Don't expect Petrino to open up the Falcons' offense

	Bobby Petrino's Louisville Cardinals were very effective running the ball this season. AP
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Misconception of the Week: Bobby Petrino's going to be Mike Martz and turn the Atlanta Falcons into the Greatest Show on Georgia Turf.

"The first thing you do if you want to win,'' Petrino said over the phone from his new office in Falconville on Tuesday, "is learn to run the football. And run it well in the fourth quarter. That's what we'll try to establish here. It's the same thing I've done everywhere I've been, and certainly at Louisville. You do that, you wear teams down. Then, of course, I like to throw the ball, and throw it downfield. But running it well has to be your priority.''

Fact: Petrino's Louisville team averaged 185 yards rushing per game last season -- even after losing running back Michael Bush, a Heisman Trophy candidate, to an injury at the start of the season. So this isn't lip service. That's why Warrick Dunn has to be pretty happy Petrino got the job. Maybe Dunn can morph into the kind of every-down back that another small-fry back, Tiki Barber, was with the Giants the last three years.

I asked Petrino why he didn't take the Raiders job last year when it was offered. Smart move by him, in retrospect, because here he is in a semi-stable environment, with a five-year, $24-million contract, in an area his family wants to live. "I don't think it was the right job for me,'' he said of Oakland.

Delicately. Are you kidding? It might not be the right job for anyone. But by waiting, Petrino got a better deal with a better future.

"This thing happened fast,'' he said. "I didn't even talk to them [the Falcons] 'til Sunday.''

By Sunday night, he was hired. "With college coaches,'' said GM Rich McKay, "because they can be damaged so much by it coming out that they're interviewing for a job, we wanted to make sure we had all our research done and then we'd be in position to make a quick decision if we had to.''

I think it's a good hire. I also think Atlanta should hold onto backup quarterback Matt Schaub, a restricted free-agent, because if Mike Vick struggles under Petrino, the Falcons will want the option of using a more traditional quarterback in 2008.

Atlanta is undecided whether to tender Schaub with first-round or first- and third-round compensation if another team chooses to sign him. Tricky business. If the Bears, with the 30th pick in the 2007 draft, choose to sign Schaub and the Falcons have only first-round compensation on him, it would be a bargain for the Bears. But a first- and third-rounder would be a tough call for a team. Two first-day picks for an unproven quarterback is a pretty big ticket.

Now for your e-mail.

STAY, RON, STAY. From Ross Knudsen of Star, Idaho: "Gosh, I hope for Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera's sake (as much as for Da Bears' sake) that he does not leave Chicago for Arizona. I don't understand why anybody would want some jobs (Arizona, Detroit, Oakland, and Minnesota come immediately to mind) because the deck is so stacked against you, the organization is so dysfunctional, the odds of success are so dismal when compared to the likelihood of failure. Ron Rivera will be an NFL coach someday; I just hope he waits for a team worth coaching.''

Good point. The interesting thing about Arizona is you've got a quarterback, two very good wideouts and a defense with two or three really good players. You've got a foundation for success. I don't think it's hopeless there anymore.