The Atlanta Falcons finished their 2012 season with a fantastic record of 13-3; but this year, Matt Ryan and the boys are off to a lousy 1-4 start. After already falling to New Orleans, Miami, New England and the New York Jets, things aren’t looking too hot in “Hotlanta.”
Injuries have taken a toll on the team early this year. Running back, Steven Jackson, has been out with a hamstring injury and a hurt left hamstring has slowed Roddy White, wide receiver, down. There are a number of linebackers on injured reserve for Atlanta. Asante Samuel has also missed a few games with a hip injury. A big blow for Atlanta is the news yesterday that Julio Jones, wide receiver, will miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury.
Jones got hurt during Atlanta’s 30-28 loss to the New York Jets on Monday but stayed in the game despite the injury. It’s good to play through the pain, right? Wrong. A CAT scan revealed that he suffered a fracture in the same location in his foot that he had previously hurt back in 2011. He will have surgery on Monday causing Atlanta to lose one of their top receivers for the remainder of the season. Jones currently leads his team this season with 41 catches for 580 yards and two touchdowns.
At this point I’m wondering, could anything else go wrong for the Falcons right now? Injury after injury, and more off games from Matt Ryan who some consider an elite quarterback but has not proved himself to me yet.
This season has been a series of unfortunate events so far for the Falcons. Who will step up in Atlanta and help the “dirty birds” turn it around to become a super bowl contender again? Yes, it’s still fairly early in season, but can they even be considered a contender again?