The Dirty Birds are 4-6 on the season, 4-0 in the NFC South and 2-0 in their last 2 games on the road. But they are concentrating on one record… 1-0. Say what you want about Mike Smith, and yes there are plenty of positives AND negatives, but I really like his new “1-0” campaign for the rest of the season. After that gut wrenching loss in England, “1-0” is the motto, taking it one week at a time. It seems to be working, but will it carry over to a hot Cleveland Browns team?
HOT Cleveland Brown team?! When was the last time anyone said that? Has anyone EVER said that? Yes, they lost to the Texans last week, but they are very much still in the mix for the AFC North title. I’m sure the Browns have HIGH expectations for Josh Gordon’s return. He’s definitely not GREEN in the ways of being a great receiver. Will he help Cleveland climb out of the WEEDS of being in last place in their division? Okay I’ll stop. Brian Hoyer will be happy to have Gordon back and Desmond Trufant will have his work cut out for him. The Browns currently rank 14th in the league in overall offense and 22nd in defense, which is not great but certainly not terrible. Oh, and if you’re wondering who has the worst ranked defense in the league, that would be the Atlanta Falcons.
Despite the worst defense in the league, they are currently on top of the abysmal NFC South. With the 6th best passing attack in the league, and having the DOME field advantage, expect Matty Ice to air the ball out. Roddy, Julio and HD are all healthy and ready to go. Even the ukalele strumming, giant samoan Levine Toilolo is coming up with some nice grabs lately. I’m really at a loss for the defense. Despite Cam Newton having a shitty game last week (until he magically awoke in the 4th quarter), he still had ALL day to throw the ball on multiple drop backs. And the Panthers O Line is not exactly a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully, playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in 42 days will light a fire under Kroy and Osi’s respective asses!
I’ve had tickets to this game since May because, as soon as Johnny Football was drafted , by buddy Moskal bought two. Let’s face it, very few people thought Brian Hoyer would last this long. However, i’m still pumped for the game. So sit back, crack open an ice cold can of Matty Ice and watch the dirty birds soar to 5-6!
Atlanta 27 Cleveland 21
Brian Grooms
eighty five south 
Clock Management at the end of the game was awful. I’ve been a Mike Smith apologist for far too long. I appreciate the fact that he is the winningest Head Coach in team history. Unfortunately, thats more of a reflection on our wretched history as franchise than it is his success. We all know Arthur means business. He’s playing a different game to prove that Jerry World is old news. Atlanta is going to be a thriving city in the next five years — two new stadiums and a football owner willing to spend some cash. Add the growing entertainment industry and you have the ingredients for a VERY attractive coaching job. Arthur WILL be able to get a high profile guy to lead the Rise Up Nation, real talk. The only thing holding up that scenario is Mike Smith — a great guy, a good coach, but as we all know being just a “good guy” doesn’t set you apart. His success on the field has warranted the benefit of the doubt. But for me, today was the final straw. It’s like when we knew Dan Uggla was done at the end of 2013. But part of us still remembered that juiced up dude in the Marlins uniform raking line drives over that big teal scoreboard. So some of us bought in on Dan for 2014 — but he was terrible once again and released by Independence Day. Same thing applies to Mike Smith. I gave him the benefit of the doubt after London, because I still think fondly of Matty Ice beating Chicago in 18 seconds, Spoon knocking the ever living snot out of RGIII, and even Dunta Robinson running around celebrating like he did something after a big play. Yea, our Defense did used to make big plays. That game today should have been won, enough is enough. He’s getting into Les Miles territory when it comes to clock management. Smitty doesn’t get to choose his players the same way Les does, clock management is a big deal in the NFL and Mike Smith just can’t seem to get a handle on it. It’s time for Smitty and the Birds to part ways.