The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What to do after home team tanks
Three games remain until yet another Super Bowl championship that the Falcons will not claim.
Another hungover day-after, having chugged the belief that these Falcons should have been favored on the road against the NFC’s top seed.
What were we thinking?
Aren’t we getting a little too old for that kind of irresponsible behavior?
Another day of reckoning, when you look back on all the bad decisions you have made in your life when it comes to choosing which officially licensed sports-themed clothing you’d adopt.
Ten points? That offense scored 10 points? Granted, Philadelphia has a more than able defense. But the Falcons, with all their supposed playmaking wealth, should have 10 points when they
step off the bus. Lights don’t dim on the Vegas Strip. Mensa conventions don’t toil over the Monday morning Sudoku. And this Falcons’ offense should never score just 10 points when it matters this much.
Nevertheless, the NFL insists
upon continuing this postseason, peaking with the first Super Bowl since Feb. 5, 2017 to not include the Falcons.
So, you pick yourself up and carry on. Watching more football in the absence of the Falcons is an obligation at this point. The NFL needs the TV ratings — for if they keep slumping, the owners are going to have to start selling off all their solid gold monocles and taking second mortgages on their unicorn ranches.
There are practical considerations, too. There are only a couple more Sundays left of justifiable couch time, and that leftover beer in your fridge is not going to drink itself.
Not saying it will be easy. It means watching three more games worth of truly appalling officiating.
Three more games of official reviews interrupted by sporadic football.
Three more games of Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers battling it out for your insurance dollar.
But, also, three more games of watching quarterbacks who made plays at significant moments — even if three of them were named Keenun, Bortles and Foles (the fourth is some fellow named Brady, who is so good he can yell at his coordinator like he’s his pool boy).
None named Ryan. Should the Falcons’ 30-something quarterback require any more motivation for 2018, he might paste those first three names to his bathroom mirror.
Granted, the NFL’s Final Four holds questionable interest to the Atlanta audience. Here you dared dream of an all-SEC NFC Championship — the Falcons at New Orleans — and got something entirely different.
A Minnesota-Philadelphia conference final has a nice old school ring to it, but I don’t see the late Chuck Bednarik walking through that door any time soon. It’s just a meeting of the best teams playing their best football at the best time. That’s going to have to be enough.
Minnesota even brings the wow factor, beating New Orleans on a final pass Sunday night, a moment of sheer magic that almost makes you believe there may be a home team in the Super Bowl.
In the other conference, the AFC, otherwise known as New England and the Pips, the Patriots have eased into another home championship game with eyes on a 10th alltime Super Bowl appearance.
Negative energy is difficult to maintain. Rooting against someone is never as deeply satisfying as rooting for a favorite team. But in the Patriots’ case, you may want to make an exception.
Of course, if they do win another one, they might just let go of that 28-3 thing.
They will be matched against Jacksonville, known mostly as the place where Georgia alums go once a year to remember what it’s like to pass out at The Landing.
If you are in need of memory work, you have this week to study the Jaguars’ roster in order to retain a name or two. There’ll be an openbook test Sunday.
And, here, take just a moment to stop and consider the still unlikely scenario of the Jags winning a Super Bowl before the Falcons.
Wouldn’t that be special?