Ten Falcons reasons for all Falcons fans to give thanks today:
I'm thankful for the University of Arkansas, who got that hog-sooey idiot Petrino out of town before he could do even more damage.
I'm thankful for the Tennessee Volunteers for hiring Lane Kiffen, which led Monte Kiffen to leave the Buccaneers and join his kid on Rocky Top. We won't have to face Kiffen's defense this weekend. With Morris calling the shots directly, Tampa's defense might be better against the Falcons this weekend than it has been earlier this season, but it still would have been much, much better with Kiffen around.
I'm thankful for the Chicago Bears, who made the trade with Tampa to get Gaines Adams - and did it right AFTER the Falcons played the Bears in week six. The Bucs may have labeled Adams a disappointment, but he always played lights out against us. The guy was Tyson Clabo's personal boogeyman. Instead of facing him twice this year, Clabo won't face him at all.
I'm thankful for Thomas Johnson, Harvey Dahl, Tyson Clabo, Brent Grimes, Chris Redman, Michael Koenen, and Eric Weems. They're all out-of-nowhere players that didn't cost the Falcons a thing to acquire (no draft picks spent and nothing given up in trade) and have become significant parts of the team.
I'm thankful for Jason Snelling, Vance Walker, and Keith Zinger - all seventh round draft picks that initially didn't make the team but worked their way up from the practice squad. And I'm still hopeful for Robert James, the promising fifth round linebacker whose rookie 2008 season was lost to a major concussion during camp. He's on the practice squad now.
I'm thankful for Paul Boudreau, who knew what to do with the young, raw talent he had in his offensive line the moment he came aboard.
I'm thankful for the Oakland Raiders, who gave us two draft picks for DeAngelo Hall. And of course the Broncos, who gave us Domonique Foxworth last year for a mere seventh rounder this year. Also for the Cowboys, who gave us back that seventh rounder for swapping places with them in the fifth, essentially making Foxworth a freebie.
I'm thankful for the team of scouts that Rich McKay assembled as our GM. When Thomas Dimitroff came aboard, the scouting unit didn't change. While we cringe at the results of the 2007 draft (the players drafted specifically for Petrino), that exact same group of scouts tracked Matt Ryan, Curtis Lofton, Kroy Biermann, Harry Douglas and the rest of the 2008 draft class.
I'm thankful that the long stretch of road games and games against teams coming off of byes is now over. It was rough, but we all knew from the outset that we'd simply have to survive that five game span somehow. The Falcons took a few body blows in the last two weeks, but they're still in the hunt. The rest of the season won't be easy, but it won't be as brutal as the last five weeks.
I'm thankful that it's nearly December and we still have a realistic chance of breaking The Curse.
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