Tag: Atlanta Falcons

I thought the line would open with the Falcons favored by 5 and the gap would close to 2 before kickoff. No respect for Atlanta? The Gambling911 (no idea – just did a google search) line that has the Falcons -1.5.

I read an article early (I forget if it was via the ajc or espn) that the Atlanta brass would rather have faced the Seahawks or Saints than the red hot Packers. Playoff re-seeding in the near future? The Seattle did win their division, however they have the worst record of the remaining teams, so it would have been nice for them to match up against the best team in the NFC. I guess getting home field as long as you win is enough of a reward without a re-seeding effort.

I really did not want to see the Saints again; revenge factor or not, when rivals meet, anything can happen.

And then there are the Packers, who Atlanta dispatched 20-17 in the closing seconds Thanksgiving weekend. Green Bay is a scary opponent because they are so hot right now and have a lot of momentum going into this Saturday night’s match-up with the Falcons. At the game earlier this year there were a lot of Packers fans; my best guess would be 15-18K. Hopefully that is not the case this weekend!

When it is all said and done, Atlanta is the more balanced team and they should be able to win.

Go Falcons!

The nice thing about a bye week is that there really is not a lot of new coming out of the Falcons camp, with the exception of news that offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey is set to interview this week with Denver and Cleveland for their head coaching openings.

I am not 100% sure how I feel about the possibility of Mularkey leaving, however I think the timing stinks. The last thing the Falcons need is a distraction; they have done well avoiding those all season and now the lowly Broncos and somewhat rising Browns have the possibility of upsetting Coach Smith’s happy place. I wish the NFL would not allow teams to pursue coaches in the playoffs until their team is eliminated, but of course that will never happen.

As far as Mularkey goes, I just do not feel he is all that creative. Granted, the offense has done well, so I would hate to rock the boat. Hopefully there is a good backup plan in place for Mularkey because his name has been out there for a few years due to the success of Ryan.

Playoff Tickets
They arrived yesterday; enough said!

2011 Schedule
ESPN (and probably other sites as well) posted the Falcons 2011 schedule (well, at least their opponents) yesterday.

Home: Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Tennessee.

Away: Carolina, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, Houston, Indianapolis.

Too soon to start talking about how difficult (or easy) the schedule is until we see how the off season shapes up, where the bye weeks land, and all that other jazz.

Go Falcons!

Funny thing about these Falcons, at 10-2 they control their own destiny to have the NFC come to the Dome. Super Bowl bound? First they have to make the playoffs.

The Falcons must beat the Carolina Panthers and have any two of the Giants (8-4), Philadelphia Eagles (8-4) and Green Bay Packers lose (8-4). A Falcons tie and losses by the Giants, Eagles, Packers and a loss or tie by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5) also would work for Atlanta.

If the season ended today, Atlanta would get the winner of a Giants/Eagles matchup. To be honest, I want no part of Vick returning to Atlanta; that just seems like a good way to really f’up the Falcons playoff run as 1000s of fans (my sons included) would cheer loudly for Vick. No thanks. Been there, done that. Besides, of late, the Eagles have the Falcons number.

No wonder this year’s edition of the Atlanta Falcons are keeping me on the edge of my seat; their propensity for late game heroics keeps putting gray hair on my poor old chin. According to the ESPN NFC South Blog …

They’ve had six games where they have either trailed or been tied in the fourth quarter and won, including Sunday at Tampa Bay.

Tied/Trailed Winning Score
at Buccaneers, 24-14, 4:31 left
vs. Packers, 17-17, 0:09 left
vs. Ravens, 21-20, 0:20 left
vs. Bengals, 25-24, 13:02 left
vs. 49ers, 14-13, 0:02 left
at Saints, 21-17, 1:55 left in overtime

Of course you can also look at this statistic, especially the home games, and say the Falcons are not doing a good job of putting teams away. Believe it or not, Ravens, Bengals, and to some extent the Packers games should not have been close. I think this is good news because it means that the Falcons still have room to improve going into the playoffs.

