Delhomme intentionally gave those 5 turnovers to the Eagles, just so they can play the “Nobody believed in us” Card… that’s the most likely scenario.

A performance so magnificently putrid it prompted me to compare it to the dumps police horses take.

At least he’s hilarious while he’s making no sense whatsoever.

This game means infinitely more to Carolina than Atlanta.

At our house, first division game, in out throwback unis….I think we’re equally motivated…

But I agree with all but red flag #1. Of course, I didn’t see the Miami game, only a few highlights, but I find it hard to believe that the secondary is that improved from the San Diego preseason game that fast. Of course, it remains to be seen if Delhomme can exploit it.

Of course the game means more to Carolina- they looked terrible last weekend. Rams terrible. I fail to see how the throwback unis, as much as I love them, will motivate anybody besides the people who make money off them. Sure, we don’t want to lose a division game, and nobody likes the Panthers all that much, but this is desperation time for the Kitties, and they know that if they go 0-2, especially if Jake shits the bed again, it will not bode well for the rest of the season.

Of course, none of this means I won’t be picking the Falcons to win this one, but that six point spread is a sucker bet if ever I saw one, and I have a feeling the Panthers will come to play, if they have it in them.

The Falcons are strong on the front seven. Very strong. They will be able to match up favorably with run heavy teams. The things that will give them trouble are teams that have big wideouts that can take advantage of matchups with Houston. Steve Smith, as talented as he is, does not qualify as a big wideout. Its true that we don’t know how good Miami will be, but we do know that the game last week was not as close as the final score made it look.

Besides, Simmons is basing his pick on the fact that Delhomme can’t play any worse. That doesn’t mean that he will play any better, though.

The ultimate flaw in Bill Simmons argument is that just because a player has a big game doesn’t mean that they will win the game.

Simmons is playing off trends. In an effort to create some drama he obviously chooses a game where 1) a player is being dogged and the team is being written off, and 2) he doesn’t believe the team they are playing is very good (see last week when he picked Miami to prove they were not a “fluke” last year).

But what he basically assumes is that if Jake bounces back Carolina will win the game. That’s not necessarily accurate. Even IF Jake bounces back and has a good game with less turnovers, that doesn’t mean Carolina will beat us. Good teams ignore trends and stocks and simply prepare and execute. Why do you think the Patriots or Steelers never concern themselves with whose stock is high or low?

I highly doubt we are going to “dominate” them. This is going to be a hard fought game. But we have a lot of talent and good coaching that says we can outlast even a well-played game by the Panthers. I personally think Bill Simmons underestimates us (as he does for most Atlanta sports, which is why he’s been one of my least favorite writers for some time.)