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So whatever happened to Ed Donatell (he of the 4th & 26 debacle)? It seems that while I was trying to get over the abrupt end to the season and quick shake up, new Falcons new coach Jim Mora Jr. was hiring him to be Atlanta's defensive coordinator. Yeah, I'd completely missed that.
Peter King was positively raving (OK, I'll admit it, he does that) about the Atlanta defensive front last Monday and even mentioned Donatell by name. Through three games (which proves very little) Atlanta has a terrific defense where last year it was hopeless...
Meanwhile, up on the tundra (all because of the icebowl?), things are shaky. Fighting amongst teammates isn't always a bad sign (at least they have a pulse). Injuries are a killer (including those caused by holdout), but a defense needs a strength. Thus far, they don't have one (unless you consider letting teams run and pass at will 'a strength'). The New York game is going to be interesting, if only to see if the defense can step up and stop what seems to be a pretty anemic offense. If so, we'll count the Bears game as Lovie induced psychosis (not likely to happen the second time around with Grossman out of the picture) and fob off the Colts game for what it was, an awful first half and better than expected second half (I sent Tom a message mid game that I'd expected to need at least 35 to beat the Colts, not 35 per half).
It's sad to see Mike Flanagan depart for season ending knee surgery. He's thirty now and that's not a great age for NFL linemen. Here's hoping he comes back from it, but not at the expense of being able to walk twenty years from now.
This is a guy who really had to work his way into the hearts of fans, in part because of the broken leg during preseason of his rookie year. He'd looked pretty lost and then down he went. Came back the next year (preparing to defend the championship) and went down again with complications and more attention from the doctors.
The knock was that he wasn't big, or fast or sturdy enough.
He finally earned his way onto the field the next season (starting out as the backup to the backup behind long time center Frank Winters; playing anywhere they'd let him including special teams). He eventually became the starting center in 2001 and did a fine job.
Whatever the team might have thought, Flanagan became a personal favorite in '02, when he played damned near everywhere; something I consider quite unusual for offensive linemen (certainly the good ones). Tackle (yes left tackle Zimmerman!), guard and center. If someone went down for a game or two, he was shuffled over and filled in very competently (and perhaps better). When he was left off the Pro Bowl team I was let down; for the first time ever I'd voted on the offensive line and done so for someone who truly deserved to be there. He was certainly the most valuable offensive lineman in Green Bay.
Last year was vindication. He made the Pro Bowl by doing less.
And now he'll be pacing (sitting?) the sidelines. What effect will that have on the rest of the line? Hard to say, although some recent articles about other centers suggest they spend a lot of their time barking out adjustments for the other linemen. Certainly, Favre will need to make adjustments in the shotgun, perhaps in other parts of the game too. We'll just have to see.
Posted by Dave at October 3, 2004 07:16 AM