Tuck couldn’t go a week without being heard.  He ripped on the Cowboys last week and we all saw what happened in that game. Now is no time for the Giants captain to stop exercising his jaw.

The Falcons lost to the Saints in overtime on Sunday after a controversial decision by Atlanta head coach Mike Smith to go for it on fourth down.  Like any other coach would for a gutsy call gone wrong, Smith has been crucified in the media.  Facing a fourth and inches at his own 30-yard line, Smith decided to let his offense try to keep the drive alive.  The Falcons had moved the ball on the ground against New Orleans all afternoon, rushing for 138 yards including 96 from Michael Turner — the man who was stuffed on the play.  If Atlanta converted and went on to win, it’s a ballsy call by a coach who trusted his offense.  Since they failed to pick up less than a yard, many have said it was a bonehead move from someone who doesn’t trust his defense.

Here at LBS, we were on both sides of the fence. On one side you have Del, who argues that no matter what you should always give your defense a chance to stop the other team when you are that deep in your own territory.  On the other side is L.B., who is a strong advocate for going for it since the odds of picking up less than a yard are heavily in the offense’s favor.

As Pro Football Talk pointed out, the website AdvancedNFLStats.com crunched some numbers that help make sense of the situation.  Their statisticians determined that if the Falcons punted, they had a 42% chance of winning.  If they converted the fourth down play, they would have had a 57% chance of winning.  They also unveiled that teams going for it on fourth-and-one convert 74% of the time.  Considering the Falcons were facing fourth-and-inches, it would stand to reason that they stood an even better chance of converting.

Read The Rest of the Story…

B.J. Raji wouldn’t have anything to say about the Falcons if they hadn’t started things first. Last week, we told you that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was still motivated by Roddy White’s remark that the Falcons were a better team than the Packers despite losing to them 48-21 in the playoffs last year.

Green Bay came back from down 14-0 to win 25-14 in Atlanta Sunday night for their second straight road win at the Georgia Dome. The back-to-back easy road wins for the Packers is a pretty obvious sign that they’re a superior team. In case you didn’t feel that way, Green Bay defensive tackle B.J. Raji is here to remind you.

“They have a long way to go,” Raji said of being a Packers rival. “For it to be a rivalry, you have to win meaningful games. They’re just another opponent. They have a long way to go.

“I wouldn’t talk like this, but when people don’t respect you, I don’t take it lying down. Those people don’t respect us, so in turn I’m not going to give them any respect.

“Now that we abused them, for the second time in a row, at their home, there’s nothing really to do.”

Raji also made it clear that the Packers are superior to Atlanta in all facets. “We have better players, we have better coaches, we’re a better team,” he said after the game.

Ryan Pickett added that this was Atlanta’s Super Bowl, and that they were committing some dirty plays, including hitting after the whistle. Yet they still lost the game.

We’re not trying to pile on the Falcons with this post, but we’re just stating what we’ve learned through five weeks of the season. The Packers are the defending Super Bowl champions and they’re playing like one of the best teams in the league. The Falcons went 13-3 a year ago and got embarrassed in the playoffs. They’re 2-3 this season and they appear to be quite mediocre. The Falcons may disagree with that assertion, but that’s what they’ve shown us with their play.

The Atlanta Falcons made one of the boldest moves of the NFL Draft, trading several high picks to move up and select receiver Julio Jones 6th overall. Though we think Jones is a skilled player, we said the team gave up too much to get him. Frankly, it’s hard to justify giving up two firsts, a second, and two fourth round picks for any receiver in the NFL, much less a rookie. Still, the hefty price they paid to draft him isn’t going to stop Atlanta’s Pro Bowl receiver Roddy White from praising the youngster.

“He’s real coachable and he’s learning everyday,” White said of Jones during an interview with NFL Network. “[Our offense is] going to be special. It’s going to remind you of the Greatest Show on Turf. We’ve got a lot of explosive players and I see a lot more explosive plays coming out of our offense.”

White mentioned that having Julio Jones opposite him will create an opportunity for more one-on-one coverages for him. Then when the point was raised that the team maybe should have opted for defensive help instead of an offensive weapon, White said “We’re going to outscore everyone.” Additionally, as Pro Football Talk pointed out, White confidently stated that “We’re going to be Green Bay south.”

White’s not the team’s GM so of course he’s going to try and find the positive in the team’s moves, so we won’t blame him too much. This is on Atlanta’s front office for trading away too much and not addressing their defensive needs. Jones is another offensive weapon, but is outscoring everyone realistic? Probably not. They’ll need a Super Bowl win to justify the pick and trade and I don’t see that happening. Though the Falcons went 13-3 last year, their biggest problem was surrendering 48 points in the playoffs to the Packers and they didn’t do much to address that issue.