Happy Pilgrims Ate a Whole Bunch of Food Hundreds of Years Ago Day!  The Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions mixed collard greens today in the first of three Thanksgiving NFL games.  Joe Buck and Troy Aikman provided commentary for this Fox telecast.   The Packers began on offense–for one play as kickoff-returner wide receiver Jordy Nelson fumbled the ball as he was tackled and the Lions recovered it.  After three attempts to score, wide receiver Calvin Johnson made a touchdown catch in the end zone.  Detroit 7 and Green Bay 0.  In the bottom of the first quarter Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was intercepted by Packers safety Nick Collins.  The final play of the quarter was a beautiful sixty-eight yard pass from Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to wide receiver Donald Driver.

Packers tight end Donald Lee leaped into the end zone for a TD at the start of the second quarter.  Detroit 7 and Green Bay 7.  The Packers took the lead with a field goal halfway through the quarter.  Green Bay 10 and Detroit 7.  Two or three plays into the Lions’ go on offense, Matthew Stafford threw another interception, this time to Packers cornerback Tramon Williams.  The Packers increased their lead with another field goal in the remaining minute of the second quarter.  Green Bay 13 and Detroit 7.

The third quarter opened with Matthew Stafford throwing an interception to Packers cornerback Charles Woodson.  The Lions challenged the call but didn’t win.  Luckily for them, Aaron Rodgers lost the ball a few plays later and the Lions got back the ball.  How would they capitalize?  Would they capitalize?  Nope.  Donald Driver made a TD catch for his team in the second half of the third quarter.  Green Bay 20 and Detroit 7.  The Lions had a chance to shrink their score deficit but a field goal was no good in the bottom of the third.  Wide receiver James Jones’s catch and crossing of the goal line increased the Packers’ lead.  Green Bay 27 and Detroit 7.

The Lions regained some of their opening offense momentum in the fourth quarter…except they couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.  Whoa, what just happened on the second play after the Packers took to offense?  One of the Lions knocked a Packer down.  Either the Lions got a safety or they got a TD.  The Packers coach challenged the TD call and won.  It was a safety.  Green Bay 27 and Detroit 9.  Another trip to the red zone yielded no TDs; a field goal was good.  Green Bay 27 and Detroit 12.  Charles Woodson intercepted Stafford again with four minutes left in the game and ran it into the end zone.  Green Bay 34 and Detroit 12.  Final score.

The CBS signal only emits through the TV in the living room; I prefer to watch TV in the dining room.  Thus, I shan’t be watching the Cowboys-Raiders game.  The Giants-Broncos game is on NFL Network tonight.

Observations & Miscellania:

1.  The National Anthem was sung by Melanie Fiona.  Qui?  Wow.  It’s Jennifer Lopez and Pocahontas in one!  She wore a red wine colored knee-length dress and a huge diamond bracelet on her left wrist.  Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson both got medium shots during the performance.  Wow, Matt Stafford’s jaw is so big.

2.  United Way and E2k sports sponsored a halftime performance paying tribute to the 50th Anniversary of Motown.  The first song, sung byVita Chambers, was “Heat Wave.”   Mon dieu, her singing was not very impressive.  The second song, sung by Kem, was “Higher Ground.”  The third song was “I’ll Be There,” performed by Melanie Fiona.  Yes, dancers surrounded each act.  The fourth song was Hal Linton doing “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”  Shontelle and Hal Linton sang the fifth song, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”   Forever the Sickest Kids did the sixth song, “Dancing In the Street.”  Who are these people?!

3.  The Fox camera operators (all men) got their five to seven seconds on broadcast in the top of the fourth quarter.

4.  In the fourth quarter, Troy Aikman remarked that Calvin Johnson is incredibly talented and is reminiscent of a young Randy Moss.

5.  $583,000 was approximately the amount that a Canadian developer paid to purchase the Pontiac Silverdome.

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

I suppose one could read sports into it…

No glory for my shine

You said a mouthful without moving your teeth

Already separated by a chain of command,
he stands listlessly,
billowing in the furnace
drapes of the emptied,
skins of hollowed bodies

You search for percussion instruments

Deerskin headaches insert themselves at night,
he blends into the dirt effortlessly,
falling out to the strokes of your time machine
flung far, flung light
scarred into ancestry

Save a piece for me,
say you will.

