Tag: Atlanta Falcons

It is never too early to talk about mock drafts, and of course they are always a joy to read and critique. SI has the Falcons taking CB Kyle Wilson of Boise State with the 19th (or it could be 20th) selection.

The search for the draft’s No. 2-rated cornerback behind Florida’s Joe Haden at this week’s Senior Bowl turned up a surprising name, that of the former Bronco defensive back, Wilson. He has blanketed receivers on behalf of the North squad, and has made play after play on the ball. There’s no team that needs cornerback help more than Atlanta, and look for Wilson to continue to climb up teams’ draft boards.

There’s no doubt that the Falcons must get better in the secondary, but unless Kyle Wilson is going to start day one, shutting down half the field, this pick seems like it is a tad on the risky side. An improved pass rush would do wonders to protect the secondary, speaking of which …

This site has the Falcons turning to Florida DE Joe Haden.

Perhaps more than anything Atlanta needs a top-flight cornerback but Florida’s Joe Haden is going to be long, long gone by this point and after him there is a huge dropoff at the position. With that in mind the Falcons could turn their attention to Haden’s former Gator teammate, Carlos Dunlap.

I am all for second chances, but based on some recent off the field incidents, I cannot see the Falcons taking someone that may have any sort of character question marks.I do like where these two mock drafts take the Falcons – the secondary and defensive line must improve, significantly, right away.

I just read (J.Mike’s Missives) that Roddy White has been added to the Pro Bowl roster; who cares if he made it as an alternate replacement.

White finished 2009 with a team-high 85 catches, 1,153 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns. He also joined wide receiver Andre Rison as the only other Falcon to post three-straight 1,000-yard seasons.

I do not care about the Pro Bowl, and do not plan to watch, but I am glad an Atlanta Falcon was recognized for a great year. Well done Roddy!

The early odds are in, with both home teams listed as early favorites. Colts are -7.5 while the Saints are -4.5. This year the home teams are 5-2; exceptions being the Ravens (over the Pats) and the Jets (over the Bengals and Chargers).

I am not sure who I like yet, but will be pulling for the Vikings over the Saints. I have not decided yet between the Colts and Jets.

I think it is funny that there is some “controversy” surrounding the late TD that the Vikings inflicted on Dallas. The only one that seems to give a crap is former Falcons LB Keith Brooking. Early in the broadcast, it was mentioned that Brooking was the emotional leader of the Cowboys. They may want to reconsider that for next year’s run to glory.

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Quick Edit (within ten minutes after the original post): I found this bit on Brooking from Jeff Schultz of the ajc.com:

If Brooking was this demonstrative and as great an emotional leader in his last few seasons with the Falcons as he is now with the Dallas Cowboys, would the Falcons have tried a little harder to keep him?

This was the point I was being sarcastic about in my closing sentence. Brooking never showed this sort of emotion in ATL; not that it matters because his antics did not make the loss any less significant for the Cowboys.

It is never too early to start thinking about the draft (reason for this update). The Falcons will get the 19th or 20th pick; a coin flip with the Texans will determine the order. Toolbox.com has a handful of mock drafts.

The Falcons have to go defense with their first couple of picks; remember they traded away their 2nd round pick for Tony G. I am not sure that this draft will have a shutdown CB; those are rare. The Falcons will be in good shape if they can find a solid CB that can start right away and anchor the secondary for years to come. The Falcons also have to get better on the d-line, speaking of which, it looks like Peria Jerry’s rehab is going well.

They say Jerry is taking part in a rigorous rehab routine at their facility virtually every day. He’s mostly working on strength and flexibility. He is not running yet, but that appears to be the next step.

It would be a huge win for the Falcons if Jerry can be back to full strength by the start of the 2010 season.

I guess it’s probably bad form to quote myself, but I say screw it; after all it is my site! A couple of days ago I was lamenting on the Falcons tough 2010 schedule [2010 Atlanta Falcons Schedule Littered with Playoff Teams]:

“The 2010 Atlanta Falcons schedule will be good for fans, but suck for the Falcons chances to make the Playoffs.”

