we’ll probably want to thank the Broncos for this loss. If anything, I think it’ll energize our boys into wanting to demolish the Panthers. I have a feeling this squad can carry a chip on its shoulder pretty easily, especially with all the young talent wanting to prove itself.

This was a must-win game since the loss in the first half of the season. I don’t see anything changing with the Broncos.

Still in the playoff hunt, still able to finish with a winning record. STILL, old. Friend. (Sorry, Wrath of Khan reference).

I see a lot of “sky is falling” vibe, but there was plenty to take away from this game, especially when you consider that Mike Shannahan really has our number. The best thing is that LITTLE things lost this game.

Field position. Eddie Royal must’ve averaged close to 50 yards per kick return. We would’ve been better kicking it out of bounds. But with a short field to work with, the field march is a lot easier.

Drops. Dropping the game winner is a sign that you were still in the game. That’s the play right there. Change that outcome and this becomes a gushing review of the Falcon’s ability to come out in the clutch and hang tough in an ugly win.

Playcalling. We stalled some drives early getting cute, BUT, a lot of that cuteness went away throughout the game, and that’s huge to me. Watching gimmicky Falcons football for years now, if it doesn’t work this time, the coaching staff seemed to think, it’ll work next time. Mularkey at least, erm, pulled out(?) in time to get back to a solid pound-n-pass game.

Pressure. Where’s the pressure? Same place it’s always been. On John Abraham. If he doesn’t get there, no one does. The coverage looked surprisingly good out there, but giving Cutler so much time to set his feet and engage proper mechanics, he was able to consistently beat DBs who aren’t allowed to crawl over WRs like Quasimodo’s hump. ::shrug:: This team knows it. We did almost draft Glenn Dorsey. This team should be committed to overhauling the DL in the offseason. If you’re shocked that we gave Cutler all day to throw, and upper-echelon QB’s pick us apart, then you haven’t been watching. This is nothing new, and a retooled DL will make this team a legit division winner. I mean, this isn’t exactly a “little thing” but in Rumsfeldian terms, it’s a “known unknown.” I think the big deals are the “unknown unknowns” that we didn’t expect.

It sucks that we lost but we did still hang in there at least and despite not playing well at all we had a chance to get it at the end (especially without the Clabo hold). We made every mistake you can possibly make, bad special teams, turnovers, penalties, drops, and we still were right there for the win, so even though it was painful to watch, I still feel great about the team because we can play like dogsh*t and still be in the game. You can’t play awesome every game. With our A game we would have smoked those guys.

And we are going to smoke Carolina, and the top hat and monacle will make its triumphant return. And we really need to smoke Carolina as they have been struggling big time and now is the time to strike. They struggled big time with the Raiders, and struggled big time with the Lions, so we need to take care of this and get some revenge.

You have a heckuva football team. That was a very good, close game. Anyone tuning in that was not a Bronco or Falcon fan would have totally enjoyed it. And thanks, Dave, for your comments at MHR. But I have to disagree with you that the Falcons played a flat game. The Broncos are better than advertised, and the defense has been showing a lot of life lately, especially in stopping the run. My bet is that you can beat the Panthers next week.

For some reason, I just had a bad feeling about yesterday. All week long, something was nagging at me. Perhaps it came from years of watching the Falcons hover around mediocrity, but I thought things were going too well. Too much was being written about Matt Ryan. Too many writers had bumped up in their polls. There were too many analysts fawning over the near-miracle that Mike Smith and Thomas Dimitroff were working. It felt like something was due to go wrong. Even the celebration of the ‘98 Dirty Birds, while great to see in person and a wonderful reminder of the brightest time in this franchise’s history, had to happen at halftime of a game against the Denver Broncos, the team beat them in the Super Bowl. Talk about your bad omens.

Despite the loss, I already feel better about this team than I did last Monday. What we saw shows promise. Yes, for the first time since the Carolina game, Matt Ryan made some plays that reminded me he was a rookie. Yes, Roddy White had an ill timed flashback to three years ago. Yes, some playcalls were headscratchers. Yes, the defense looked helpless. And yet, this team was one play away from victory. With all that going wrong, the Falcons had the ball with a chance to win. There was no finger pointing in the locker room after the game. This team, even in defeat, remained a team. Roddy White tried to take the blame, but his teammates and were there to claim their fair shares. Would this have happened last season, in a locker room with Bobby Petrino (cursed be his name) and Deangelo Hall? I say no. We are looking at an actual team now. We don’t have players looking to get their names in the papers. We don’t have outlandish celebrations after first down catches or hits made five yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The Falcons are looking, and playing like a professional football organization. That starts at the top. Despite one of their worst efforts of the year, the Falcons were able to keep it together and fight til the end.

 In the past, and even earlier this season, I would expect a loss like this to knock the wheels off the season. A tailspin would be coming. Now, I can’t see it happening. I fully expect the team to come out next week on a mission, as if Sunday’s events had never happened. Sure, they may lose, but I don’t see them rolling over. This season is already a win in my book. They’ve earned enough goodwill that I am not going to focus on the interception or the drop or anything else that went wrong. Like everybody keeps saying, its a process. Its a process that the team has obviously bought in to. It is a process that I feel confident will (and already has) deliver this team to a string of performances this year that nobody thought possible. It is a process that I know will lead the Falcons to prosperity for years to come.