Atlanta Falcons respond to New York Giants’ Justin Tuck's "dirt bags" allegations - NFL News Update
With the National Football League (NFL) playoffs wildcard rounds set to begin this weekend, teams are raising the mind games to a whole new level.
The Atlanta Falcons will be facing the New York Giants on Sunday, January 8, 2012, and the war of words between the players is growing.
On Monday, the Giants’ defensive end, Justin Tuck, lambasted the Atlanta Falcons' offensive line for being “dirt bags” due to their hits on opponents after the whistle to signal a pause in the game.
Tuck ranted, while talking during a meeting with the press pack after practice on Monday, saying,
"We know that they have that quote-unquote reputation. But in a way it is kind of exciting. Most people, you would call them dirt bags. But it is what it is”.
The Falcons, it seems have taken the bait and responded to the allegations by saying that they will continue to do what is necessary in order to progress.
Falcons’ left tackle, Will Svitek, said after practice on Wednesday:
"If (Tuck) views us as cheap, then so be it. We're going to do what we do. We take pride in being physical. You don't want to be viewed as soft. We're always going to be there, and we want them to know we're there".
This is not the first time that the Falcons offense has come under fire from opponents regarding its physical play.
National Football Conference (NFC)-North teams, Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, were both furious after their encounters in the regular season with the Falcons.
Lions’ tight end, Ndamukong Suh, and Packers’ tackle, B.J Raji, both lambasted the Falcons for their overly physical play along with going further to suggest that the Falcons use the tactics to compensate for the lack of skills.
However, Falcons' players are taking all the criticism on the chin and they will not let their opponents dictate how they execute their game plan.
Falcons' Right Tackle, Tyson Clabo, said,
"We're not going to hit anybody late or do anything like that, we're going to play to the whistle, you know, and if you want to call it dirty call it dirty".
Falcons ended the season with a 10-6 record to secure the second spot in the NFC-South Division.
They had a great regular season but their tendency to fall short against some of the league’s better teams is a big question mark over their potential to progress further in the postseason.
Falcons will be hoping for Matt Ryan to perform fully as per his potential, and he will, in all likelihood, be the key factor to beat a very tough New York Giants' onslaught that will certainly test Atlanta in each and every aspect of their game.
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