Will Falcons soar, or bore?
Posted: Saturday August 01, 1998 09:26 PM
This is the ninth in a series of postcards Sports Illustrated's Peter
King will e-mail from his annual training-camp tour.
Posted: Sat August 1, 1998
July 31: Suwanee, Ga.
TEAM: Atlanta
Falcons
SITE:The Atlanta Falcons' Inn and Conference Center, hard by I-85
and the drive-thru window of the Suwanee McDonald's. Drive up, and while
you're waiting for your Egg McMuffin and coffee (light), look through the
passenger-side window and you can watch the oldest quarterback on the
planet throw to a bunch of interesting new guys -- draftees Jammi
German and Tim Dwight (the tiny Steve Tasker clone from
Iowa) and Tony Martin, who came in a trade from San Diego.
FOOD: Sorry. The Falcons bolted for Jacksonville after their
morning practice and I bolted for business downtown. (I say business, but I
really mean Maddux-McGwire at Turner Field.)
Dear NFL Junkie:
Plenty of good seats available for practice-watching. This morning there
may have been 75 people on the hill overlooking the fields. Then again, it
may have been closer to 68.
I actually think the Falcons could be the third-place team in a bad
division, behind San Francisco and Carolina, in that order. And I think
they could win nine games, if Chris Chandler takes a bottle of
durability pills and they don't have to play Tony Graziani or
third-stringer Steve DeBerg. (Although you've got to admire DeBerg's
spunk. While the rest of the team was hanging around the sidelines or
participating in a special-teams walk-through this morning, DeBerg was
alone on the other field, practicing speed on his five- and seven-step
drops. Hey, the guy still throws a beautiful pass. But to think when the
bull starts flying and guys like Gabe Wilkins start chasing him that
he could play a regular role or anything more than emergency fill-in, at
44, is delusional. I told him after practice the only bad thing about his
comeback is that now Joe Theismann will REALLY want to come back,
and he got a kick out of that.
I got a feel for what practice is like for a rookie not guaranteed a slot.
He can't get hurt. Just can't. Dwight has some kind of right hip and groin
injury -- he wouldn't say -- and he limped gamely through punt-return
drills and running routes on offense. He jogged, sprinted and walked with a
tight facial expression, looking like he was in pain but refusing to
acknowledge it. He had about 20 pounds of ice strapped to his right hip area
after practice. "It's nothing,'' he said. Right. It can't be anything.
I'm going home for a few days, but I thought I'd give a little review
of what I've seen so far. Here's a ranking of the nine teams
I've seen so far this summer:
1. Tampa Bay. By a mile. This team's a serious Super Bowl
contender.
2. Carolina. Partly Dom Capers, partly the defense. I think
Panthers fans better get ready for a lot of 13-9 games.
3. New England. Why do I think they'll lose their first playoff
game?
4. Dallas. The Cowboys could be the first team in NFL history to
finish with zero sacks. Told Jerry Jones I didn't like
Pittman-Owens as a fear-striking defensive-end duo. "Well, teams
will put four on Leon Lett, and hose guys can just run free,'' he
said, laughing. He won't be laughing in November.
5. Miami. Totally, absolutely unpredictable. One prediction,
however: At season's end, new offensive coordinator Kippy Brown will
get a head-coaching interview. The guy's really bright.
6. New York Jets.
One of the league's many 7-Eleven teams. Could win seven,could win 11. Just
heard, though, that Marvin Jones is out for the year with a knee
injury.
7. Atlanta. Intriguing. In a weak division, I'll be surprised if
they don't win seven.
8. Buffalo. Give it to Antowain Smith 360 times, and pray.
9. Indianapolis. Don't get Peyton Manning killed, and
pray.
See you late next week.
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