–yiqi 24 nov 09 11:08 AM

~!~

How might I read sports into this poem?   Who might say a mouthful without moving his teeth?  The head coach.  The first stanza could point to someone who is unable to make authoritative decisions.   The second stanza could be a player who has nightmares about bad plays or a messed up game clock; he feels awful when comparing himself to his uncles and cousins before him who were terrific athletes.

Let’s spend Sunday Night with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears! Yaya.  Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth provided commentary–every game is a must win game!  The Eagles started out on offense; it’s odd to see Michael Vick holding a football and running down the field again.  I only ever saw his work in NFL Films highlights.  His team scored first with a field goal.  Philadelphia 3 and Chicago 0.  The Eagles got another score on the board in the first quarter with wide receiver Jason Avant’s touchdown.  Philadelphia 10 and Chicago 0.

Top of the second quarter gave Chicago a place on the score board with a field goal.  Philadelphia 10 and Chicago 3.  The Bears put on a display of offensive power with a seventy-two yard run by running back Kahlil Bell (his first carry in the NFL).  The Bears got another field goal at the end of that possession.  Philadelphia 10 and Chicago 6.  Bears cornerback Zackary Bowman intercepted Eagles QB Donovan McNabb when Philly got on offense again.  My eyes were turned away briefly but when I looked back, Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson was running down the field (from right to left, at the top of the screen).  Not long after, the Bears were on offense again.  By the end of the second quarter, they caught up to just one under the Eagles with a field goal.  Philadelphia 10 and Chicago 9.

The top of the third quarter gave the Bears the lead with a forty-nine yard field goal.  Chicago 12 and Philadelphia 10.  Just when it would seem that the Eagles weren’t going to get their boogie back on, DeSean Jackson made a pretty lovely TD–and then he dunk the ball over the uprights’ cross bar.  Less basketball and more frisbee.  Philadelphia 17 and Chicago 12.  The Bears bounced back with a TD as well (thanks to tight end Kellen Davis); they went for a two-point conversion, which worked.  Running back Matt Forte caught the ball.  Chicago 20 and Philadelphia 17 in the bottom of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter spelled a turnover and the Bears were at bat again.  Kicker Robbie Gould tried a forty-eight yard field goal but his kick was blocked.  Eagles running back LeSean McCoy made a TD with half a fourth quarter left to play amd then took a couple of bows at the back corner of the end zone (the back left corner from his POV).  Philadelphia 24 and Chicago 20.  The Bears took to the field with two minutes left on the clock.  After a series of plays (including one in which an Eagle was tackling and incidentally pulled down the pants of a bear; a replay revealed an arse-bottom in all it’s two-parts).  Eagles linebacker Tracy White broke up QB Jay Cutler’s pass and then safety Sean Jones grabbed the ball and that was it.  Philadelphia 24 and Chicago 20.  Final score.

Observations & Miscellania:

1. After Bears tight end Greg Olsen failed to catch Jay Cutler’s pass in the top of the second quarter, upon airing replay footage, did Cris Collinsworth say something about “That is a foot-and-a-half in the PGA tour” ?

2.  Al Michael’s remark on the Bears QB: “Unlike Faith Hill, Jay Cutler has not been all day for Sunday night or Monday night or Thursday night or any night.”  In the bottom of the second quarter, he noted that Jay Cutler had to “spin away” and “pirouette.”  Sorry, boss, but Jay Cutler’s 360 twirl does not a pirouette make.

3.  DeSean Jackson is 5′10 and 175 lbs.  Parfait.  Mais, il est cinque ans plus jeunes que moi.

4.  Who spends more time taking a shower after a game (pretending that no press conferences happened immediately post-game): futbolers, footballers, basketballers, tennis players, or boxers?  I’m going with a futboler or a footballer–more contact with the earth.

5.  I kid you not–I saw a mocha arse-bottom in the fourth quarter; too bad I have no idea which Bear had some cheeks in view.

