FanPost

Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Atlanta Falcons

How does Santa Claus come down a chimney, daddy? Well, he's got a bit of magic that allows him to slip down lickety split.

Did the Easter Bunny hide eggs for me to find, daddy? Yes he did! He's a wonderful Rabbit isn't he!

How did the Falcons win the NFC #1 seed, daddy? Uhm, we'll the Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny had this bet with Authur Blank see. . .

With the 16th ranked offense and 16th ranked defense, the plausibility of the [i]Atlanta Falcons[/i] going 13-3 and taking the #1 seed seems more than laughable: it seems downright impossible. But unlike Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, there's video evidence to prove the 2010 Atlanta Falcons actually exist.

I don't malign the doubters, the fault finders, and the unbelievers. Just look at teh ranking of offense and defense. 16th! In both catagories. When you're the very definition of middle/mean/average, it's hard to describe how you get the #1 spot. It defines logic, therefore it just can't believe it's true. It must be a ruse. A fluke. An error. Let that sit in your thoughts for a moment. Sixteenth and sixteenth. That is 15 teams betteron offense and 15 teams better on defense. Yet somehow #1 in the NFC: impossible.

It's funny how sports announcers, coaches and players always talk about being a team. They'll say "There's no I in team!" and yammer on about how a team can acheive more that a bunch of players. But evidently they don't really believe it. That unbelief shows up in the lack of credit given to the Atlanta team. Without a player to pin the laurels, the announcers all act like the 13-3 record is a myth. ESPN, NFL Network, even S I, they all just ignore the impact of playing as a team.

I'll tell you a little secret. Do you know what you get when take really good coaching, really good players and mix in really good practices, really good discipline and really good teamwork? A trip to the Super Bowl. Frankly, Altanta doesn't have the best coaches. They don't have the 'best' running back, quarterback, wide receiver, tight end. Likely, on any given Sunday the other team will have some group of players who are better than the Falcons. But Altanta isn't a bunch of players doing their job. Altanta is a professional team, while their opponents this year have been professional franchises. Guess what? The better team wins, not the better franchise.

The offense gives the defense the rest it needed to keep the win. The special teams gives the team the spark needed to win. The defense has given the ball back to the offense just in time to win. The fans give the team the little push needed to get over the challenge before them. Teamwork is perpetual motion. It is the better team that wins.

Yes, you've heard of teams and teamwork before. Like me, you just let it go in one ear and out the other. No more. After the Super Bowl people will associate the Atlanta Falcons as the embodiment of team and teamwork. And when all those naysayers get together and try to figure out how this middle of the road team did it, the only answer will be "they play like a team".

<em>This FanPost was written by one of The Falcoholic's talented readers. It does not necessarily reflect the views of The Falcoholic.</em>