Easy as A B C

November 25, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Atlanta Falcons running back Michael Turner (33) runs with the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Raymond James Stadium. Atlanta Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-23. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It seems every football sport site has a version of the their own NFL Power Rankings.

Take a mess of stats and mix with bias opinion and then multiply by the teams record and you’ll be three quarters of the way to your own rankings. They have no bearing or significance except for a writing staff to serve as fodder for down time to actual playing the game.
The times when I glanced at the Birds rank it really has not affected me over the years if they fell to ninth or as earlier in the year for a week or two were number one. But I recently saw on one sight the Falcons rank at number two ( behind Houston) and I would have moved on past to something with more merit except my eye caught the obligatory remark by a staff writer that read -” The Falcons have played the NFL’s easiest schedule to date by far .” Then I thought, and wondered and I silently asked myself, – is there such a thing as an Easy game in the NFL ? Are there NFL games on Sunday that have the difficulty of Rory McIlroy playing miniature golf ? I logically paused and then just found no reasoning to believe that statement.
First,- all of the teams Atlanta has played have been given a loss by said Falcons, even the Saints that are the only team to hand us a loss this year, so the percentages and stats would be a little askew looking at opponents that went up against an 11 – 1 team. I really saw the same when checking the Houston schedule,
It appeared they have had so many easy games, but anyone who has played , not even anywhere close to the level of the game that we watch our teams, knows that football is not an easy game – never.
When the Falcons beat Peyton and his Broncos some said it was early in the year. So is game two any easier than game ten when later in the year there are injuries and banged up players – like playing Pittsburgh without Roethlisberger ? The Super bowl Giants destroy Aaron Rodgers and the dangerous Green Bay Packers on November 25th and a week later lose to RG3 and the .500 Redskins on Monday night.
On November 18th the number one ranked Houston Texans played on their home turf against Jacksonville, who may not even have a power ranking. I was not at the game but just looking at the final score in overtime – nobody leaving the field I think would have called it an easy game.
New England has climbed the power rankings, maybe because they get to play two games each with Miami, Buffalo and the Jets. But usually division games and rivalries are brutal hard fought battles, so I’m seeing flaws in the ranking theory. The St. Louis Rams are a below .500 team, should never play in London again, but yet the very good San Francisco team would vote them out of the NFC west without a moments hesitation, – go figure ! I guess Seattle would be ranked first if they played every game at home, but that is not the case and stats can really be misleading, and power rankings go even further into the twilight zone.
That staff writer who threw down the silly comment of an Easy schedule should ask Andy Reid and the Eagle team if there is such a thing as an Easy game in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons have an Easy game, I guess, coming up on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers- ranked twenty eighth if you believe such sorcery, as the birds come back off a mini bye of ten days and hopefully had some healing time. They have had a chance to maybe view the Panthers game last Sunday and work on some improvements at practice. But again there is the division rivalry, the NFL road game and the intangibles of bad feelings from the previous meeting. Easy ? Easy as A B C = Atlanta Beating Carolina !!!
Some bookies call these games traps, some would call the match a old fashioned smash mouth battle.
The true facts are that Atlanta has had a few days extra to prepare, that Coach Smith keeps players focused one game at a time which will be crucial to maintain going into the playoffs, that the remaining games after Sunday may be even more difficult than the Panthers match up and that any national Football Game is one injury or one turn over from ruining the day because there are no Easy games, which in turn supports the argument of never an Easy Schedule.
New world dictionary definition of Easy is – “That can be done, mastered, endured etc. with ease, not difficult , not exacting. Free from trouble, anxiety and pain.”
Easy anything Football ? Understanding it’s not is as Easy as A B C.