FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — These are giddy times in Atlanta and Houston.
The Falcons and the Texans have yet to lose a game and can talk boldly about defying the NFL skeptics, a group comprised of pretty much everyone outside their locker rooms.
Atlanta coach Arthur Smith got downright testy when asked Friday if he goes about his job any differently when his team is facing such low expectations.
“Who cares?” he said of the grim prognostications (which, full disclosure, I am in total agreement with). “Just go do a Google search, go look and see what they thought of the iPhone coming out if you want to humor yourself. It’s hard to find good comedy these days. Go back and look at those predictions if you want real comedy.”
Of course, that sort of bravado is a lot easier to muster in the dog days of training camp, when the actual season is still a month-and-a-half away.
From this vantage point, those 17 games are a pristine canvass on which anyone — even the Falcons or the Texans — could produce a Michelangelo of the gridiron.
Chances are, they’ll turn out something closer to Dogs Playing Poker.
Atlanta and Houston are the longest of the long shots in the NFL, a pair of seemingly jinxed franchises that appear headed for truly horrible campaigns, even by their generally low standards.
Just six seasons after reaching the Super Bowl for only the second time in franchise history — and becoming forever known as the team that squandered a 28-3 lead in the biggest of games — the Falcons went into total rebuilding mode by dealing quarterback Matt Ryan and taking a mammoth salary cap hit.
The Texans, who entered the league two decades ago, have yet to reach the Super Bowl, and they have about as much chance of snapping that drought as Chris Rock going on a buddy trip with Will…
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