4. Atlanta Falcons
Moments after the January press conference at which Dan
Reeves was introduced as the Falcons' coach, running back
Jamal Anderson grabbed a
TV cameraman and walked up to his new boss. "Coach
Reeves," said the big ballcarrier, "our viewers
want to know how
excited you are to have Jamal Anderson as your running
back?"
Reeves wasn't fooled by Anderson's impersonation of a
broadcaster, but for a coach who is shelving the
run-and-shoot offense for a smash-mouth attack, the
question was an easy one. Last season Anderson, a
seventh-round pick out of Utah in 1994, rushed
for 1,055 yards (4.6 per carry, second in the league behind
the Lions' Barry Sanders), caught 49 passes for 473 yards
and scored six
touchdowns.
"He laughed," Anderson says of Reeves's reaction
to the
TV stunt. "Then the first thing he said to me, before he
even said hello was, 'Are you in good shape, Jamal? I sure
hope
so.'"
Despite being only a part-time participant at the team's
15-week off-season conditioning program, Anderson reported
to training camp a fit 235 pounds and was delighted to see
that the run-and-shoot had truly been mothballed. For the
first time since '89
more backs than receivers were in the Falcons' camp.
"It's like a convoy now when we run the ball,"
says Anderson, who was the 24th running back selected in
'94. "I have a fullback and a tight end, a blocker for
every tackler. I can't help but think
that we're going to kill people with this kind of
attack."
Anderson combines size and speed with one of the nastiest
stiff-arms in the league, a move he learned when he was
nine. It came courtesy of his father, James, the owner of a
Los Angeles
security service whose clients have included Muhammad Ali, Sugar
Ray Leonard and Boyz II Men. "Jamal can be something
special," says Reeves. "And we need him—yes, we
do. A new system can help you get better quick. But
[without the right personnel] it can also make you bad
fast."
After qualifying for the playoffs as a wild card two
seasons ago, Atlanta got bad fast. Last year featured a
bitter power struggle early in the season between coach
June Jones and quarterback Jeff George. George's sideline
outburst during a Sept. 22
game against the Eagles led to his suspension and then his
release, and all but sealed Jones's fate as well. The
Falcons lost their first eight games and finished 3-13.
Reeves came on board as coach and executive vice president
of football
operations after four seasons with the
Giants in which his teams went 31-33. He has won five
division championships and gone to three Super Bowls—all
with the Broncos—during a
16-year
NFL coaching career and leads active coaches in wins, with 141.
But in '95 and '96 the Giants' offense ranked 29th and 30th
in the league,
respectively.
To direct his Falcons offense, Reeves acquired journeyman
quarterback Chris Chandler from the Oilers. Atlanta is
Chandler's sixth stop during a 10-year
NFL career. To beef up the running game, he signed Harold
Green, a former
1,000-yard rusher (albeit in 1992) who spent last season with the
Rams. Reeves also used a second-round draft choice on Texas
Tech running back Byron Hanspard, who last year became only
the sixth player in Division I history to rush for more
than 2,000 yards
in a season. In three seasons Hanspard averaged 5.7 yards a
carry and scored 33 rushing touchdowns. He's also a proven
receiver, as evidenced by the 35 receptions and seven
touchdown catches he had during his sophomore season, in
1995. His
blink-and-he's-gone speed is a perfect complement to Anderson's bulldozer
style.
Before a recent practice Hanspard, who became a Pentecostal
minister at 19, spoke of the Falcons' making the playoffs
in '97. "I am a person of faith," he said,
"so I don't put limits on what the Lord can
do."
If Atlanta can't establish a running game, it might take an
act of God for the Falcons to reach .500.
--David Fleming
SCHEDULE
SKINNY
Six of the Falcons' first seven games are against playoff
contenders. Then, in
November, Atlanta plays five teams that had losing records
in 1996, which turns out to be the trickiest part of the
schedule. If the Falcons win too many games under Dan
Reeves, they'll miss out on the opportunity to select coveted
Tennessee quarterback Peyton
Manning in the '98
draft.
STRENGTH OF
SCHEDULE
NFL rank: 13 (tied)
Opponents' 1996 winning
percentage: .504
Games against playoff
teams: 6
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