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NFL Notebook: Vick says Atlanta 'still my city'
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Michael Vick -- Going home to Atlanta
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The game is OK, the 7-4 Philadelphia Eagles at the 6-5 Atlanta Falcons.
But the real focus in Atlanta might be what happens around the edges of today's game at the Georgia Dome, where Michael Vick appears in uniform for the first time since his fall from grace after the 2006 season.
Once the city's biggest star, Vick spent 18 months behind bars for his role in a dogfighting ring, before being signed by the Eagles. He looks to his homecoming with great expectation.
"I'm going to get a great reaction from the crowd," he told reporters this week, smiling. "It's going to be a standing ovation. It's still my city."
After running for 800 yards in November -- the best month of any back since 1970 -- Tennessee running back Chris Johnson is thinking about a bigger number: Eric Dickerson's NFL record of 2,105 yards in 1984. Johnson has 1,396 with five games to play. While his pace would leave him just short at 2,030, his November pace would put him over. Whether he can pass Dickerson might be answered today versus Indianapolis, which held him to a season-low 34 yards Oct. 11.
Between Dallas and New York this week, hundreds, if not thousands, of column inches have been written leading up to today's NFC East matchup between the front-running Dallas Cowboys (8-3) and desperately-hanging-on New York Giants (6-5). But really, all those writers and bloggers and talking heads needed was this statement from Cowboys cornerback Michael Jenkins. "This is pretty much their season," Jenkins told the Dallas Morning News. "If we beat them right now, we don't have to worry about them later."
Former Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said Friday he would be interested in returning to the Seahawks as general manager and perhaps president -- jobs that became vacant this week when Tim Ruskell was forced out. "Absolutely, I would like to talk to them," Holmgren said on KJR AM from Arizona, where he has one of his homes.
Today is Jacksonville's sixth home game of the season. Today is the sixth time the struggling Jaguars will be blacked out in their home market. ... After recording only 21/2 sacks in the first nine games of the season and getting benched, former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter has 41/2 in the Dolphins' past two games. ... The Browns are 1-10 for the first time in their history. ... The Vikings haven't had a player go on injured reserve this year. A reason they're 10-1?
First Published December 6, 2009 12:00 am
