Giants star says Falcons play dirty
In 1998, Falcons running back Jamal Anderson started the "Dirty Bird" craze in Atlanta with his touchdown celebrations during the team's Super Bowl run.
More than a decade later, the Falcons are earning the "dirty" moniker for different reasons.
On Monday, New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck became the latest opponent to accuse the Atlanta offensive line of playing dirty. The salvo comes just six days before the Giants host the Falcons for a playoff game in the not-so-clean confines of East Rutherford, N.J.
"Yeah we've seen it. We know they have that quote-unquote 'reputation,'" Tuck told the New York Daily News' Ralph Vacchiano. "Most people, you would call them dirt bags. But it is what it is. We got to make sure we do our job and if we are doing our job well. Then they will be upset and they will be trying to do things to get us off our game, and we've got to take that as a compliment."
The claim has been made before. The prevailing sentiment among opponents seems to be that Atlanta offensive linemen take unnecessary shots (often from behind) downfield after the whistle. After Green Bay beat Atlanta on Oct. 9, several Packers called out the Falcons O-line for questionable tactics.
"Great teams don't indulge in the kind of cheap stuff the Falcons do," Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji said at the time, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We're the (defending Super Bowl) champions and we play that way. We walk away from the stuff they pull. These guys are coached to play after the whistle."
Added defensive end Ryan Pickett: "It's unnecessary. They call it playing physical. But it's after the whistle. It's not physical. We know it watching tape that you they like to hit after the whistle. You have to watching yourself around the piles."
Just ask A.J. Hawk who was pushed in the back after one play by Falcons' offensive lineman Joe Hawley. Hawk retaliated, Hawley flopped, and the Green Bay linebacker was promptly flagged for unnecessary roughness. (Watch the play here.)
In Week 7, the Detroit Lions vented the same frustrations after a home loss to Atlanta.
"You watch film of Atlanta's O-line and they're 20, 30 yards down the field cutting guys," Lions defensive end Cliff Avril said at the time. "You're running toward the pile and they're trying to clean you up."
How ticked off were the Lions? Teammate Ndamukong Suh actually said that it was "karma" when Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan went down with an injury during the game.
"There are many, many plays that I could go back to that I watch on film all week that their offensive line has done," Suh said at the time, "and that they've been coached to do, as far as I know."
Being called dirty by Ndamukong Suh is saying something. The guy doesn't exactly have the cleanest reputation in the league.