Do Atlanta Media Opinions Match Expectations Elsewhere? (1 Viewer)

RichB

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As a now 23-year Atlanta area resident (holy crap... when did that happen?!), I listen to a good bit of local sports talk radio. I'm a Hawks/Braves fan from childhood - nowhere near to the same degree as my lifelong Saints fanaticism - so I live through the Falcons talk to get those tidbits.

One thing I have noticed is a repeated theme here in the months leading up to this season: All of the local analysts seem to discount our Saints as the afterthoughts of the division. The general concensus is that Carolina will again be the class of the division, with Atlanta and a young, improving Bucs team fighting for second and a wildcard spot.

The exuberance for their own squad is understandable. If you're not going to prop up your team at this time of year, you're pretty downtrodden. I'm just wondering how they are discounting a team that has Drew Brees at QB and who finished only a game behind them despite another record-breakingly bad defense.

I don't watch very much national sports news - the focus on highlight moments rather than actual news/reporting drove me away years ago and the near-universal pillorying of the team during the Bountygate shenanigans put the final nail in the coffin - and I obviously don't have exposure to the coverage in other markets around the country/world. What are the rest of you seeing/hearing in these other markets, if anything?

I'm trying to figure out if it's anti-Saints bias here in our rival's hometown, widespread disregard, or just a lack of investigation. And also trying to suss what my own actual expectations should be for this year's squad. I'm almost always feeling 19-0 this time of year :snoopy2: but would like to mentally prepare myself a bit more realistically.
 
Wow.

Another Who Dat-Braves-Hawks fan......

There aren't a lot of us out there.

Absolutely true with Atlanta media.
 
Having lived in Atlanta for 6 years myself during the Payton/Brees era and having many close friends who pull for the Falcons, I think their fandom is deeply self conscious about the way we have dominated them over past decade. And our super bowl victory.

It's the ostrich-defense. Ignore the Saints. Head in the sand. It's all they have at the moment.

That said, we also have a lot to prove coming off a 7-9 season. Objectively, the Panthers would have to be considered the more immediate threat.
 
A great many in the national media have us in the bottom third of the league - picked last in the division.

But apart from a few top teams and a few perennial bottom dwellers, predicting the coming season in the NFL, in early August, is basically guesswork.
 
I prefer to believe that our record against them in the past decade has traumatized the local media and their fans, so they choose not to talk about us.
 
I was thinking the same thing, listen to them every morning and afternoon because there isn't anything else sadly.

Tell me you heard "Halftime" being blared the other day when their editor (from baton rouge) started playing it!

They seem to think we made no moves during the offseason and that Brees is done.
I think they are just regurgitating what is being said in the national media.
 
They refuse to believe the truth. Atlanta is the afterthought in this division. You can understand why though, the sports talk guys want interest in the sport in order to drive ratings. They're not going to get on there and talk about the Falcons being a terrible team with no real outlook for a rebound given the current state of the team. They are hampered by the one thing that most teams in the NFL are hampered by, very average to below average QB play. As much as they want to deny it, Matt Ryan is just not capable of winning big games in this league. Until that changes, which won't be anytime soon, the Falcons are doomed to be an also ran when it comes to the big dogs in this league. The Saints and Panthers have the proven winners at QB and the Bucs do have a young QB who looks like he might make the ascent. Atlanta has nothing.
 
I prefer to believe that our record against them in the past decade has traumatized the local media and their fans, so they choose not to talk about us.

lol, pretend they don't exist and maybe they'll go away.
 
Their opinion is the current prevailing opinion in the nation, that the Saints are a bottom 1/3 team. Most rank the Saints below 22nd, and Vegas has the over/under on wins at 6.

To get out of that prediction they need a vastly improved defense, and the constant stream of injuries to expected defensive starters is only reinforcing the current predictions.
 
Their opinion is the current prevailing opinion in the nation, that the Saints are a bottom 1/3 team. Most rank the Saints below 22nd, and Vegas has the over/under on wins at 6.

To get out of that prediction they need a vastly improved defense, and the constant stream of injuries to expected defensive starters is only reinforcing the current predictions.

Well, Vegas has us at 7,but I get your point. They still believe us to end up 4th in the division.
 
National media rarely do research on medium to small market teams. It's why you always hear the cliche "teams come from no where" in the NFL. In reality, that's not the case. Every team is making drastic changes and striving to get better every offseason. Some teams are just focused on more and the changes don't go unnoticed. Media picking the Saints to finish last based on last year is just insane. We have the best QB in the division with a much improved defense. How do I know they're much improved without playing a single snap? We don't have Browner running onto the field and a clueless defensive coordinator.
 
From what I've been reading around the net is..

Drew Brees is in decline, NO DEFENSE, will finish last in the division.
Panthers are the team to beat in the South and possibly NFC.
Falcons and Bucs will be fighting it out for 2nd and 3rd in division.

No one is giving us a chance. D needs to step up. If that happens, we can beat anyone.
 
I love how "football analysts" by and large base their entire perspective on last year's finish for an NFL team. Every year it's the same. "This team had these problems last year, expect the same problems this year." Or, "This team won the Super Bowl last year, expect them to be a favorite" which completely ignores the fact that these teams have a 1 in 6 shot to repeat, and that turnover year over year in the modern age of free agency tends to hollow the core of championship franchises.

Anyone whose analysis consists of "good last year, good this year; bad last year bad this year," would be considered a lousy analyst, if you could grant them the benefit that they've done any real analyzing at all, as per their job description.

Any opinion on this board, regardless of how bad or inaccurate you think it may be, is worth 10x what you read in the press, because people on this board actually know the team, not just last season's finish. I personally think the Saints defense is going to surprise this year.
 

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