Desperate Times

Desperate times call for desperate measures and the Atlanta Falcons are looking more and more like a desperate team. They’ve started their 2007-2008 campaign 0-2 and their play has been atrocious. The offense under an efficient Joey Harrington has only scored 10 points in two games, the offensive line has allowed 13 sacks, kicker Matt Prater is 1 of 4 in field goal attempts, and the defense still can’t stop the run (or the pass).

In an effort to jump-start this struggling team, the Falcons have signed “Ageless Wonder” Morton Anderson as the team’s kicker. Anderson recently turned 47 years old and he’s the NFL’s all-time scoring leader with 2,445 points. This is his third stint with the Birds and hopefully he’ll continue to be reliable.

Additionally, the Falcons are reportedly in talks with former Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterback Bryon Leftwich. Leftwich played with Jacksonville for five seasons. He’s 6’5 and 250 pounds. He has a strong arm, but his mobility and durability is a question. He’s not fast and he has never played an entire NFL season.

I hope both moves work out, but I feel like they’re nothing more than patches to the problem as opposed to permanent fixes. After all, Anderson is 47 years old, he can’t be the team’s kicker of the future and although Leftwich has shown he’s capable of winning, he hasn’t shown that he can stay healthy enough to lead a team to the playoffs.