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

The Atlanta Falcons scampered northwards to play the New York Giants.  Televised by Fox, and narrated by Daryl Johnston and Kenny Albert, the two teams talked business in sunny, fifty-three degree weather.  Back at home?  Definitely not sunny.  A bit rainy.  Once again, another visually splotchy telecast.  The Giants went on offense first.  Quarterback Eli Manning threw quite well…until the Falcons defense brought on the pressure and he threw a poor one (recovered by a fellow Giant).  Two plays later (methinks), he was intercepted by Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes.  What would the Falcons do with the turnover?  Would they show might? Pas beaucoup.  Nearing the bottom of the first quarter, the Giants punched out three points with a thirty-nine yard field goal.  New York 3 and Atlanta 0.

The second quarter bounced off to an offensive start for the Falcons–AND A RUSHING TOUCHDOWN BY RUNNING BACK JASON SNELLING!!!!  Atlanta 7 and New York 3.  The Giants returned the favor with a field goal that was no good.  No matter, Giants tight end Kevin Boss would run the ball in for a TD soon enough.  The Falcons had an opportunity to score again before halftime; a TD didn’t happen and neither did a FG.  With under two minutes left in the first half, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan went down to the turf, the ball came out of his hands, and the Giants recovered.  Kevin Boss pulled up his team’s numbers just before halftime with a TD catch.  New York 17 and Atlanta 7.

The third quarter gave the Falcons something to smile about as Jason Snelling made his second TD of the day.  The Giants scored right back with a TD of their own, thanks to running back Brandon Jacobs.   The Falcons struggled to  get a TD on their next possession but took a field goal instead.  The scoring see-saw saw the Giants increase their lead with a TD catch by fullback Madison Hedgecock in the top of the fourth quarter.  New York 31 and Atlanta 17.  The Falcons proved in the second half of the fourth quarter that they’re still in the game with an Eric Weems TD.   New York 31 and Atlanta 24.  Two minutes left in the game…who would pass Go and Collect 200?  Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez got his team closer collecting 200 by making a TD in the end of the end zone.  Both teams tied with 31 points.  On to overtime with the Giants receiving the ball and a thirty-six yard field goal attempt.  Kicker Lawrence Tynes won the game for his team.  New York 34 and Atlanta 31.  Final score.

So close and yet so far for the Falcons, but at least Matt Ryan didn’t throw any interceptions.  Without Michael Turner, they still tied the Giants.

Say hello to my Falcons Gnome.

Observations & Miscellania:

1.  Daryl Johnston remarked towards the middle of the second quarter that “the Falcons don’t play to the whistle; they play just past the whistle.”

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

You can take the left side, right side; start from the inside and spill through the outside.

Mark the first at the scrimmage line, learn about the blind side,

then go back in time to the blur

of separation from the hands that said

Close your eyes and when you open them, what’s passed is in the past and the world is all right again.

Then bite the minor chord to the present, the future,

sitting in a glass tower answering questions

about motive and intent; what kind of precedent you’d like to set

And maybe

find an excuse to get to a window, a bathroom

let movie-time fill 100+ minutes

to show how your journey went

the one that sent you from would-have-been statistic to a Baltimore Raven.

–yiqi 20 nov 09 9:48 pm

Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head, and Lily Collins filming a scene at a Borders in my city?  I kid you not.   The Brookwood Place Borders to be exact.  How can I be certain? The staircase and the location of the cafe in relation to the staircase.

~!~

The above poem was inspired by post-viewing thoughts of the film The Blind Side (John Lee Hancock, 2009).  Based on Michael Lewis’s book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, this sporty-encouraging picture features my favorite Sandra Bullock performance to date since her days of Speed, Demolition Man, Two If By Sea, and Murder By Numbers.  I’m too sleepy to delve into this film narratively and thematically as I normally would and do.  I will, however, leave you with

Observations & Miscellania:

1. Demographic breakdown of the audience at the 4:20 pm screening at the Regal by Northpoint Mall: average age: 55; ethnic minorities: three individuals (including yours truly); nearly filled to capacity.

2.  You don’t have to like sports films to enjoy this film.  There are fewer than half a dozen game sequences (as a game or a practice session), and they’re filmed and edited for narrative purposes rather than athletic aesthetics.  No stylized slow-motion or suspense-toying maneuvers.  You may have to be neutral towards or biased in favor of Sandra Bullock–she’s in a lot of the film and assuredly has the most dialogue.

