A Titan-sized collapse

Atlanta Falcons fans should be upset right now. If this weren't a family-friendly blog, there might be a better word than "upset" to truly describe how mad Falcons fans should be after Sunday's 20-13 loss to Tennessee. The Week 5 matchup was filled with monumental moments - some good and, for the Falcons, mostly bad.

But let's get right down to it: Scoring only 13 points off five turnovers is unacceptable. The stage was set for the Falcons to not only beat the Titans, but to destroy them. It could have easily been a two-score-or-more win for the Birds, but alas, this is the 2007 Falcons we're talking about. As an impartial observer, it's frustrating. I can't imagine what long-time Falcons fans must be feeling right now.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's remember that it's going to take a while for Bobby Petrino to build this team into a viable contender. These are Jim Mora's players he's trying to win with, and you can expect some major changes in the offseason, that's for sure. But Petrino hasn't done all that bad with this group, and we're talking about a team that could now be sitting at 4-1 instead of 1-4.

At the same time, Sunday's game was filled with poor execution from the top to the bottom. If you read my column in Monday's Telegraph, I criticize Petrino and his staff for sticking with Leftwich late in the game. It may be an unpopular opinion, but I stick by it. I think Harrington gives the Falcons a better chance to win late in the game down by one score than Leftwich, a quarterback who has probably barely gotten past the table of contents in the playbook at this point. But the scheme wasn't the problem for Leftwich on Sunday. He wasn't even close on several passes that would have tied the game for the Falcons and given them a chance to go into overtime against a very good team. But that's neither here nor there for the purposes of this post, and if you want to read more of my feelings on the subject, check out Monday's Telegraph.

Back to the subject at hand, it seems like frustration has passed and anger is starting to set in. It's tough to swallow when your team has every opportunity to win, but can't seem to make it happen. It's a story that has occurred several times this season.

But before this gets out of hand, I think it's time for some healing. Allow me to get things started. If I were a Falcons fan, I'd be most angry about the offensive line. Granted, it's a young group, and the injury to Wayne Gandy doesn't help as it looks like he'll be out for a long time. Justin Blalock has a bright future, but there needs to be some turnover at some of the other spots. I'd be furious over their inability to keep Tennessee's talented front four out of the Falcons' backfield Sunday.

For you real Falcons fans, this situation is obviously not hypothetical. So I want to know: What ticks you off about the Falcons this year? Is there something that really gets your goat about this team right now? If you could change one thing, what would it be? Let's try to keep it clean, but venting is good for the soul. Have at it.