On a day in which the big story in the NFL was Michael Vick, the Falcons were put on display on Monday night football, for the world to see how bad the team is, how empty the stands are, how far the franchise has fallen. They fell, all right, losing by a bunch in a non-competitive game to the average Saints, but even in getting whipped, there were positives.
This team has a passing game. Sure, it's been led by Manny, Mo and Jack all year -- or Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich and Chris Redman, if you want to be accurate -- but check out Roddy White. This is a legit fantasy wide receiver, tied for No. 15 at the position for the season, and while I don't mean to be glib or insensitive, this wouldn't have happened if Vick was the quarterback. It never had before.
The Falcons did have somewhat of a run in the Vick years, winning more than they lost a few times, getting to the NFC title game once (and as an Eagles fan, I'm thankful they did or Philly might not have gone to the Super Bowl!) and being a team that mattered on highlight shows. But Atlanta never had a wide receiver we could count on in fantasy. Alge Crumpler was this team's top receiving option the past three seasons, and the best Peerless Price could do in the Vick era was 838 yards. Most of the time I wouldn't even rank a Falcons wide receiver for the season, knowing that Brian Finneran would be available most weeks as free agent fodder.
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Eric Karabell