3.  The film was shot on location in Atlanta, GA.  Agnes Scott College provided exteriors.

4.  Robert Pralgo, who plays Mayor Lockwood on The Vampire Diaries, has one line and a medium close-up in a montage of college recruiting interest.

5.  The poem up there points to how well or how differently the final cut would be if the story were presented in varying degrees of chronological order.  As it is now, the film kicks off (no pun intended) with Sandra Bullock’s voice-over set to images of NFL players and teams and how Lawrence Taylor is so important to football.  It then cuts to the “present, future,” where Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is being questioned by a woman that the viewer learns, much, much later, is from the NCAA.  Cut to shortly before “Big Mike” would meet the woman (Bullock) that would change his life forever.

6.  In addition to the Branding of a slew of NFL teams and colleges (LSU, Alabama, Auburn, University of South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UGA, and Florida), the most conspicuous examples of Product Placement are Pepsi, Taco Bell, KFC, Gucci sunglasses (on Sandra Bullock), Normal Rockwell and the Four Freedoms, The Story of Ferdinand, and Where the Wild Things Are.

7.  In one of the parts in the trailer (another trailer), Quinton Aaron and Jae Head are grooving in a car–the music turned out to be “Bust a Move” by Young MC.  It’s absolutely priceless that bit.  Cause little Jae is rapping/reciting with such conviction.

8. Alfred Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade” was recited and analyzed by Tim McGraw’s character.

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
‘Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns’ he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Click here for more photos from The Blind Side.  Read more about the film here.

Every time I watched a UGA game, I always mentioned UGA VII.  I’m not a UGA fan (or anti-fan), but this news is just Kleenex-inducing.

UGA VII, aka Loran’s Best, breathes no more.

Click here for the CBS report.

Click here for UGA’s article.

Click here to see UGA VII’s official debut.

It depends on the task.  I can write with both hands (I can write Korean better with my left hand than Chinese; FYI: I’m not Korean, but I  can read it, write it, understand a wee bit, and sing-along-in it).  I can use knives, spoons, and forks with both hands.  I can use chopsticks with my left, but I seldom do.  It’d take forever to pick up the drunken chicken and sliced pig ears that I so love to eat.

I can rub my head and pat my tummy.  Or rather, pat my head and rub my tummy.  Observe:

I’m predominantly right-handed; I tend to mouse and right-click-save-as with my right hand.  At work, however, I’ve had to alternate between hands or else my right elbow starts to feel funny.  Today, as I was resizing photographs and copying and pasting text, I noticed that I can mouse with the left hand and snap my right hand’s fingers in time with moderately upbeat music, but I have considerably more trouble mousing with the right hand and snapping with my left hand’s fingers.  Neuro-muscularly, I’m not sure what accounts for the ease of the former and the awkwardness of the latter.  There is the matter of Right-Left Brain dominance, I suppose.  There are a couple of things that my left hand can do by itself that my right hand cannot.  For instance, when I blow my nose, either I’m using both hands or my left hand.  My right hand doesn’t know what to do with the tissue to my nose…it refuses to position itself and hold the tissue the way my left hand does.

My left hand has inexplicable accuracy with throwing wadded up paper into trash cans, whereas, my right hand record is all over the place.  When I drive one-handed, my left hand tends to be on the wheel…at nine or ten o’clock.  I wonder about ambidexterity and athletes.  So, I did what any curious person in the 21st centry would do.  I turned to google.

The phrase “ambidextrous athletes” turned up caboodles of finds.  My favorites:

Tennis NE1?  (could I refer to this site as having a “retro” look?)

Sweet tea bags and NCAA and Motion Theory.  Lourdes, how cool!

Beisboll bats and what not.

Found on Fisher Price.

ESPN from June 2008.

When I searched the phrase, “I’m ambidextrous except,” the more relevant finds included:

Found on GameSpot Forums.

David Finkle thinking deep thoughts about the President’s handedness.

Jenny Doh holds a pen with each hand (check out that keyboard).

And here is what happened with I searched, “ambidextrous NFL” :

Sports Illustrated from 1980–holy smoked salmon; check out that cover.

You can see the rest here.

XO, XO – hanguk gosship girls the rainbow.

Esso, esso. Echo

I guess so.

Punt ming away to the coffin corner.  It’s hard to say I’m a query;

the secret is that I want you back.  Pretty boy.

