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Articles by Mark Bradley
Bradley’s Buzz: Could UGA win a title with a backup QB? It has been done
We don't know if Carson Beck will be available for the College Football Playoff. Kirby Smart's last update came more than a week ago, when he described Beck as looking "somber" after an MRI. There is, however, a reason Smart and his Georgia Bulldogs shouldn't be somber or sullen or just plain sad. The first lesson we learned about the CFP was this: You can win with a backup quarterback.
Mark Bradley: So how good is Georgia, really?
ATLANTA - The College Football Playoff committee dropped Georgia from No. 3 to No. 12, which is worse than it sounds, given that the 12th-ranked team gets bumped to make room for the fifth-highest-ranked conference champ. That's the bad news. Here's the good: The playoff doesn't begin today. For Georgia, next week's rankings will tell the tale. Beat No. 7 Tennessee and they'll hold wins over three of the committee's top 20 teams.
Bradley’s Buzz: So what do we make of these Falcons now?
When you lose to a team that just fired its coach, it's a bad loss. When you lose to a team that just dumped its best defensive back, it's a bad loss. When you lose to a team that hasn't won in eight weeks, it's a bad loss. When you lose to a team nursing a three-point lead that makes no fourth-quarter first downs, it's a bad loss. When you're the Falcons and you lose to the Saints, it's a bad loss. Did I see this one coming? Nope. Truth to tell, I'm not sure it happened.
Mark Bradley: Surfin’ Birds - the Falcons are riding a wave
ATLANTA - One reason the NFL cognoscenti was slow to embrace these Falcons was that in each of their first five games, three of which they won, they trailed in the final minute of regulation. A more generous view might have held that, this being the NFL, we shouldn't be shocked if a team with a bona fide quarterback wins its share of such games – but not everyone is inclined to be generous. This also being the NFL, things can and do change.
Bradley’s Buzz: Are the Falcons perfect? No. Are they rather good? Yes
· Baker Mayfield threw for 330 yards without his two best receivers. · He threw 50 passes and, like every quarterback who faces the Falcons, wasn't sacked. · Cade Otton was made to look like Gronk. · Kyle Pitts scored two touchdowns, but I'm not sure the second should have counted. · The Falcons turned it over only once, but it cost them two points and, had Darnell Mooney not swept the ball out of the end zone, would have cost five more.
Bradley’s Buzz: The Falcons face a pivotal Sunday in Florida
By 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the Falcons will have played 47% of their regular season. If they win in Tampa, they'll lead the NFC South by a game over the only other team in this division worth mentioning. They'll have clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker, meaning the Buccaneers must gain two games on over the final nine to win the division. Of the Falcons' final nine games, only three – at Denver, at Minnesota, at Washington – will involve opponents currently above .500.
Bradley’s Buzz: Reports of Georgia’s demise were greatly exaggerated
Three weeks after Alabama scored 30 points in 30 minutes against Georgia, Texas managed 15 points over 60 minutes. (Seven points bear an asterisk, about which more soon.) A week after the Bulldogs struggled to separate from Mississippi State, they led the nation's No. 1 team 23-zip at the half. On a night when they were underdogs for the first time in three years, they rolled into Austin and acted as if they owned the place. It was almost as if Kirby Smart saved the good stuff for such a moment.
Bradley’s Buzz: By shedding three coaches, the Braves send a message
Since October 1990, the Braves have had three managers and four general managers. Over that span, the Mets – who, unlike the Braves, are still playing – have had 12 managers and 11 GMs. The Braves fired Russ Nixon as manager on June 22, 1990, president Stan Kasten having persuaded then-GM Bobby Cox to resume field duties. Their next major severance came Sept. 22, 2014, when Frank Wren was "terminated" as GM. On that day, John Schuerholz promised a return to The Braves' Way.