I picked this one up via ESPN; where is the respect for the Falcons? Tomorrow’s game at Tampa Bay is a game with huge playoff implications for both teams, the NFC South, and of course any teams in the NFC scrambling for a Wild Card sport. It looks like most of the country will not get an opportunity (the506.com) to see a really good Falcons team, and a nice up and coming Bucs squad.

Cheers to Smitty
Earlier this week I wrote about Ryan being pivotal in turning around the Falcons. The same can be said for Coach Mike Smith.

With a victory on Sunday against Tampa Bay, Smith will reach the second 10-win season of his three-year career. Smith went 11-5 in 2008, his first season with the Falcons. No Atlanta head coach, in the team’s 45-year history, ever has won 10 or more games in more than one season.

The Falcons are favored by 3 over the Buccaneers. The Bucs played ATL really close at the Georgia Dome a few weeks ago, and I expect much of the same thing early; however I do expect the Falcons to pull away early in the fourth quarter.

Go Falcons!

I should have ended the title with a period instead of a question mark. ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas named Matt Ryan his NFC South High Energy Player of the Week after the Falcons’ 20-17 victory over the Packers last Sunday.

All Ryan did was complete 24-28 passes, and led the Falcons to a game winning drive with less than a minute to play.

I’ve never been sure exactly what the qualifications are for that distinction. But I’m pretty sure getting signature wins against very good teams and leading late game-winning drives must fall somewhere on that list.

As a Falcons season ticket holder the last three years, all I can say is, been there and done that, and have confidence in Ryan’s ability to overcome adversity.

I know with the Vick resurgence there are plenty of ATL fans that think the Falcons should have waited on Vick to pay his dues to society, however the reality is that the franchise would not have back-to-back-to-back winning seasons if they did not opt to go with Ryan in 2008.

Oh, and for your Captain O. fans out there, you have to love this video segment where Trent Dilfer explains how to beat the Falcons at the Georgia Dome. I’ll save you the time – you have to score more points. Gee, thanks Trent.

Who dat? Who dat? The Falcons just kicked the Saints in the teeth. Except for a couple of niggles here and there, Atlanta just had a brilliant overtime victory on the road in the Super Dome.

More to come later, but the bottom line is that going into my tailgate next weekend as the Falcons play host to the 49’ers, Atlanta shares the NFC South lead with a nice little tie-breaker over the defending Super Bowl Champions.

Go Falcons!

What a disappointing loss; 15-9 in OT.  Earlier this morning I was in high spirits because I could not imagine the Falcons not being able to run, Matt Ryan not being able to make plays when it counted most, and the “improved” defense falling to an inexperienced third-string QB.

I am too bitter right now to write anything else.

I will have to get my arms around these predictions over the long weekend, after all the final roster moves are made. In their team-by-team previews, ESPN has the Falcons taking the NFC South (3 experts predicted 1st, while 2 predicted 2nd).

I am just not sure that the Saints have done anything to show that they cannot repeat as the division champion. The Falcons should be much improved and I agree with the article’s final comment/breakdown:

It all boils down to this: In the end, it’s about the defensive front. The Falcons can talk all they want about their improved secondary and the speed at linebacker. That’s true, but the fate of this defense rests on the front four. If the Falcons really hope to slow New Orleans’ passing game or Carolina’s running game, they’ve got to be better up front. They’re getting defensive tackle Peria Jerry back from injury, and third-round pick Corey Peters looks like he can be a force in the middle. Team those guys with Jonathan Babineaux, and the Falcons might be all right in the interior and that might even help the defensive ends. But John Abraham, Kroy Biermann and Lawrence Sidbury have to generate more of a pass rush than last season if this defense is really going to improve.

So far this preseason (which is probably not worth a lot or a great indicator of regular season success), Biermann has looked very good, and except for the Pats game, the defense has shown improvement.

Go Falcons!

