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COPYRIGHT 2004 South Florida Sun-Sentinal
Byline: Charles Bricker
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ In the relative world of pro football, they look more like sparrows than Falcons, this frenetic army of undersized Atlanta defenders _ none of whom is within a triple decker banana split of reaching 300 pounds.
They come up on the credits long after Michael Vick's name has appeared on the screen. Also starring: Patrick Kerney and Rod Coleman. Or: with Brady Smith and Bryan Scott. And, with special appearances by Matt Stewart, Chris Draft and Keith Brooking.
They're largely under-publicized, they're swift, they hit with uncommon striking power and they take these salient numbers into Sunday's game against quarterback Eli Manning and the New York Giants: Nine interceptions, 15 fumble recoveries and 27 sacks.
With seven weeks to go, the Falcons under rookie head coach Jim Mora Jr. are fluttering toward a playoff spot with a 7-2 record after being 2-7 this time a year ago, and it's not easy to understand how they're doing it.
They've been outscored 194-184. Opponents have 25 more first downs and, on average, 28 more yards per game. Alge Crumpler is their only consistently dangerous receiver, and he's a tight end. Vick, for all his mesmerizing runs, has been only occasionally brilliant as a passer.
Some of these contradictory numbers can be traced to 56-10 whipping they took in Kansas City in Week 7, which somewhat skewed the Falcons overall statistics. But certainly not all of it.
A week later, in...
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