Bradley’s Buzz: The Falcons take another step on the road to eminence
The Falcons just beat the NFL's worst team, which wouldn't seem much of an achievement – until we recall that, 10 months ago, they left Charlotte having not beaten the NFL's worst team, which is why Arthur Smith and Desmond Ridder work elsewhere. It's also why these Falcons are bound for the playoffs. The run of six consecutive losing seasons is behind them.
The Braves’ star-crossed season ends with a thud
Maybe they're still paying off the debt accrued at MLB's Bank of Karma. The worst playoff qualifier of 2021 – record-wise, the worst Braves team of the past seven years – went 11-5 in the postseason and became world champs. Since then, the Braves are 2-8 in playoff games. Maybe that's explains how the Braves, who sacrificed Vaughn Grissom for the express purpose of having Chris Sale in October, saw Sale – who's about to win his first Cy Young award – rendered unavailable Sept. 30.
Bradley’s Buzz: The Braves are down, but they’re not quite out
This is where they were in 2021 – down 0-1, facing a favored opponent on the road, Max Fried taking the ball. That Game 2 wasn't an elimination game, but it felt no less immense. Fried worked six shutout innings in Milwaukee. The Braves won that game and the next four. On Nov. 2, Fried threw six scoreless innings in Houston. The least of that season's playoff qualifiers became World Series champs. Do I see such a thing happening this time? No. But I didn't see it coming then, either.
What do I think when I think of Pete Rose? It’s, um, complicated
I first saw Pete Rose play at Crosley Field in 1963. He was a rookie. I was 8. Five years later, we sat in my dad's preferred spot – down low behind third base – on the season's final day. Pete needed a hit to clinch the batting title, which had become an epic chase. The day before, he'd gone 5-for-5 only to learn that Matty Alou went 4-for-4. On that Sunday, Pete led off the bottom of the first with a double. That did it. It felt as if the Reds had won the World Series.
Bradley’s Buzz: At 2-2, the Falcons’ glass is more than half-full
The Falcons need not – and will not – apologize. After the Week 1 fizzle against Pittsburgh, 0-4 seemed more likely than 2-2. But here they sit, having endured four games over various days and times and networks, all decided by one-score margins. Here they sit, and they're in decent company. Other 2-2 NFC teams: San Francisco, Green Bay, Dallas, Philadelphia, New Orleans. (The latter two have the Falcons to blame for not being 3-1.) Maybe you think the Falcons are lucky to have won twice.
Bradley’s Buzz: Could it all come down to Spencer Schwellenbach?
Baseball's greatest truth: Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher. Owing to Hurricane Helene, the Braves just spent two days pondering a deeper issue: When exactly is "tomorrow"? The Braves beat the Mets on Tuesday to draw within a game of a wild card slot. When it's Tuesday, tomorrow is Wednesday. But the Braves and Mets didn't play Wednesday. Nor did they play Thursday. If they meet again this season – there's a chance they won't, though they probably will – it won't be until Monday.
Bradley’s Buzz: And just like that, the Braves’ chances look quite good
The Braves have been in just-get-us-to-October mode since Memorial Day. With October in plain sight, this team had a night that reminded us of a truth that had, over a difficult season, been obscured: The Braves are great at getting to October. From April 28 through Friday's thudding loss in Miami, this team was 64-64. It's 3-0 since. That modest stretch has changed dynamics. Suddenly there isn't just one path to the postseason; owing to the Diamondbacks' collapse, there are two.
Bradley’s Buzz: The Braves are 2 games back, but the schedule suits them
Credit to the Mets. They've conducted themselves, at least so far, in a manner unlike the Mets. They weren't supposed to be good this year, having sold off talent in 2023 and added little over the offseason. They lead the Braves by two games with nine to go. Three games will be played here, which for the Mets is the stuff of nightmares. Credit also to the Braves.
Bradley’s Buzz: With an eye on Mets, Braves face Dodgers
As Ernie Johnson Sr. would say, we're getting down to cases. If the playoffs began today, the Braves wouldn't qualify. This marks only the second September since 2017 that the Braves haven't held first place throughout, and in the final month of 2022 they were always positioned to claim a wild card, which they wound up not needing. They caught the Mets and won the NL East via tiebreaker. The differences this time: Neither holds first place, and both aren't assured of a postseason berth.
