SPORTS

BY RUSS RAGAN
There is a lot of football news to report and I am happy to say nearly all of it went really well. The Falcons “finished the drill” they made things interesting before losing 44-27 to Tampa Bay. It took all the Bulldogs had but they found a way in a 24-21 win over Cincinnati. Dodge County and former bulldog Leonard Floyd wrapped up a really good regular season with the Rams.
Let’s start with the bulldogs as they played undefeated Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl. Things didn’t look good as they trailed 21-10 going to the fourth quarter but things came together late in the 24-21 win. It was only an okay day for Daniels despite the numbers. He threw for 392 yards including a really good two-minute drill. George Pickens had 7 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.
The big story was the Georgia defense and red shirt sophomore Azeez Ojulari. The defensive end had three sacks and a forced fumble in the win. He will go to the NFL draft and rightly so. He is currently projected to go in the first round.
Okay, back to the game. The dogs tailed 21-19 with 7 seconds to go. Sophomore kicker, Jack Podlesny lined up for a career long 53-yard field goal. He hit it flush with a nice little draw and dead down the middle for the 22-21 lead.
Ojulari got a sack in the end zone for the final points.
So, what’s next for the dogs? Well, they will finish in the top ten once again. Hopefully, Daniels, White and company will mostly come back for a really good chance for a special 2021 season.
Speaking of the bulldogs and Dodge County Indian, Leonard Floyd has had a really good year with the Rams. He picked up a sack and he had a quarterback hit in the Rams 18-7 must win over Arizona. He had 9 ½ sacks for the season for the layoff bound Rams.
Sunday’s missions were simple for the Falcons. Lose and they draft no worse than fourth in April’s draft. A win and they could fall as far as number 13. Things started good as Brady and Tampa Bay lead 23-10 at the half. Of course, the Falcons would make things close as it was 23-20 going into the fourth quarter. Fortunately, Brady got hot again in he fourth quarter for the 44-27 final.
So, what happens now? Well, they will pick fourth in April’s draft. Do you take a quarterback? Keep in mind, Matt Ryan will be the starter in 2021 because he has a massive 40 plus millions dollar cap hit. I do take the quarterback. Either Justin Fields, who looked good against Clemson or Zach Wilson from BYU will be there in the fourth spot. They can also trade down some and get maybe Mac Jones from Alabama? There are several ways they can do this.
The team made news Sunday night as they announced they will be interviewing Kansas City offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the job. He is top pick for job openings. Personally, I would love him or any high-powered offensive coordinator. I have had it with defensive coaches.
I am sure there will be plenty of rumors soon.