The Futility of the Atlanta Falcons

Michael Vick was supposed to be the franchise. He was an electrifying player who broke the single-season rushing record for a quarterback. His jersey was one of the top sellers, He sold out stadiums. He garnered TV ratings. He broke records and played in Pro Bowls. He had a rocket arm, blazing speed and he was the face of the Atlanta Falcons.

Those days are gone now, Vick will spend Thanksgiving day in jail, having turned himself in to begin a jail sentence for federal dogfighting charges.

The Vick tragedy is just one of many follies for the beleaguered Falcons franchise. In it's history, since 1966, the Falcons have never posted back to back winning seasons. The closest they've came is 11-5 in 2004 followed by an 8-8 mark in 2005. It's a team that has only made the playoffs eight times, two of those with Vick at quarterback. The Falcons have only appeared in one Super Bowl, losing to the Denver Broncos 34-19. The night before the big game, safety Eugene Robinson was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer for sex.

Rankin Smith, who brought the team to Atlanta in 1966 as an expansion team has to wait until 1971 for his first winning season. The first coach he hired, Norb Heckler only one four games during his tenure. Leeman Bennett had the best success during the Smith years compiling a record of 46-41 from 1977-1982. After Bennett was fired, the franchise suffered through seven consecutive losing seasons.

It looked the Falcons might be turning a corner in 1991 when a team lead by "Prime Time" Deion Sanders on defense and featuring a high powered run and shoot style offense went 10-6 and made it to the second round of the playoffs. But head coach Jerry Glanville couldn't follow up with another winning season after that and was fired after the 1993 season. Former offensive coordinator June Jones took the coaching reigns and took the Falcons to the playoffs in 1995 but the team imploded in 1996 after quarterback Jeff George and head coach Jones got into a heated sideline argument on national television. George was benched for the rest of the year and the Falcons only managed three wins.

The Falcons got a proven commodity in head coach and GM Dan Reeves in 1997, He had coached the Denver Broncos to four Super Bowls, all losses but given the Falcons' futility this was better than what they were used to given they'd never even sniffed this big game. In 1998, Reeves' team compiled a 14-2 record, beat the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in the Metrodome in route to the NFC title and its first Super Bowl.

After the previously mentioned Robinson scandal, it seemed that the spector of bad luck continued to plague the team. Wide receiver Tony Martin was indicted on federal drug charges and was released by the team. Martin would later be found innocent of the charges and went to Miami Dolphins. Running back Jamal Anderson, who rushed for a team record 1,846 rushing yards the year before blew his ACL in the third game of the season and th Falcons never recovered. They won just five games in 1999. After another losing season, Reeves drafted Vick with the first pick in the 2001 draft. In his first season as a starter in 2002, Vick lead the Falcons to a 9-6-1 record and to the second round of the playoffs, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Former Home Depot CEO Arthur Blank bought the team and vowed he would not rest until Atlanta won a Super Bowl. However, bad luck struck again in 2003 when in a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens Vick blew out his knee. He wouldn't return until week 12, far too late to help the struggling Falcons. Reeves stepped down before the season ended though Vick went 3-1 in the games he started. Blank hired Jim Mora, son of the former Saints Coach. In 2004, the Falcons enjoyed their greatest success since the Super Bowl season: an 11-5 regular season record, a division championship and a trip to the NFC title game. Unfortunately for the Falcons, they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Championship game. After an 8-8 season and a 7-9 losing campaign in 2006, Mora was fired depsite posting the best winning percentage of any head coach in Falcons' history (.549).

So far in 2007, without Vick, the Falcons have limped to a 3-7 record. New head coach Bobby Petrino has struggled trying to implement his offensive scheme without a downfield quarterback. Joey Harrington is a better fit for a West Coast scheme with Byron Leftwich, the former Jacksonville starter has been plagued by injuries.

Can the Falcons turn it all around and be a winning franchise? The crosstown Atlanta Braves were once known as one of the worst teams in baseball but managed to win 14 division titles from 1991-2004. If Blank has his way, winning days are soon to come but how long will the Atlanta faithful wait? The empty seats in the Georgia Dome tell the tale. If Blank and Petrino are going to turn it around, the team must win on the field. 2007 may be lost but 2008, for the sake of the Falcons and fans, needs to be a success.