Was the Falcons 28-10 home loss at the hands of the Patriots an aberration, or a sign of things to come when the Falcons play top notch talent? It is only preseason, but …

• Falcons were a mess on run defense. How can tackle old legs Fred Taylor after getting him bottled up at the line of scrimmage?
• Maybe getting Dunta Robinson on the field will help with the pass defense. Brady was 10-12, with 85 yards and 1 TD. That was against the Falcons first team defense.
• Ryan moved the ball well during his three possessions, but Atlanta’s first team offense only managed 3 points, off two field goal attempts.
• I am pulling for FG kicker Matt Bryant, however he continues to look inconsistent, making a 46 yard FG, and missing a 47 yard FG.
• I am not sure that anyone tracks this, but Roddy White did not help Ryan’s cause, dropping at least 2-3 passes.

 

There were a couple of bright spots …

• I think the Falcons look really good when Ryan runs the hurry up offense. They need to figure out how to really incorporate this into the offense for at least 25% of their game plan.
• Turner continues to look like he has fresh legs, getting 32 yards on 8 carries.
• Once again Turner was used as a receiver out of the backfield; the Falcons should continue to incorporate the backfield into the passing games. FB Mughelli is a really good in the flats, when healthy Norwood, and of course Snelling is also a threat; last year Snelling had 259 yards on 30 receptions.

 

The Falcons receiver situation is suddenly desperate. With Jenkins possibly out for the first couple of games, the Falcons were looking for Kerry Meier to step up, but after damaging his knee, Meier is out for the season.

Yes, it is only preseason, and the games do not count, but preseason play can also set the tone for the regular season. It can also be said that most defenses are running vanilla blitz packages, and the offenses are not unveiling their full repertoire of plays. All that is well and good, but it still means New England’s first team beat Atlanta’s first team 14-3, which to me spells ouch. I hope the Falcons can show some improvement next Friday night against the Dolphins.

Go Falcons!

The first preseason game of the year, played out to a Falcons win, but for the most part was tearfully boring, which is typically of meaningless games. I think that going into these preseason games, for the most part the rosters are set except for fringe players looking to fill out special teams, possibly backup a position as the third or fourth option. The big goal is to make sure everyone escapes uninjured, give the starters some live contact action, and to get some of the backups some much need experience.

From this perspective, I think the Falcons succeeded. Ryan and company only played the first two series, and while it is concerning that Atlanta had to settle for field goal attempts (made one, missed one), Turner looked explosive, with fresh legs, and he was a check-down receiver on one play.

If the Falcons establish Turner as a receiving option out of the backfield during the preseason, even as the check-down receiver, I believe this new wrinkle will add a nice element for opponents to consider when setting up their defensive game-plans. Mughelli could also play this part very well; hopefully we do not forget about our backfield receivers when the games start to count!

It was nice to see the Falcons really establish control of the o-line, pounded the ball, which is my favorite style of football. With that said, I was really expecting to see (make that wanting to see) some of the vertical passing I have read about all preseason.

I also enjoyed seeing Ryan moving into a no huddle offense on the second possession. Hopefully this will be a regular component of Atlanta’s offense in the upcoming season. Ryan has the ability to run this type of offense with great success, and he has the weapons to make it a feared attack.

John Parker Wilson did nothing wrong to establish himself firmly as the number three QB. I have read that he may battle for the backup spot, but I am not sure that is realistic this season. Then again, it is not like Redman is top self material.

I don’t think keeping the Chiefs to 10 points is much of an accomplishment in the pre or regular seasons. Their offense sucks, and it is much too hard for me to grade ours since so many key starters did not play. I’ll be interested to read what some of the pundits have to say about the defense’s performance.

Next up are the Pats for some good Thursday night National Prim Time action.

Go Falcons!

I’m heading up to ATL tonight to watch the Falcons’ first preseason game of the year. I know it is preseason … but I am ready for the season to get underway.

• No one gets hurt.
• Ryan leads the Falcons on a productive TD-scoring drive in his first possession.
• The defense holds up their end of the bargain, with the d-line showing the ability to sustain some pressure on the QB.
• Several key players are not expected to see any playing time: Brian Williams (CB), Dunta Robinson (CB), Harry Douglas (CB), and Michael Jenkins (WR). Who will pick up the slack?
• No one gets hurt!!!

Go Falcons!