Bradley’s Buzz: If Cousins isn’t healthy, the Falcons are in a world of hurt
It was a bad first game, which can happen. But what if it was more than that? What if Kirk Cousins wasn't just rusty? What if he's really and truly not ready? What then? Confession: This correspondent isn't a fan of conspiracy theories. Sometimes a cigar, as the doctor from Vienna suggested, is just a cigar. Sometimes – oftentimes, if you're the Falcons – you stink out the joint on opening day. And then they, and we, move on. There's your disclaimer.
Mark Bradley: College football is ridiculous, but wasn’t it always?
ATLANTA - On Oct. 12, Texas and Oklahoma will renew hostilities in the annual Red River Shootout. As ever, the game will be staged in the Cotton Bowl, smack in the middle of the Texas State Fair. This part is new: In 2024, Texas-OU will be a Southeastern Conference game. On Nov. 23, Stanford will travel to Berkeley to meet Cal in the latest installment of what's known as The Big Game.
Mark Bradley: An expanded CFP only enhances Georgia’s title chances
ATLANTA - Without a game being played, Georgia is again No. 1. It tops the AP poll for a second consecutive August. Preseason polls haven't always counted for much - we recall 2008, when the hyped-to-the-heavens Bulldogs started No. 1 and straggled home 13th - but the new era of college football stands to benefit the "haves" more than ever. No program has more than UGA. In the cold light of hindsight, the four-team playoff did Georgia no favors.
Mark Bradley: 28 years later, we recall Atlanta’s 17 Olympic days
ATLANTA - We Atlantans awaited the summer of ‘96 with enthusiasm - we'd spent thousands of dollars on Olympic tickets, some involving sports for which we had limited familiarity - and dread. How would traffic be? How would MARTA do? Would the world come to our city and hate what it saw? If you were here then, you remember those 17 days and have the pictures to prove it. If you weren't - and it was 28 years ago, and Atlanta did see a post-Olympiad population boom - here's how it felt, at least to me.
Mark Bradley: ESPN asks why the Falcons didn’t hire Belichick. Here’s why.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull has completed the Formula 1 double. Verstappen has taken the pole for the Chinese Grand Prix just hours after winning the first F1 sprint of the season. Verstappen is the sport’s best driver in the quickest car. The Dutchman has won 22 of the last 26 GPs and three of the first four this season. Only a brake failure in Australia probably kept him from sweeping all four races.
Mark Bradley: ESPN asks why the Falcons didn’t hire Belichick. Here’s why.
ATLANTA - The first time you read it, ESPN's recount of Bill Belichick's failed job search expresses more than a dollop of incredulity. How could any team - the Falcons having been the only club to grant him an interview, this mostly means them - be so silly as to leave the greatest-ever NFL coach unhired? The second time through, it leaves you with a different question. Where did the oft-erring Falcons find the wisdom to get this right? We see from the story that the Falcons were tempted.
Mark Bradley: ESPN asks why the Falcons didn’t hire Belichick. Here’s why.
ATLANTA — The first time you read it, ESPN’s recount of Bill Belichick’s failed job search expresses more than a dollop of incredulity. How could any team — the Falcons having been the only club to grant him an interview, this mostly means them — be so silly as to leave the greatest-ever NFL coach unhired? The second time through, it leaves you with a different question. Where did the oft-erring Falcons find the wisdom to get this right?
Mark Bradley: Desmond Ridder, Arthur Smith and what might have been
ATLANTA - The Falcons were 8-9 in games started by Desmond Ridder. Over those two seasons, they were 6-11 in games started by another quarterback. His completion percentage was better than Marcus Mariota's in 2022, better than Taylor Heinicke's in 2023. Ridder is a Falcon no longer. He was traded Thursday to Arizona, which has Kyler Murray but has managed one winning season since 2015.
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