How many times have I written this year that the Falcons injury report is a mile long? Well, too often, this is part of the reason for a 6-5 record, soon to be 6-6. Falcons will be without Turner, and I seriously doubt we will see G Harvey Dahl, Turner, or Jenkins. I can see White toughing it out, but things are not going to be pretty.
At the beginning of the year this was going to be the matchup – Vick was coming back, and the Falcons would be playing the Eagles for a possible Playoff preview. This game still matters, but in a much different way than most of the pundits predicted. First, Ryan is not starting. Second, Vick will not receive any meaningful play time. Third, while the Eagles have the inside track for one of the two NFC Wild-Card spots, if things fall their way, they could actually win the NFC East. The Saints already have the NFC South in hand, and the Falcons are on the outside looking to get into the Playoffs. This game is really important to the Falcons Wild-Card aspirations, which makes all the injuries completely suck.
The Falcons already have lost tiebreaker opportunities to Dallas, and the Giants; it will be too much to overcome if the Falcons fall to the Eagles. Can the Falcons actually win this one? The homer in me says yes.
Three keys to the game:
- Redman has to manage the game without turnovers. He is a veteran so he should have the savvy to control the action on the field after a week of full practice with the first team.
- The Falcons must control the clock; keep the Eagles offense off the field will keep the Falcons defense from being exposed. Let’s face it, the defensive line has been awful getting pressure on opposing QBs, and I am not even going to go into the problems with the secondary (that horse has been beaten).
- The defense must get pressure on McNabb. Oops.
It is cold enough to freeze snot right now, so I may just skip the whole tailgate thing, get the kids some McD’s and head directly to the Dome where it should be warm and cozy. If I have another clown tell me I should sit down, then I may have to do a write-up on how much the Dome sucks. Let’s just all sit on our hands and pretend like we are watching golf or something.
Go Falcons!
