ATLANTA (AP) — As if the road closures surrounding Mercedes-Benz Stadium were not convincing signs that the countdown to Super Bowl 53 has started in Atlanta
youth Devonta Freeman Jersey , one look inside the facility drives the point home.The end zones and sidelines already are painted with the Patriots and Rams names and colors. That work was done less than 24 hours after New England beat Kansas City in the AFC championship game and the Los Angeles Rams beat New Orleans in the NFC game on Sunday."You find out who's here on Sunday and you come here Monday and the team names are in the end zone," Scott Jenkins, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium general manager, said Tuesday. "It's pretty cool. It makes it real when you know who's coming here to play." Ed Mangan, the NFL field director, said there will be a fresh coat of paint laid down the day before the Feb. 3 game.Most other necessary updates and modifications also are complete, including the installation of equipment for the pregame and halftime shows .There's still one major question left unanswered: Will the retractable roof for the $1.5 billion stadium be open?Officials for the NFL and the stadium are eager to show off the facility's most distinctive feature, but even a billion dollars can't buy a guarantee of good weather.Atlanta was dealt an ice storm for its last Super Bowl following the 2000 season. It's too early to know if hopes for a dry day and milder temperatures will be realized and the roof can be open."It's definitely something we're talking about," NFL senior director of events Eric Finkelstein said Tuesday as he stood on the freshly painted field. "We haven't made a decision one way or the other. It probably won't be decided if we're going to have the roof open until we get much closer to the game and we know the realities that are involved with that."There were problems with the roof's camera-lens type mechanism in 2017, the first year the stadium served as home for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and MLS Atlanta United. The roof was closed for all but one Falcons home regular-season game in 201 but was fully operational in 2018, when there were four open-air games.All along, it has been clear the NFL's preference is to have the roof open for the Super Bowl.Jenkins said a compromise could be to have the roof open before the game and then closed by kickoff."That would give us a little more leeway for the temperature, but it's going to be based on comfort for the fans," Jenkins said."I don't think the long-term forecast is such that we'd play open, but we'd still like to open up the roof for some time and use it as part of the show and then shut it, so we're thinking about that."The NFL will make the decision."We'll take our lead from the NFL," Jenkins said. "It's really their event."The stadium already has hosted other major events, including Alabama's win over Georgia for the college football national championship game following the 2017 season and the recent MLS Cup won by the hometown Atlanta United. I am not going to worry about this football game. I may muster up an angry comment or two, or perhaps cheer once in joy if this team makes a big play, but for the first time in recent memory I am not going to fret about the outcome at all. If Atlanta wins, great, they’ve capped a three game streak to close out a disappointing season and give us some reason, if we squint, to see hope for 2019. If they lose, great, they’ll have a crack at an even more premier prospect than they’ll get at, say, 15. So what’s there to worry about and feel confident about in a game with virtually no stakes at all? Let’s see.Worry that the Falcons will take trying to win to extremesIt’s a rare circumstance indeed where I don’t want the Falcons to win a football game, and I’ll fall just short of that here. I am concerned that they will ultimately push so hard to win that they miss a small opportunity to take a closer look at their young talent.This is not merely an academic concern, because Quinn has been adamant about the team’s desire to play these games like they would any other. Brian Hill has snuck in due to injury and the Falcons have found a way to get Isaiah Oliver on the field more often, but they haven’t done the wholesale evaluation work you might expect from a team with the lost season, and we all know they won’t do so.That said, if this one gets out of hand early, one way or the other, the Falcons would be remiss to not take a look at Matt Gono at guard
