I wonder if Petrino will turn out to be like his owner…quick to make a personnel decision that later turns out to be ill-advised.

Blank inherited Vick, but extended his contract big time after the Falcons advanced to the NFC championship game.  Had he waited a year, he might not have made the same decision.  Blank also quickly signed Warrick Dunn to a monster contract, soon after a dinner meeting.  Dunn is a great citizen and has made a solid contribution, but it may not have been the biggest #### for the buck.

GM Rich McKay deserves some blame for many draft day failures, particularly receivers Jenkins and White.  Injury-prone defensive lineman like John Abraham were given large contracts.  The large payroll led to the loss of end Patrick Kearney.

At the end of training camp the Falcons cut kicker Billy Cundiff, who was more experienced than the stronger-legged Matt Prater.  Prater was to relieve punter Michael Koenen of kickoff and long field goal duties, but washed out in two games.  Ageless vet Morten Andersen was welcomed back, but now Koenen has his kicking duties back.

Now it appears Blank urged McKay to sign QB Byron Leftwich, who had lost his job in Jacksonville largely in part to not sharing his coach’s enthusiasm.  While Leftwich was perhaps the best option available, the odds seem stacked against his success.

Leftwich Plusses:

1. Great arm

2. Tireless preparation & study of film

3. Plays hurt

Leftwich Minuses:

1. Immobile…joining a team with a weak defensive line.  Joey Harrington has been sacked 13 times in two games, though in his career Harrington had one of the lowest sacks per game averages…notable considering he played for below-average teams.

2. Not the take charge type.  Sounds like the guy we had last year.

3. Slow release.  He winds up to throw.

Busy is bad, simple and traditional good.  Hate the black trim.  Here goes...

1. Colts…simple, traditional.

2. Giants…great stripes on pants.

3. Steelers…hard to pull off a weird number font, but Pittsburgh does.  Nice throwbacks this year.

4. Chiefs…classic look designed by owner Lamar Hunt.

5. Browns…returned to their classic simplicity.

6. Raiders…team has gone downhill, but the great unis remain.

7. Cowboys…great when they mix in the white helmet throwbacks.

8. Bears…love the stripes.

9. Jets…traditional uni gets points off for green facemasks.

10. Saints…the striped throwbacks are great.

11. Packers…get rid of those collar stripes!

12. Rams…great helmets.

13. Patriots…love the striped throwbacks best.

14. Bucs…unique color combos.

15. Bengals…great helmets.  The unis grow on you.

16. Seahawks…love the blue, but the pants are ugly.

17. Dolphins…black trim wrecks the uni.

18. Cardinals…great helmets, and the new unis aren’t bad.

19. Lions…great logo and blue/grey colors…wrecked by black trim.

20. Chargers…love the white helmets and powder blue jerseys, but number font and ugly new bolts wreck the uni makeover.

21. Titans…nice colors go well with the white helmet.

22. Panthers…weird stripes on pants and helmet.

23. 49ers…great throwbacks, but the new unis have too much trim.

24. Ravens…like the colors and logos.

25. Eagles…kinda plain…the black trim isn’t needed.  Interesting throwbacks!

26. Broncos…busy stripes, but the look is worse on college teams.  OK helmets.

27. Redskins…wonderful throwbacks.  They started the return of the white on white look.

28. Jaguars…hate it when they wear black jerseys, pants, socks, and shoes together.  Need stripes!

29. Bills…great throwbacks, and nice blue shoulders on the white jersey.  Too many stripes!

30. Texans…dull uni for a new team.  OK helmets.

31. Vikings…uni redo disaster.

32. Falcons…way too busy.  Ugly numbers.  But nice helmets.  Need a redo to escape the Vick era!