Have I mentioned before that I love Pat Yasinskas’ NFC South Blog? I am sure I did; at least once or twice. I digress. Mr. Yasinskas has posted that the Falcons would-be difficult schedule turns out to be not so tough. Probably.

“According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Atlanta Falcons have the division’s hardest schedule in 2010. But the good news is the schedule ranks No. 20 in the league.”

It’s not like the two games against division rival Tampa Bay, and road dates with Cleveland, Seattle, and St. Louis make this schedule a gift horse.

The Falcons finished 16th in offense and 21st in defense. What does this mean for next year? They should concentrate on the d-line and the secondary. Getting back a healthy Peria Jerry should help, but not having a 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft is going to be a tough break. Looking towards 2010, the Falcons also made some minor roster moves, signing fan favorite D.J. Shockely to a futures/reserve contract.

Should Norwood stay or go?
Also looking towards 2010, Mark Bradley of the ajc.com thinks the Falcons can do with our Jerious Norwood (among others):

Jerious Norwood, running back: Three different coaching staffs haven’t yet figured a way to exploit Norwood’s talent. He has scored 10 touchdowns in four seasons; he scored one in 2009. (Yes, he was hurt. Still.) He averaged 3.3 yards a carry this season, which is terrible for a speed back. His longest run from scrimmage was 21 yards. When you’ve just completed your fourth NFL season and people are still talking about untapped potential, something’s wrong.

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Bradley. As he stated in his article, Norwood was injured much of the year – in my opinion concussions and hip injuries are not helpful, especially to a “speed” guy. If you look at Norwood’s career statistics, counting this year he has average 5.3 yds/rush, so this year’s subpar effort should be attributed to his health. Also consider that Norwood has averaged 9.5 yds/reception. For those keeping score at home, that is almost a first down per catch. I have long contended that the Falcons should use Norwood out of the backfield for quick out type patterns; anything to get him in open space where Norwood can utilize his speed.

For Norwood, the bottom line is that injuries sat him back this year. You also have to consider that injuries to Turner also affected the way Norwood was utilized. Look towards his per game statistics for further “proof” that injuries affected Norwood this year.

Now I am not saying that the Falcons should mortgage their future on Norwood, signing him to a crippling contract. I am saying that Norwood has been used effectively (at times) and should not be discarded after one injury plagued year.

Any diehard Falcons fan and even those not so close to the organization, know that the Falcons had a brutal schedule this year. That was the reward for landing a Wildcard spot, going 11-5 in the process. The Falcons remarkably harsh schedule featured 4 teams getting ALT after their bye week.

It is too soon to tell if the Falcons will get hosed again in 2010 with unfavorable bye dates, but it is not too soon to take a sneak peak at their schedule (thanks to J.Mike’s Missives – “official” Falcons blog). Home dates will include the following 2009 Playoff teams: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Arizona, New Orleans, and Green Bay. The road schedule will feature Pittsburgh (oh so close), a return visit to New Orleans, and Philadelphia.

I call that pretty harsh. Now consider that San Francisco is up and coming, and four games against division rivals Carolina (they will be improved) and Tampa Bay (up and coming … but maybe a couple of years away). The only “easy” games may be Cleveland, Seattle, and St. Louis, but all are road games.

The 2010 Atlanta Falcons schedule will be good for fans, but suck for the Falcons chances to make the Playoffs. Of course anything can happen, and we are still months away from seeing the Falcons back in action.

The Atlanta Falcons closed out the 2009 season 9-7, beating Tampa Bay 20-10. For the first time in my life, the Falcons have back-to-back winning seasons!

More to come later; I just wanted to get a quick congratulations to the Falcons and Jason Snelling (147 yards rushing) on the historic day!

Apparently none of the Falcons were worthy of a roster spot for this year’s Pro Bowl. For the most part I could care less about the game, but as a Falcons fan, there is the matter of pride. I know the team has fallen from last year surprise turn around, but that has more to do with injuries than anything else.

