Falcons vs. Giants: Who Deserves the Most Blame for Atlanta's Embarrassing Loss?

The Atlanta Falcons rolled into the Big Apple today for a Wild Card playoff matchup with the New York Giants today and promptly crapped the proverbial bed, being outclassed by the Giants in nearly every facet of the game (except maybe punting) in a humiliating 24-2 (yes, two) loss.

America is a nation that loves to blame folks, and I'm as patriotic as the next fella, so it's time to take a look at who deserves the biggest share of shame for Sunday's horrendous performance by the Falcons.

However, if the recent Drew Brees vs. Aaron Rodgers debate has shown me anything it's that sportswriters are also supposed to waffle quite a bit, so in the spirit of indecision I have decided (sort of) to split my vote for LVF (Least Valuable Falcon) from today's pasting.

First up, we have Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, who once again failed to win his first postseason game and apparently learned absolutely nothing from his ill-advised decision to go for it on 4th-and-short in his own end earlier this season against the New Orleans Saints, which handed the Saints an overtime victory.

The Falcons went for it on fourth down twice in the first half of Sunday's game, including once from well within field goal range, and converted a grand total of...

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Yep, you got it, zero conversions, two turnovers on downs.

This just in, coach—your team sucks in short yardage.

Of course, the Falcons might have had better success converting on fourth down if their offensive line had gotten any kind of push up front, which is why the second half of this shame sandwich goes to the big uglies of the Atlanta offensive line, who are certainly big and definitely played ugly in being manhandled by the Giants defense all game long.

Got someone else you'd like to rant about? The blame game's free for all participants, so feel free to vent away below!