It wasn’t a very good night at the Dome.

The Atlanta Falcons failed miserably in front of a national television audience and had their rears handed to them by the New England Patriots on Thursday night. As Troy Aikman and Joe Buck pontificated about everything and anything going on in the NFC, the Dirty Birds came out and showed that they are not ready for primetime.

Thankfully, it’s just the preseason.

Just like the pros, we are rounding into shape with our weekly regular season routine: the good, the bad and the ugly. So let’s take a look at what went right and what went wrong on Thursday night in Atlanta.

The good: There really wasn’t much in this game -- at least for the home team. Yes, Matt Ryan looked good in Atlanta’s first few drives, marching the team down the field against a staunch Pats defense. But once again, the first unit was unable to find the end zone, settling for a field goal. Matt Bryant missed another field goal on the Dirty Birds’ third possession.

John Parker Wilson kind of looked poised backing up Ryan and looked really good while under attack from New England’s D. The problem is that he was rolling out of the pocket way too much for his own good as the Pats turned up the pressure on the QB from Alabama.

Go figure – Parker Wilson’s lone miscue of the night came at the hand of a former SEC rival. Auburn’s Jonathan Wilhite ended an Atlanta second-half drive by picking off the young Falcons quarterback in a fourth-and-long situation.



Apparently, dating a reality TV star is working wonders for Atlanta DT Kroy Biermann. I don’t know what “Desperate Housewives of Atlanta” star Kim Zolciak is doing to help elevate Biermann’s game, but whatever it is, let’s hope it continues. Biermann sacked pretty boy Tom Brady and forced a fumble. The team has clearly taken notice, with coach Mike Smith acknowledging that Biermann is making a strong bid for a starting role on the team.

Antone Smith looked like he was ready to nail down the No. 3 spot at running back, rushing for 44 yards on eight carries.

The bad: There was plenty of bad to go around in this one. Atlanta’s first unit run defense was terrible, allowing Fred Taylor and Co. to run all over the Dome.



They also allowed a shaggy Brady to complete pass-after-pass on New England’s first couple of drives. (I didn’t know the quasi-mullet was back in fashion, Brady, but then again… you’re married to a supermodel and much more trendy than I’ll ever be.)

Anyhow, back to the game. The defensively-challenged Falcons missed five tackles on the Pats’ first drive. Rookie Sean Weatherspoon looked like, well, a rookie, blowing coverages and missing tackles as New England quickly put the game away. He was caught out of position with his head turned the wrong way when Brady connected with fellow rookie Aaron Hernandez to give the Pats a 14-3 lead.

The Atlanta offense was not much better. They could not find the end zone until garbage time in the fourth quarter.

“Tonight, obviously we didn’t play anywhere near the level we need to play if we are going to be the football team that we want to be,” coach Mike Smith said afterwards. “It is the preseason, but we still didn’t play at the level, in any phase of the game, that we want to play.”

Now that’s an understatement.

The ugly: Well, it’s good to know that the officials are in mid-season form already. And by mid-season form, I mean throwing that advantageous flag or two in favor of the media-darling Patriots. As some of you know, I grew up a Jets fan and there’s no team that gets under my skin more than the evil New England Patriots. The Patriots are royalty in the AFC – the team that CBS loves to showcase and the league loves to have “go deep” into the postseason. It never ceases to amaze me how a handful of these royal teams get a disproportionate amount of breaks from the zebras – almost the NFL’s version of the NBA’s Michael Jordan rules.

Thus, I was not shocked in the slightest when New England scored that second touchdown with the assist from the refs.

With the score a manageable 7-3, the Falcons defense bent, but did not break, stopping Pats at the Atlanta 23. And New England looked like it was going to come up empty on the drive after kicker Stephen Gotkowski shanked a 41-yard field goal attempt wide right.

Enter the zebras. Chevis Jackson was whistled for roughing the kicker. His offense? Trying to block the kick. He missed and came to a complete stop on the Georgia Dome turf. Gotkowski ran into him.

A few plays later, it was 14-3. Just plain terrible.

Yes, the Falcons got killed in this one and the Patriots would have won regardless. However, this type of terrible officiating has to stop. The Patriots are good enough to win on their own. They don’t need these assists from the refs that they continually seem to be getting. Enough is enough.

-- PHIL FOLEY
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