Now that I am back from my UK sojourn, I have been catching up on some of the Falcons coming and goings. Of course the big news of the weekend is the signing of former Minnesota Viking DE Ray Edwards.
The ESPN NFC South Blog had this little ditty from Edwards:
“I definitely came to a great team who went 13-3 last year and hasn’t lost any key components,’’ Edwards told Daniel Cox. “I feel like I was just the missing piece.”
Wow; balls saddled up, sounds like Ray is ready to play. With ego comes pressure to perform, except in this case the pressure seems to be manufactured (or at the very least hyped) by Pat Yasinskas. I really like Mr. Yasinskas’ work, but the problem here is that the quote seems to be taking out of context. At the very least, the ESPN article is going for sensationalism, while D. Orlando Ledbetter at the AJC takes a more low key approach.
Edwards amassed 20.5 sacks over the past two seasons, if you count his four in the playoffs.
He was quick to note that he has sacked Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers six times. Rodgers and the Packers eliminated the Falcons from the playoffs last season.
“Hopefully, I’m the missing piece,” Edwards said.
I follow the philosophy that a strong pass rush can hide flaws in a poorly contrived secondary, and to this end Edwards can help, however the Falcons secondary is in need of repair. More on this subject next …