The Redskins logo.  Does it offend? Historically tied, culturally entwined.  The court is letting the image stand.

The Indianapolis Colts remixed with the New England Patriots tonight on NBC.  The first quarter started with the Patriots on offense…and not much to say about it.  When the Colts took to the ball, quarterback Peyton Manning made a few awesome connections with tight end Dallas Clark and wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne.  Patriots head coach Bill Belichick challenged the catch but lost the challenge.  Eight plays +  ninety yards + running back Joseph Addai = touchdown.  Indianapolis 7 and New England 0.  The Patriots answered that taunt with a spectacular Tom Brady fifty-five yard pass to wide receiver Randy Moss, and two steps later, running back Laurence Mulroney squeezed threw amassing players to get into the end zone.

The second quarter began with Colts defensive end Robert Mathis sacking Tom Brady.  The Patriots took a thirty-one yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal at the end of their possession.  One possession later, Randy Moss made his second TD of the day.  Halfway through the second quarter, Tom Brady threw directly into the hands of wide receiver Julian Edelman for a TD.  New England 24 and Indianapolis 7.  Consistent with how they played two seasons ago, once the Patriots find or make their first offensive impact, there is no going back.  It’s zippadeedodah scoring parade for them.  The Colts bounced back with a Reggie Wayne TD.  New England 24 and Indianapolis 14.

SUPER SEXY GIRL! Colts defensive back Antoine Bathea intercepted Tom Brady’s pass meant for Randy Moss in the Colts end zone at the top of the third quarter.  Oh. Lourdes.  Peyton Manning was intercepted by cornerback Leigh Bodden a few passes later.  The quarter was scoreless but ended in Patriots wide receiver Wesley Welker returning a punt to first-and-goal.   A kick-ball-change later, Randy Moss made his, what, third TD of the day?  New England 31 and Indianapolis 14 in the top of the fourth quarter.

The Colts offered a retort of a Pierre Garcon TD catch and run into the end zone.  New England 31 and Indianapolis 21.  Would today’s game be the Colts’ first loss of the season?  Probably.  When they got the ball, Peyton Manning threw an interception to Patriots cornerback Jonathan Wilhite.  The Patriots increased their lead with a field goal in the second half of the fourth quarter…briefly.  Joseph Addai made a TD with just under three minutes left to play.  New England 34 and Indianapolis 28.  I must ask again, would today’s game be the Colts’ first loss of the season?  Probably not, as of one minute left in the fourth quarter.  SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG! Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne connected for a TD with under twenty seconds left to on the clock.  Indianapolis 35 and New England 34.  Final score.

I’m not even a Colts fan per se and I’m thrilled.  I do like Peyton Manning.

Observations & Miscellania:

1.  Tiki Barber was at the Dallas loss to Packers game; he had on a lovely, lilac/violet tie.

2.  Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth both wore gray ties of varying hue and accent.  Andrea Kramer had on a bright purple leather jacket with zippers.

3.  Why was there fire on the field after Joseph Addai made a TD in the first quarter?

4.  Tom Brady still looks really good in a helmet.

5.  Pat Chung, strong safety for the Patriots, is a quarter Chinese.  His father is Jamaican-Chinese.  I googled the phrase “Pat Chung is half Asian” and found this page about Asian NFL players.

6.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire league watched this game and took notes.  “You see that? You see what Peyton Manning did there? Yeah, we need some of that.”

7.  “They’re not used to playing these balls in the air like that…they’re burned on either side,” either Al Michaels or Cris Collinsworth remarked during the middle of the second quarter.

8.  Are you thinking what I’m thinking?  Why are there so many adverts for The Blind Side?  Because, this John Lee Hancock film is going up against a certain Twilight part deux on opening day Friday.  This Friday.  I shall be watching The Blind Side–not to be confused with Blindside from 1986.

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

True story.  My alarm clock went off at 6:30 in the morning.  There were string instruments.  I got up, went to the bathroom, started brushing my teeth, and then thought, hey, the Falcons haven’t played yet.

