Despite sporting the league’s best record, there are still people doubting the Atlanta Falcons. Roddy White and Brent Grimes have responded to one of them.
ESPN’s Skip Bayless called out the Dirty Birds after their 28-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, telling folks that “the Falcons don’t have any impressive wins.” In this age of the instant communication on the Internet, that quickly elevated to a war of words on Twitter.
Bayless tweeted to his 100,000 followers that there was “No way can I knock (Atlanta’s) 10-2. But show me impressive wins. 41-7 at home over Arizona? 34-17 at (St. Louis)? Certainly not either (Tampa Bay) game” before questioning whether Grimes’ late INT to seal the Falcons’ win over the Bucs was indeed a catch.
The mouthy ESPN commentator chirped: “More I see that game-ending Falcons INT, more I think it should've been overturned. But that's the theme of this (Atlanta) season: Meant to be.”
Let’s just say that didn’t go over too well in the Falcons’ nest.
“Skip Bayless said we don’t have any impressive wins this season,” Grimes tweeted. “All I can say is wow!!!”
“Skip is a Falcon hater,” White chimed in. “I need to call ESPN and tell Skip (what’s) up my mind.”
“Skip said we have no good wins this season,” he added in another tweet. “Well I rather have 10 bad wins than 7 good ones.”
Ultimately, this comes down to a question of whether size (of victory) matters. Bayless thinks so, pointing out that only two of Atlanta’s 10 wins have been by more than a touchdown. Most of the rest have come down to the wire, with the Dirty Birds ultimately emerging victorious.
However, on the other side of the coin, half of those victories have come against quality teams and one of their losses occurred on the road in overtime against a very good Pittsburgh Steelers team.
When the dust settles on Week 13, Atlanta’s detractors will point to the prowess of the New England Patriots and put them ahead of the Dirty Birds in the power rankings. The Pats will be considered the better 10-2 team by Bayless and the other size matters folks around the league because they got some style points by pasting the New York Jets, 45-3, on Monday Night Football.
My guess is that if the Jets and Pats meet again in the playoffs, payback is going to be a slang word for a female dog. Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave the Jets plenty of motivation in the rematch by brazenly running up the score, throwing the football and going for it on fourth down despite an insurmountable lead in the fourth quarter.
So what makes for a better postseason football team one that blows out opponents or one that executes in a close game with the game on the line?
Bayless appears to be egging White and the Falcons to give some poor NFL opponent one of those beat downs.
“You want me to lie & say you're by far the NFL's best team,” he tweeted back to White. “Cinch Super Bowl winner? Am I a hater, Roddy, or a truth teller?
“I cannot stop you from winning a game impressively,” he added separately. “But maybe I can help motivate you to do so, if you’re capable.”
He also continued to needle Grimes on his INT.
“Though you made a great break on the ball, deep down, you know you didn't cleanly catch that interception,” Bayless chirped. “Another great break.”
“Deep down I know I did catch it,” Grimes responded. “(And) if I didn't I am sure they would not have had a problem overturning it.”
At least the Dirty Birds are starting to turn some heads around the national press, even if not everyone believes that the Falcons are for real. It’s up to White, Grimes and the rest of the Falcons to change that perception one win at a time.
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Comments
Bayless is right on the money with his comments.At least 3 of Atlanta's wins have been because of bad officiating at crucial moments(Ravens).
Let me guess, they shouldn't have beaten the Bucs on Sunday either because the Grimes INT wasn't a pick and Tampa would have marched into the end zone for the winning score.
Not sure what the third "gift" from the refs was, though, enlighten me.
And the only reason the Grimes int. was not reversed was bad replay angles.
My guess is that they couldn't reverse that one no matter what angle they used. It looked like his leg was coming around to shield the ball from the turf. It would have been tough to get a good angle to reverse the call on the field.
I'll submit that the refs were terrible on Sunday -- and for both teams. However, the INT should stand.
The eleven "contenders" and their record against the other "contenders" are:
Atlanta 3-2
New Orleans 1-1
Philly 2-2
NYG 1-1
Chicago 2-1
Green Bay 2-2
New England 3-1
NY Jets 1-3
Pittsburgh 2-3
Baltimore 2-3
Kansas City 0-0
Even the saints got lucky last year, every team needs luck to win in the NFL at times. Wonder what team the talentless Bayless thinks is good? Let me guess the Pats? yea they NEVER win close games because if they did they would not be any good.
I guarantee you it's the Pats. They got style points beating down the Jets, dontcha know. (We'll forget about that loss to the Browns).
Probably the Eagles in the NFC for that same reason. (We'll ignore those losses to the Bears, Titans, Redskins and Packers).
Bayless is a homo
Who gives a crap about the self-indulging Skip Bayless? Insignificant is the word I think of when the mama's boy Skip Bayless has anything to say.
The Falcons are not impressive.They are a good team with a very good record. Every team needs a little luck to reach the Super Bowl,but it is not impressive to rely on luck or the referees to pull out wins week after week from teams you should be blowing away.Win with authority and earn respect.
Having a winning record while 1/3 of your starters are rookies and a second year QB....now THAT'S impressive.
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