I’ve got a half-rant about the 8-8, “no back-to-back winning seasons in franchis history” Falcons over at the Atlanta Metroblog. I couldn’t even summon the emotion to be truly pissed off about the Falcons, but players and fans should be righteously angry with the state of our NFL franchise.

After a 6-2 start, finishing .500 is an abomination, reprehensible and shameful. Clusterfuck is another good descriptor for the situation.

I’m here to tell you that Mike Vick is the problem and not for the reasons you might expect. Mike Vick turned out to be less of a leader and more of a self-obsessed egotist than I had previously imagined.

Here’s a man with playoff wins, great athleticism and a winning smile who let the media, fans and the opinions of others completely affect his game. He talked about being more of a drop-back passer, when what he needed to be was a more effective passer (for the record, he didn’t really improve on either front). He wanted to run less, when what he needed to do was run more effectively and precisely – when the situation warranted.

Instead, we got way too much sandlot football when we needed a structure and framework that would have defined when and how Vick can use his almost superhuman abilities. But it seemed as if the whole team failed to plan for the eventualitites of NFL football – injuries, defensive scheming and the preparation and will of your opponents.

I think they took their feet off the gas and figured that the season would just take care of itself. It did. It self-corrected it’s way into 8-8.

So thanks, Falcons, for nothing. Last year I was charitable with my words after the NFC Championship game loss. This year, I have nothing to look forward to but the failure of others.

Fuck you, Falcons! You deserve it.