Asante Samuel is making a case to be the biggest douche in the NFL

And that's in a league where Cortland Finnegan and DeAngelo Hall exist.

Full Disclosure:  I will never forgive Asante Samuel for playing lazy on the Tyree catch, and I suspect most Patriots fans would agree.

But this?  

On October 16th, as Reid found himself in hot water and decided to fire under-performing defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, Asante Samuel tweeted this:

Sometimes you have to blame yourself. You can't try and always point the figure at someone else

— Asante Samuel (@pick_six22) October 16, 2012

Apparently, he was still hot from the suggestion that Andy Reid traded him to the Falcons because he believed Asante to be in "steep decline".

I'm just saying... Aint no decline over here #riseup

— Asante Samuel (@pick_six22) October 16, 2012

First of all, Andy Reid never said that.

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John Abraham bravely resists the orders of drunk-with-power firefighters

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A look back: The Top 10 NFL Football Teams of 2011 (#8)

#8: The Atlanta Falcons

If you listened even once to any episode of our Ugly Fours Fantasy Football PodCrash, you probably heard me attacking the Atlanta Falcons.

I did it just about every week.

And while the Falcons are amazingly fun to poke holes in, you can't argue with their recent (regular season) success.

I'm not going to go into the whole thing here.  I've done it so many times in so many ways that it would just feel like banging the same old non-superbowl-winning drum.

But do a search for Matt Ryan on this blog and you'll have plenty of perspective on the Falcons.

My big problem with the Falcons: They feel like they're one player away.

And they're right, but that player happens to be the quarterback.

But having said that, they are among the best-ish teams in the league.  I have them at 8 out of 32. That's not too shabby in the whole scheme of things.

And despite having everyone's favorite uncle as head coach, they look to be getting somewhere in the offseason.

The jury is still out on the big Julio Jones trade, but right now?  They don't look like they overpaid.  He has the talent to be among the best receivers in the league.  Like, next year.  That soon.

And you have to love the grit and tenacity of a team that had Roddy White and spends like that to put a beast on the other side of him.

So what's the problem?

They have the greatest tight end ever still playing elite football.  They have two nearly uncoverable receivers.  They have a dick-smasher in the backfield.  They have a scat back.  They have a good O line. They have one of the fastest slot receivers in the league.

What's missing?

Gee, I don't know.

I wrote an article about what the Falcons need to do to get back into the hunt, and my big suggestion was, in lieu of firing Mike Smith, that he bring in two new coordinators that were vicious thugs.

Well, they didn't do that.

But I may like what they did better (at least on defense).

Mike Nolan is one of the best coaches in the league, his tenure at the helm of the Niners notwithstanding.  Wherever he goes, defenses immediately find their way.  They immediately tackle better, and play position better, and improve into tough, disciplined units.

He did it in Denver, and then he did it in Miami.

At the end of last season, the Miami defense started to play nasty.  That's all Mike Nolan.

With Dirk Koetter at the helm on offense, one hopes they'll transition to a more vertical passing game.  I have my doubts, if only because Matt Ryan's never done it, but they certainly have the pieces in place.

And that may be enough.  

Because unlike last year and many years before that, they will now be able to genuinely rely on their defense to make plays, to keep them in games, to strip balls, and to generally compete.

Which might make the 25-27 points a game the offense should be good for enough to win twelve games.

With Harry Douglas and Julio Jones taking to top off the defense, Roddy White catching anything on intermediate and timing routes and Jacquizz Rodgers (when he was drafted I said "that's the man that's gonna put Michael Turner out of a job) catching dump offs?  This offense has all any coach could want.

Mike Smith promised, recently, that Michael Turner would be on a pitch count.  That's really all they need him for.  To keep defenses honest and pick up 4th and 1's, something they were piss-poor at last season.

Add it all up and you have a team placed squarely on the shoulders on Matt Ryan.

Which will mean a fantastic, promise-filled regular season, and then a quick and unceremonious dispatching in the playoffs.

I expect them around #6 next year.  But if Ryan clicks?  With a Mike Nolan defense this team could go all the way.

It's a team with incredibly likeable people in ownership, the front office, the coaching staff and in the locker room?  How do you NOT like Matt Ryan?  He's appealing to everyone who isn't a card-carrying Nazi.  

So let's say a quick word of prayer for the Falcons.  

May they finally put it together and get our favorite uncle to the promised land.

The meek might inherit the Earth, but maybe they'll get a Lombardi trophy along the way.

Some Falcons players think it was real poopy of Brees to be best ever against them

Nobody reports the reporting of football news like ProFootballTalk.

And in one of the greatest reportings of other peoples unconfirmed speculations, we have the word that some Falcons players were pissed off that Drew Brees broke the all time passing record against them.

WAAAAAAAAH!

First of all, I don't buy it.  Yes, maybe some players weren't thrilled about getting their dicks kicked in on national TV by a team they're (theoretically) evenly matched with, and perhaps the record seemed to throw salt on their wound.

Fine, I get that.  I hate losing in anything.  Checkers, badminton, getting out of your car first and through the door of the grocery store- whatever.  

But according to Jason Cole, absolute jedi master of the unquoted source:

"After the game, the Falcons said all the right things. Atlanta coach Mike Smith congratulated the “classy” Brees for the accomplishment. However, underneath that, those close to him said Smith was seething over the move."

Oh!  Not 'those close to' my favorite uncle Mike Smith!  He was seething?  Oh shit, I guess he's only going to hand out two candy bars each to the players kids instead of three!  Heavens to Betsy!

And from Pete Prisco's CBS Sports article, also referenced by ProFootballTalk:

"No need for that," one player said. "It came on our watch, but it didn't have to come that way. We won't forget it."

One player?  Who?  Some pussy who's too much of a pussy to give his name?  A special teamer that wants to pretend like he's important?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I believe the Falcons were more pissed about losing than they were about Drew Brees becoming legendary.

And if I'm wrong about that?  Then fuck you, the Atlanta Falcons.

He was 30 yards away from history.  I don't care that it was the 4th quarter.  You don't like it?  Stop him, then. There's nothing more lame than a bunch of losers talking shit.  That's why it's so tough to stomach the Jets sometimes.

You got beat.  You got whipped.  Close your mouths and take it like men.

There's a damn good chance you'll have a shot at some payback.  That's when you do your talking.  On the field.

And in fairness, you all may have, and a few journalists may have painted it otherwise.

And lastly, how sad is the state of sports reporting that one site has to quote two other sites and there's nary a goddamn single actual, identifiable person quoted to support the thesis?

And now I'm writing about that.  Christ, we're all a bunch of imbeciles.