Under Mora, no one-year wonders

By Mark Bradley | Wednesday, August 24, 2005, 09:34 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Jim Mora says he doesn’t mention the Falcons’ history of frustration — in 39 years of trying, this franchise hasn’t yet had consecutive winning seasons — to his players, but sometimes that negative nugget arises on its own. And, rather tellingly, it gets dashed to smithereens.

“I was talking with Pat [Kerney, the defensive end] this week, and he said, ‘The heck with 9-7 — we want to win a championship,’ ” Mora said Wednesday. “We look at nine wins as something we’d pass on the way to 10 or 11.”

Or to the Super Bowl. The Falcons nearly got there last season, and more than halfway through preseason they look capable of going further this time. Yes, there are questions about the receivers — more about them in a moment — but there’s no doubting this team’s growing sense of self.

Little things have gone wrong, but little things go wrong everywhere. What’s notable about the Falcons is their grasp of the coach’s theme for this training camp. “We wanted to maintain and recapture that sense of urgency you have at the start of every project,” Mora said, “and the players have really embraced that. I really don’t even have to mention it.”

Billy Knight has spoken at length about the need to “change the culture” of the downtrodden Hawks. Mora uses the same word so often — “culture” — that he looked it up in the dictionary to make sure he was invoking it correctly. (He was. The irritating thing about Mora is that he tends to be right.) He didn’t come here from San Francisco to be part of a one-year wonder; he came here to win as big and as often as the 49ers used to win. And he’s on his way.

“You want an environment or a culture that’s conducive to winning,” he said. “A lot of that has to do with who you let in the door. It’s like the Braves or the Patriots: We’re looking for a certain kind of player, and we’re asking, ‘Do they fit what we want ourselves to be?’ … Last year we got rid of some guys who were slowing the boat down.”

Last year the Falcons were learning a new offense and a new defense and were acclimating themselves to a new coaching staff. They now know where to stand and what to do. With the mass substitution inherent in exhibition games, it’s hard to get a glimpse of any sort of continuity, but what you saw in the Falcons’ opening drive against Tennessee last week — a zippy march culminating in Michael Vick’s touchdown pass to Brian Finneran — seemed a sign of an offense beginning to find its stride.

“We’re less a West Coast offense and more — I don’t know — a Mike Vick movement offense,” Mora said. “Greg [Knapp, the offensive coordinator] is fitting our system to our players.”

Regarding players: Would Mora be comfortable starting the regular season with these wide receivers? “Yeah,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of young guys [Michael Jenkins and Roddy White] who are going to continue to get better, but Roddy [who has a bad ankle] has to get on the field. I think there’s been so much focus on the receivers that it’s gotten a little bit overblown. Think about Philadelphia’s success going to the NFC championship game: Before T.O. [Terrell Owens] got there last year, could you have named any of their wide receivers? What’s important is to be balanced and have the same strength we had in the running game.”

If you can run, you’ll be able to throw no matter how unassuming your wideouts might be. That’s basic football. The Falcons might not be the slickest crew in creation, but they’re getting pretty good at the basics. They don’t look like a team grown fat on sudden success. They look lean and hungry.

Lets hope. History is against us, not only in our franchise history but recent history states we are doomed. This may be our best season to turn the volume down on many of the doubters.

Agreed. If ever we had a year to do it, counting players, coahes, talent and F.O. tactics and much much better ownership, this would be it, it seems.