Posted by: jmike811_DEP at 3:12PM EST on December 4, 2007
It may seem hard to believe, but there hasn't been a Falcons receiver hasn't recorded 1,000 receiving yards in a season since Terance Mathis hit the mark in 1999 (1,016).
The Falcons haven't had two players hit the mark in the same season since 1998, when Tony Martin (1,181) and Mathis (1,136) in 1998.
I don't need to go into too much detail about the 1998 seasons.
Most Falcons fans can give a play-by-play of every game, the post season and Super Bowl XXXIII.
My how times changed.
That, of course, will become even more a piece of the past if Roddy White picks up just 80 more receiving yards. The third-year receiver set career highs in almost every category much earlier this season.
How he's just piling on and showing the NFL his performance can match up with his first-round pick status.
Here's a glimpse of that, by the way...
It's also not out of the question for White to record the most catches in a season since Mathis' 81 in 1999. No receiver has had more than 64 catches in a season since then. White already has 62 -- and 920 receiving yards.
Of course, it's not fair to place everything on the shoulders of the receivers.The Falcons ran a run-heavy offense for the first two years of Whites career.
Atlanta led the NFL in rushing yards last season, running the ball on 56.3 percent of its plays for more than 2,900 yards.
As a result, White and fellow veteran Michael Jenkins could sometimes count on one hand how many times the ball came their way.
Now the Falcons are throwing the ball more than 50 percent of the time and White has already surpassed career numbers for receiving yards.
"I'm happy," White said earlier in the season. "I get to go out there and catch eight or nine balls a game... A lot has changed around here and it's more pass oriented. It's kind of got me in the right direction and got my career going in the right direction.
"Ever since I got here I've been working hard and I'm going to continue to work hard and get better and, hopefully, set some career marks this year."
And, if all goes well, some Falcons' marks as well.
Now, just for the heck of it, a YouTube clip of Roddy White in college.
Posted by: jmike811_DEP at 8:54PM EST on December 3, 2007
Random Monday Musings while sitting in the waiting area at Kauffman Tire...
I started this post around 8 a.m. while waiting on a new tire for the car. As a perfect example that we at the Falcons do have lives outside of football, I was at the shop first thing this morning (you get regular chores in when you can when you work in the midst of the busy NFL season).
I can't say it was easy to get up this morning. It never is easy to sleep, much less rise, after a loss.
That being said, the Falcons 28-16 defeat at St. Louis yesterday was easier to swallow when I thought about some big plays and key performances. I hope fans feel the same way even though, on paper, the Rams presented an opportunity for a fourth win.
That wasn't in the cards at the Edward Jones Dome.
What was dealt on the field, however, was showcase performances by several players -- young and veteran.
I gave you a heavy dose of this in my game recap, so I'll just hit the highlights.
Roddy White has a new career high in receiving yards (146), Jerious Norwood jacked up his yards-per-carry average (96 yards yesterday on just eight carries) and Michael Jenkins has a third touchdown reception on the season.
Then there's quarterback Chris Redman, who got his most extensive action in an NFL game since 2002. In one quarter of work, Redman notched two touchdowns and came a shoelace away from completing a miraculous comeback charge.
Redman was thankful for the opportunity.
"It feels good to be able to get back out there," Redman said. "It has been a long time since I was in the game atmosphere. I had to get some of the rust off, I guess. Unfortunately, we came up a bit short today."
Petrino was asked today if Redman would take over as starter and said he wanted to talk to players Tuesday before making a decision.
The Falcons proved they haven't come up short at various skill positions.
It's human nature to point toward the negative aspects of a loss. There were plenty of positives in this one, though, even with the Falcons falling to 3-9 on the season.
Two division games remain in the regular season, which present chances to spoil the season for two big rivals. The team also has an extra day to prepare for a Monday Night Football match with the Saints next week.
Feel free to leave your comments on what pleased you in the Falcons loss.
Now I think it's time you get a little insight on how
Matt Moore
, "Falcon Al" Daniel and I go about getting these selections together on a weekly basis.
Ever hear of "creating a monster?"
It all started way back at the beginning of the season around a conference room table.
Hey! Let's do college picks each week! We can get head shots of guys, us and a cheerleader (maybe Freddie Falcon, too) and we'll all pick college games! It will be great!
OK, maybe we weren't that excited. But an idea was born and you have to respect that.
It started off simple -- Todd McClure, DeAngelo Hall, Michael Jenkins and Ovie Mughelli. We'd get their thoughts on each week's game and I'd load it into the site.
Now you get your first lesson in an NFL locker room -- not a lot of privacy.
Week 1...
It was like the first day back to school after Christmas break and we had the newest, coolest toy in the entire fifth grade.
Joe Horn led the charge.
Can I get in on that?
Sure, Joe!
Roddy, you want to play?
How about...
And so it began.
Getting picks now is a cross between lion taming and balancing a check book. Just take a look at what Al created to keep up with everyone's status (because what's a game if you can't brag about your success).
Since more people wanted to jump on board after the start date, we needed to shift to winning percentage to give guys an idea of how they've done week to week.
SAMPLE PICK SHEET:
The three of us now have to take the sheets into the locker room (on a time schedule) and get game selections between bouts of trash talking and college stories.
When that's done, we can do the easy part -- building the page.
I hope you get an idea of how complicated this can be.
You may have read Matt's blog recently about how Horn reached us via phone to get his selections in.
Devotion.
I'm not complaining.
Actually, I'm ranting mostly at how successful this little game has become at getting laughs in the locker room and a little rivalry going, especially between Matt and
Cheerleader Nicole Mo
, who has a slim, two-game lead as we enter the final week.
So, there you have it.
How football becomes accounting and accounting becomes, well, even less fun.
I never thought I'd be so glad to see college football season end.
The Falcons haven't had two players hit the mark in the same season since 1998, when Tony Martin (1,181) and Mathis (1,136) in 1998.
Then there's quarterback Chris Redman, who got his most extensive action in an NFL game since 2002. In one quarter of work, Redman notched two touchdowns and came a shoelace away from completing a miraculous comeback charge. 
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