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Okay, I'm travelling to another NFL game to see the 'birds play. To some of you that may not seem like such a big deal. But for me (living in upstate New York) it's usually quite a haul to see a Falcons game. The last time I saw them was NJ 1998 when the Jets beat the Falcons in one of our only 2 losses of that magical 14-2 season. I'm praying for a better turnout this time vs. the Bills. So come on Vick & Co. DON'T LET ME DOWN!!! By the way, the pic above is about where I'll be sitting so when you're watching the 'birds this Sunday, and you see a black #7 jersey 6 rows up in a sea of blue... that's me!

The Atlanta Falcons took Sharod 'Roddy' White with the 1/27 pick. Roddy White is a senior WR from UAB and a fine addition to the deficient Atlanta receiving corps. Round 2/59 brought in Jonathan Babineaux, a DT out of Iowa, and Round 3/90 went for Jordan Beck, an ILB out of Cal-Poly. These picks were a little more expected with the obvious desire of GM Rich McKay to build up on defense. Stay tuned to Falcons-Rule for upcoming coverage of the '05 NFL Draft.

For the second time in three years, the road to the superbowl ended in Philadelphia for the Falcons. The Eagles entered the Conference Championship game for the fourth time in a row determined to shake the reputation of losing in the "big one". Michael Vick and the Falcons (ranked #1 in rushing 2004) were held to just 99 total rushing yards for the game. It was only the second NFC Conference Championship appearence in Falcons history, the first was when the Vikings fell to the '98 birds in an overtime thriller to send the Falcons to their first ever Superbowl.

After a long rest during the wildcard games, the Falcons came out firing at the visiting Rams. Only favored to win by 7 points, the 'birds jumped off to an early lead and never looked back. In what looked like it would be a high scoring game, the Rams fell too far behind to recover, and the Falcons were the only team scoring at will after that. Vick, Dunn and Duckett put up rushing yards like crazy, which opened up the passing game, but Vicks arm wasn't even needed at that point. The Rams were looking more like scared sheep by the beginning of the 4th quarter. After the Rams gave up a safety, a Fox sports commentator summed it up best by stating: "If this were a fight, they'd call it".

In a dramatic overtime thriller, Michael Vick and the dirtybirds dim the Panthers hopes of a wildcard berth. The Saturday night game proved the cardiac-cats true to their nick-name when Carolina came back twice from double-digit deficits to lead by 7. The Falcons tied it up and after an Aaron Beasley interception in overtime, Jay Feely put up 3 points to kill the cats. Whew!!! My heart was pounding, I love overtime games!

Waiting just one more week to gain this title was not too much of a hassle. I really didn't expect the Bucs to just hand us the division that easily anyhow. Thanks to the Raiders for playing just poor enough to give it to us. I can't believe with the season we've had this year, I've gone this deep with out even updating this archive. I apologize for that. There have been many GREAT games played this year and all you've been looking at in here is last years crap. I'll update in here again... sorry.

The Falcons finished their less than favorable season on a high note beating the Bucs then the Jags in the final two weeks of 2003. This certainly gives us fans some hope that we may have a better season in 2004. If we can keep a more mature Michael Vick healthy next year, we may see the promised land of post season once again. With a 5-11 record, we should receive a high pick in the draft this April. Hopefully we can make good use of it. To the Atlanta Falcons organization, I say: Thank you for a season we can only build from... the only way is up, right?

In a sudden twist of fate, The Falcons have a new head coach with 3 games left in the season. Owner Arthur Blank informed Dan Reeves that he would be replaced in 2004, Dan requested to be released effective immediately. Reeves will be replaced by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips as head coach for the remainder of the 2003 season.
This comes as no surprise to most of us who've been listening/writing in forum discussions lately. Dan has fell out of favor since earlier this season, when he couldn't seem to pull out a win without his star QB Michael Vick.

Late in the 3rd quarter, Michael Vick entered the game and moved the ball fairly easily against the Texan defense. Right away Michael showed us he could convert on 3rd down (a problem that has plagued us all year) and scramble almost as elusively as he has in the past. He seemed to show a little more caution which is probably a good thing. I look forward to next weeks game (a rarity this season). At first I was disappointed in Dan Reeves decision to call in the FG unit when we had a chance to win, but afterwards I realized he knows a win in a lost-cause season such as this will only drop us another notch deeper in the draft next year. This is a courageous act from a man whom will most likely lose his job next year.

Well, the Falcons seem to have this choking thing down... Reeves decided to start Doug Johnson at QB instead of our other 2nd rate... oops, I mean 2nd string QB Kurt Kittner for the Titans game. It doesn't seem to matter which one starts, we can lose games either way. The Titans QB McNair went out early in the game with a pulled leg muscle, and his backup Volek still stomped a mud hole in our defense. But perhaps the most disapointing event of Sundays game was the loss of RB Warrick Dunn with a left foot sprain. We wish him well and a speedy recovery. If this keeps Dunn sidelined, TJ Duckett will surely get more touches.

After losing to the 'aints AGAIN, we received some more bad news this week. It seems Michael Vick had his foot stepped on during practice. Apparently this dealt Michael enough pain to keep him out of the lineup for a couple more weeks. I'm starting to miss concussion Chris... well, maybe not yet.

Michael Vick practiced this week for the 1st time since his fibula fracture. This doesn't necessarily mean he'll be in the mix for the 'aints game, but I see him playing in 2k3.
Quote from Michael after Wednesday practice:
�It was good to be back. My ankle felt pretty good throughout most of the practice."