FanPost

If They Only Knew

I'll try to wrap all my thoughts into this one, as its held heavily on my mind for a minute. Take the jump with me to see what I mean.

I've been checking when I wake up. I've been checking during classes. I've been checking before I go to bed. I'm talking of course about any type of free agency activity for the Falcons. On this very same site we had close to 1000 comments on the first two days of free agency, as the anticipation of the slightest bit of news ran through the fanbase like no other. As it stands today, while they are good articles, our contributors are writing stories about players who would make great coaches and if Jacquizz will be a breakout star next year. No offense, but I'd much rather have passionate discussions about how the new guy we signed will have an impact with our club. Unfortunately, that doesn't look to be happening.

The stars were aligned for this to be the year to make serious noise in the division and throughout the league. Saints have issue with star QB and rumbles around the league if he will remain in NO, yet no moves made. Sean Payton gets suspended for a year, weakening the NO braintrust, yet no moves made. John Kincade says on twitter today that people in the know did indeed inform him that Matt Ryan was on the Saints "hit list" and sadly very little has been done to revamp the line, aside from signing a declining Mud Duck and a guy who was out of the league last year.

All I want is something to see the team isn't happy with status quo. There are many free agents who can help this team, yet nothing to report. We lose Weems and we have no idea how Cone or Meier will perform on special teams. Why not check in on Legadu Naanee, a ST ace and a guy who could atleast fill in if Roddy or Julio went down. We have no OLB depth at all. What's wrong with checking the tires on guys like Phillip Wheeler or Gary Guyton? I mean our backups are Robert James and Spencer Adkins, the two guys who've been on this team for so long yet have made the smallest impact. Then there comes the curious case of the one and only Sam Baker. Apologies for forgetting who posted the stat, but a commenter posted the other day that Baker has ranked 31st or 32nd in two of his years as a starter in reference to giving up sacks or QB pressure allowed. I honestly don't think I can be upset at Dimitroff for not cutting him loose any longer. He made a awful choice drafting him where he did and doesn't want to admit to it by cutting him free. Fine. The burden now falls on Mr. Ryan. How long can he go without stepping up to management and telling them he can't do it with Baker out there? Watch the tape and tell me what Ryan's footwork looked like between Baker and Svitek in there. By now you're probably saying "Okay DF give us an alternative" and I will. Literally anybody. Any of those free agents will probably be better than Baker if those stats are true. I thought Smitty's backing behind him was only hot air to begin the offseason. The updated depth chart posted by DOL has me really thinking they are willing to give this guy another shot at starting.

The resigning of damn near all of our own guys tells us these guys think that personnel was not the issue last season. I have no qualms with the defense, as they proved the can step up when need be as they did against NYG only to have the three and outs with the offense tire them out. I have no doubts that our pressure on the opposition will increase thanks to Nolan's new defensive scheming. I feel pretty good on offense as well, except for that line. It's almost as if Dimitroff believes he can just grab a coach to make up for a player's ineffectiveness.

What saddens me the most is the message they are sending fans. I hope to the core of me that this is untrue, but my gut tells me Dimitroff/Smitty are basically saying to themselves, "We got them to a place this franchise has never been to before, and they should be happy with that". It certainly rang out when I read one of Jay Adams tweets the other day when he was challenged by a Falcons fan. Unfortunately, the fans take solace in this as well, with one commenter saying the other day he'd take four winning seasons over a Super Bowl and three losing seasons. Super Bowls unite cities and put you in the history books. Winning seasons for us have ended in disappointment and let downs. You'll never see me bitch about what happened in 2009 and 2010. These past two seasons have been another story. The front office have given us just enough hope to sell tickets and to hinge their luck on a 9-7/10-6 season, judging by our schedule this year. Only time will tell if they'll manage to get past that roadblock in the postseason.

I'll be stepping back until the draft comes around or to comment on this article unless a signing is announced. I know you all are tired of my bitching so I don't want to drag down the fanbase, I just have an extreme passion about this club. Next to the good Lord and family, this team would be next on this list. I can recall many of night where my girlfriend would try to pry me from the laptop as I would converse with you all. The Bird is my heart and it always will be. It gave me hope night and day that there would someday be a championship brought to this town. That hope is dimming nowadays and I just don't know about the mindset of the higher ups anymore.

Have a great month and be blessed. Thanks for reading.

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