Stitched Devonta Freeman Jersey , Oliver at cornerback, Deadrin Senat at defensive tackle, and perhaps Russell Gage at wide receiver. The Falcons are about to head into an offseason with no slam dunk starters at guard—Wes Schweitzer is probably the best bet, at this point, and that says a lot—with Robert Alford potentially looming as a cut, with Terrell McClain, Brooks Reed and Derrick Shelby potentially leaving town, and with no sure thing at wide receiver beyond the team’s top three options. However short the look might be at the players I’ve listed above, I’m hopeful the Falcons will take it, and I’m concerned they will not.Feel confident that the Falcons will put up a good fightRegardless of whether they roll with their top-end starters all game or not, the Falcons will give the Buccaneers all they can handle. This has as much to do with the Bucs as the Falcons, in case you were wondering.Tampa Bay’s fans are, by and large, a long-suffering bunch with a pretty decent sense of humor about their favorite team. But they bristled a bit this offseason when I suggested that this current epoch of the Bucs was doomed, and indeed had been doomed for a while, with Jameis Winston’s legal troubles serving as the latest, longest ominous bell tolling for the franchise. While Winston hasn’t been the primary source of the team’s troubles this year, he’s still been pretty mediocre for a fourth-year former first overall pick, and this franchise has no certain way forward because of that. They may fire Dirk Koetter, who bizarrely tried to take away play-calling duty from bright offensive coordinator Todd Monken and has coaxed little out of his players, and they’ll certainly fire Jason Licht, a hotshot coming in who has consistently assembled an underperforming roster and presided over the brutally bad trade for Roberto Aguayo.The Bucs, then, are a mess. There’s something in the front seven here to build on and plenty of talent on offense, so they won’t have trouble attracting new blood to the front office and coaching staff. But will top candidates forego the impossible brightness of the future in Cleveland, overlook the chance to mold a Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold, all for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in over a decade? No, probably not.All that’s to say that this Falcons team, which has gotten its feet under it in the last couple of weeks, can at least hang with this Bucs team and give them a good game. But it’s Atlanta that heads into 2019 with 3-4 great players returning, a modest war chest of picks and cash to play with, and a refreshed coaching staff. Tampa Bay will have to start over, and if they’re not lucky and good, it’ll be another reboot that doesn’t help them find a better way forward.
ATLANTA (AP) — As if the road closures surrounding Mercedes-Benz Stadium were not convincing signs that the countdown to Super Bowl 53 has started in Atlanta youth Devonta Freeman Jersey , one look inside the facility drives the point home.The end zones and sidelines already are painted with the Patriots and Rams names and colors. That work was done less than 24 hours after New England beat Kansas City in the AFC championship game and the Los Angeles Rams beat New Orleans in the NFC game on Sunday."You find out who's here on Sunday and you come here Monday and the team names are in the end zone," Scott Jenkins, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium general manager, said Tuesday. "It's pretty cool. It makes it real when you know who's coming here to play." Ed Mangan, the NFL field director, said there will be a fresh coat of paint laid down the day before the Feb. 3 game.Most other necessary updates and modifications also are complete, including the installation of equipment for the pregame and halftime shows .There's still one major question left unanswered: Will the retractable roof for the $1.5 billion stadium be open?Officials for the NFL and the stadium are eager to show off the facility's most distinctive feature, but even a billion dollars can't buy a guarantee of good weather.Atlanta was dealt an ice storm for its last Super Bowl following the 2000 season. It's too early to know if hopes for a dry day and milder temperatures will be realized and the roof can be open."It's definitely something we're talking about," NFL senior director of events Eric Finkelstein said Tuesday as he stood on the freshly painted field. "We haven't made a decision one way or the other. It probably won't be decided if we're going to have the roof open until we get much closer to the game and we know the realities that are involved with that."There were problems with the roof's camera-lens type mechanism in 2017, the first year the stadium served as home for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and MLS Atlanta United. The roof was closed for all but one Falcons home regular-season game in 201 but was fully operational in 2018, when there were four open-air games.All along, it has been clear the NFL's preference is to have the roof open for the Super Bowl.Jenkins said a compromise could be to have the roof open before the game and then closed by kickoff."That would give us a little