The Out Route

You might remember, one of the very first rants we went out here at was about our disdain for Michael Vick. On the heels of his interview with Inside the NFL, where he threw his entire team under the bus, people are starting to wonder about his future with the Falcons. It's apparently clear that this is either his last year in Atlanta or Jim Mora Jr.'s. If Arthur Blank and Rich McKay are smart, they'll part with the big name and go with Matt Schaub and Mora, because Schaub is a quarterback that actually fits Mora's system. It seems now that even fans in Atlanta are calling for Vick's demise.

I was scouring the traffic information for the site a couple of days ago when I found that a few people were reading our original Vick post from a link at the Atlanta Falcons message board. Out of curiousity, I went to the site, expecting to see a bunch of homers dogging us for speaking the truth. But, a few people aside, the overwhelming consensus was with us, and therefore, against Vick. There's a uprising swelling in Atlanta, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. But Atlanta needs to look no further than straight up in the NFC South to my beloved Saints. They got rid of an athletic, big name quarterback because he made too many mistakes with the ball. In his stead, they brought in Drew Brees, who at this rate might wind up winning the MVP. It's a move that needs to be made if the Falcons want to have some success.

Oh, and for further statistical proof, there's this: In Vick's 1,619 career dropbacks, he's been sacked 160 times. That's a 10.1 average. For comparison, Dan Marino, in his 8,629 dropbacks, was sacked 271 times, a 31.8 average. Keep in mind, Marino was completely stone-footed. And Michael Vick, supposedly the most elusive player in NFL history, has played behind a really good offensive line for the last few years. So apparently his scrambling ability isn't that great, either.