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Even at $40 a spot, the parking on the grounds of Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home was some of the cheapest around on Jan. 22. For two miles on both sides, Northside Drive was dotted by men in bright green vests, most waving neon orange flags and holding up placards promising spots for tailgaters to leave their vehicles during the big National Football Conference (NFC) Championship contest. Spots closer to the Georgia Dome nearly hit triple digits; you could park your ride in a muddy bog across the street from the still under-construction Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a mere $80.
Underneath dreary gray clouds, much of the Atlanta skyline was obscured, with the Dome itself partially cloaked in an ominous fog. Despite the periodic downpours, by noon – three hours before kickoff – the streets and alleys alongside the Dome were nonetheless bustling with activity. Virtually every intersection was populated by transplant Packers fans – some wearing the ubiquitous “cheese head” hat and some in full cow costumes – and the Falcons’ faithful, many clutching their Dirty Birds-branded towels and beaded necklaces like rosaries. Since 1966, it was only the fourth time the team had made it to the NFC title game, and just their second time hosting it. The last time the Falcons made it this far in the postseason, they blew a 17-0 lead at home and watched the San Francisco 49ers celebrate a trip to the Super Bowl in their own building.
That’s a game that still rankles 43-year-old Atlantan Eric Stenzel. Indeed, he considers the 2012-2013 NFC Championship loss to be the absolute nadir of his Falcons fandom.
Still, he recounts plenty of great memories at the soon-to-be-imploded Georgia Dome. Perhaps none were sweeter, he said, than the final game of the 2016-17 regular season – a 38-32 win over arch rivals New Orleans.
He said he knows all too well the usual criticisms of the team. “We’re too up and down,” he said. “We’re great one year, suck the next, great one year, suck the next. Even though last year, we didn’t suck, we just lost a lot of close games.”
As evident by the team’s 11-5 regular season record, however, Stenzel said he believes the Falcons are bound to enjoy something the franchise hasn’t really experienced too much of in the past – sustained success. “For the next five years, we’re going to be a very good team,” he said, “and then, it will depend on how they draft.”
With a record of 341 wins, 437 losses and six ties, the Falcons have an all-time regular season winning percentage of just .439. Only two teams – the long, long suffering Arizona Cardinals and divisional foes Tampa Bay – fare worse statistically in the National Football League history books.
Just three years removed from a disastrous 4-12 season and only two years removed from a 6-10 season which led to the firing of Mike Smith and rumors of star quarterback Matt Ryan getting benched and possibly even traded, the Falcons have experienced an incredible turnaround under the stewardship of head coach Dan Quinn. The team posted the most total points of any NFL squad during the 2016 regular season, averaging 33.8 points per game. And “Matty Ice” – just months earlier berated by naysayers for being “on the wrong side of 30” with “diminishing physical skills combined with an inability to win the big game” – was named the League’s Most Valuable Player by the Pro Football Writers of America, while no less than six Falcons players were selected for the Pro Bowl.
The failings and falterings and futility of the team’s wayward years – Bob Lee’s atrocious 1974 season, Marion Campbell’s 3-13 ’89 campaign and Bobby Petrino resigning 13 games into the 2007 season, among other franchise lowlights – are but distant memories, according to Stenzel.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “This year, we win.”
(You like what you’ve read so far, don’t you? Well, the rest is found HERE. I could’ve published the entire thing but James put a ton of really good work into this thing and I think you should visit his site. While you’re there, read some more of his non-HG stuff. – Mike.)