more leeway for the temperature, but it's going to be based on comfort for the fans," Jenkins said."I don't think the long-term forecast is such that we'd play open, but we'd still like to open up the roof for some time and use it as part of the show and then shut it, so we're thinking about that."The NFL will make the decision."We'll take our lead from the NFL," Jenkins said. "It's really their event."The stadium already has hosted other major events, including Alabama's win over Georgia for the college football national championship game following the 2017 season and the recent MLS Cup won by the hometown Atlanta United. I am not going to worry about this football game. I may muster up an angry comment or two, or perhaps cheer once in joy if this team makes a big play, but for the first time in recent memory I am not going to fret about the outcome at all. If Atlanta wins, great, they’ve capped a three game streak to close out a disappointing season and give us some reason, if we squint, to see hope for 2019. If they lose, great, they’ll have a crack at an even more premier prospect than they’ll get at, say, 15. So what’s there to worry about and feel confident about in a game with virtually no stakes at all? Let’s see.Worry that the Falcons will take trying to win to extremesIt’s a rare circumstance indeed where I don’t want the Falcons to win a football game, and I’ll fall just short of that here. I am concerned that they will ultimately push so hard to win that they miss a small opportunity to take a closer look at their young talent.This is not merely an academic concern, because Quinn has been adamant about the team’s desire to play these games like they would any other. Brian Hill has snuck in due to injury and the Falcons have found a way to get Isaiah Oliver on the field more often, but they haven’t done the wholesale evaluation work you might expect from a team with the lost season, and we all know they won’t do so.That said, if this one gets out of hand early, one way or the other, the Falcons would be remiss to not take a look at Matt Gono at guard Stitched Devonta Freeman Jersey , Oliver at cornerback, Deadrin Senat at defensive tackle, and perhaps Russell Gage at wide receiver. The Falcons are about to head into an offseason with no slam dunk starters at guard—Wes Schweitzer is probably the best bet, at this point, and that says a lot—with Robert Alford potentially looming as a cut, with Terrell McClain, Brooks Reed and Derrick Shelby potentially leaving town, and with no sure thing at wide receiver beyond the team’s top three options. However short the look might be at the players I’ve listed above, I’m hopeful the Falcons will take it, and I’m concerned they will not.Feel confident that the Falcons will put up a good fightRegardless of whether they roll with their top-end starters all game or not, the Falcons will give the Buccaneers all they can handle. This has as much to do with the Bucs as the Falcons, in case you were wondering.Tampa Bay’s fans are, by and large, a long-suffering bunch with a pretty decent sense of humor about their favorite team. But they bristled a bit this offseason when I suggested that this current epoch of the Bucs was doomed, and indeed had been doomed for a while, with Jameis Winston’s legal troubles serving as the latest, longest ominous bell tolling for the franchise. While Winston hasn’t been the primary source of the team’s troubles this year, he’s still been pretty mediocre for a fourth-year former first overall pick, and this franchise has no certain way forward because of that. They may fire Dirk Koetter, who bizarrely tried to take away play-calling duty from bright offensive coordinator Todd Monken and has coaxed little out of his players, and they’ll certainly fire Jason Licht, a hotshot coming in who has consistently assembled an underperforming roster and presided over the brutally bad trade for Roberto Aguayo.The Bucs, then, are a mess. There’s something in the front seven here to build on and plenty of talent on offense, so they won’t have trouble attracting new blood to the front office and coaching staff. But will top candidates forego the impossible brightness of the future in Cleveland, overlook the chance to mold a Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold, all for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in over a decade? No, probably not.All that’s to say that this Falcons team, which has gotten its feet under it in the last couple of weeks, can at least hang with this Bucs team and give them a good game. But it’s Atlanta that heads into 2019 with 3-4 great players returning, a modest war chest of picks and cash to play with, and a refreshed coaching staff. Tampa Bay will have to start over, and if they’re not lucky and good, it’ll be another reboot that doesn’t help them find a better way forward.