The Atlanta Falcons in Carolina Panthers home turf on Fox.  Any predictions?  The first heart-thumping play of the first quarter occurred when Falcons running back Michael Turner ran forty yards into Panther territory.  Jason Elam went on the field at the end of that possession to make a thirty-five yard field goal.  Atlanta 3 and Carolina 0.  The Panthers weren’t going to have any Falcons’ scoring first and responded with a mean drive down to the end zone thanks to wide receiver Steve Smith’s catch and run, and running back Jonathan Stewart crossing the goal line (who gave the TD ball to a female fan behind the end zone).  Carolina 7 and Atlanta 3.

Sour puss’n boots.  How are the Panthers “doing this” offensively?  This meaning getting down to the red zone in a matter of breaths in the top of the second quarter.  Steve Smith made a pretty awesome TD catch.  Carolina 14 and Atlanta 3.  Have the Falcons taken a cue from their opponents in getting down the field?  Quarterback Matt Ryan made a lovely pass to wide receiver Roddy White to get the birds just shy of the goal line.  After two unsuccessful tries (a pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez and a run attempt by running back Jason Snelling), the Falcons finally made it in for a TD with six minutes left in the first half–thanks to Snelling.  Carolina 14 and Atlanta 10.  Matt Ryan threw an interception in the bottom of the second quarter; Panthers cornerback Sherrod Martin got his bosom to the ball.  Steve Smith TD number two but at the expense of his noggin lower back.  Replays suggested that Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud’s knee might’ve rammed into Smith’s lower back.  Carolina 21 and Atlanta 10.

The third quarter commenced with much potential for a Falcons touchdown.  But, there would be a field goal instead.  Carolina 21 and Atlanta 13.  Nearing the bottom of the third quarter, I was overcome with feelings of “I can’t watch!”  et j’ai mal a la tete.  What was that? Hope? L’espoir est retourne!  Jason Snelling, Michael Jenkins, and Tony Gonzalez made necessary strides to get the Falcons into the red zone.

The fourth quarter began with a Falcons TD catch by tight end Justin Peelle.  Peelle was able to get away from the huddled mass at the line of scrimmage.  The two-point conversion wasn’t successful.  Carolina 21 and Atlanta 19.   By the middle of the quarter, the Falcons had summoned up a substantial amount of rhythm and agility to get across the field (Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White made important catches)…and then Mike Smith threw in the red flag to contest the exact location of the ball after the ball was just snapped and a heap of bodies converged on Matt Ryan.  Smith lost the challenge and Jason Elam’s field goal was nowhere near the uprights.  Wide left.  No, not just wide left.  The ball appeared to be at least seven to ten feet away from the cross beam.   The shadow over innsmouth just got darker.  Matt Ryan threw his second interception of the day, over the head of Michael Jenkins and into the hands of Panthers cornerback Richard Marshall.  Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart made his second TD of the day just a few plays later.  Nearing the two-minute warning, Carolina 28 and Atlanta 19.  Final score.

Observations & Miscellania:

1.  Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston provided commentary.  For the love of the Forbidden City, why is there a yellow handkerchief in Moose Johnston’s breast pocket?  C’est moche.

2.  The Falcons had a pretty impressive second go “at bat,” but they were unable to get far enough into Panthersville.  Seconds before commercial break, the telecast cut to a high-angle medium close-up of a helmet-less, red-faced Matt Ryan walking to the bench on the sidelines.  The words, “shite, dayam” could be deciphered from his mouth.  He certainly said the latter.

3.  Michael Turner’s right ankle was battered a bit late in the second quarter.

4.  There was a moment when I started losing faith in a favorable outcome on the score board.  Middle of the third quarter when the Panthers were taking the ball down the field.  I’m not sure why it happened.  It just did.  But a sliver of hope re-ignited as the Falcons blocked a fifty-one yard field goal attempt by the Panthers.

5.  After the Justin Peelle TD in the top of the fourth quarter and it became apparent that the Falcons would go for two, Daryl Johnston kept expressing his criticism of the decision to go for two.  When the Panthers were on offense next, he reprised his thoughts that two-point conversions should be saved for the final six minutes of the fourth quarter.  Sure, most teams would probably save it for the last four to six minutes, but psychologically, perhaps the Panthers would see that they still have a lead (even a two-point lead) and let their anxiety down just enough for the Falcons to make another much needed TD.

6.  Footage of the Jason Elam missed FG indicated that there was likely some miscommunication between him and holder Michael Koenen.

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.