Pat Yasinskas of the NFC South Blog at ESPN thinks that Tony Gonzalez was hosed,

Got robbed: Tony Gonzalez, tight end, Falcons. The absence of Gonzalez is a crime. This guy is the best tight end ever and he still is playing at a high level. He did everything the Falcons thought he would when they traded for him and instantly became quarterback Matt Ryan’s favorite target. Gonzalez won the fan voting at his position, so the blame here falls to the coaches and players. I’m not sure if this one comes down to jealousy, overexposure over a long period or a somewhat disappointing season by Atlanta. But the Falcons still have a shot at a winning season. Teams that go 8-8 or 9-7 should have at least one Pro Bowl representative. The Falcons, somehow, didn’t get any. You also could make a case for linebackers Curtis Lofton and Mike Peterson and receiver Roddy White. But Gonzalez should have been a slam-dunk. This one turned into an air ball.

I tend to agree. No doubt that Vernon Davis deserves to be the starter, but how does Jason Witten make it over Tony G?

I mentioned this yesterday; at the game a lot of us went nuts seeing Biermann on the last two kick offs. I figured that Koenen must have been hurt, but I did not realize that he was out of the game in la-la land. Concussions seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but Koenen’s injury is significant for several reasons – he handles kick off and punts, and he does both very well.

The NFC South Blog shows that Matt Bryant was also injured in the game, which explains why Atlanta went for a few unusual fourth down attempts.

“Michael Koenen suffered a concussion making a tackle. Place kicker Matt Bryant suffered a hamstring injury.”

The Falcons have battled their share of injuries all season, but these two are distressing; when Atlanta visits Tampa Bay next weekend, the Falcons may need a game winning field goal to beat the suddenly hot Buccaneers.

I just got back from a great Falcons victory. OK, forget the fact that the game was not actually great, but these days you take a win any way you can get one. Also ignore any arguments that the Bills have packed it in for the year. There are folks on that team that are playing for next year, either with Buffalo or elsewhere.

I told my boys on the way up to the game that if Brohm played, the Falcons would win 31-3, and win big they did. I wish I was a betting man, because today would have been easy money.

One of the few disadvantage of being at the game is that you do not actually know if someone is hurt, or why they are not playing. Right before the half Tony Gonzalez left the game limping; not sure what happened to him. And seeing Kroy Biermann kicking off was a complete trip; he actually did well … at least respectable.

So now we turn our attention to Tampa Bay and a possible 9-7 season, which would be so much better than 8-8.

When was the last time the Falcons were favored by 9 points? It is enough to make you think that the Falcons are a dominant team, not injury plagued, and headed to the playoffs. Of course all three assumptions are incorrect.

Ryan should play, but I expect that Turner will sit this one out. He just cannot seem to get that ankle healthy. The Falcons are getting so many points because the Bill’s QB situation is up in the air. Will the Falcons face the NFL debut of Brian Brohm?

For me a key to the Falcons success is always the ability to pound the ball on the ground, controlling the clock, setting up the play action pass for Ryan, and perhaps most importantly, keeping Atlanta’s poor defense off the field. One of the Falcons “official” blogs (J.Mike’s Missives) has this appalling stat:

“Atlanta allows a score in the red zone 79 percent of the time.”

Actually I am not sure how this compares to the rest of the NFL, but it certainly does not sound good. The Falcons defense came up pretty big last week against the Jets, and they will probably do the same if the Bills come in limping with Brohm behind center.

I am about to be off to a nuts cold tailgate, but it is the last one of the year, so I am sure we will enjoy throwing around the new footballs the boys got from Santa.

Go Falcons!

The Falcons managed to win a defensive battle with the Jets 10-7, and played remarkably well considering the night before they learned that they no longer had a shot at the playoffs. I wrote yesterday that I was curious to see if Atlanta would come out flat, packing it in for the final three games of the season, or if they would play for back-to-back winning seasons.

This win truly says something about Coach Smith; he was able to get this Falcons team up when realistically they had nothing to play for the rest of the way. You can always do the spoiler thing, which Atlanta did by hurting the Jets playoff chances. You can always play for pride; except for the Eagles game Atlanta has played hard all season, but the many injuries have been too much to overcome. Most importantly to Falcons fans, you can hope your team plays to get rid of this damn streak. It is hard to believe; in my lifetime (turned 39 earlier this month) the Falcons have never had consecutive winning seasons.

As Ryan faced fourth and goal in the closing seconds, I really thought this one was going to end in another frustrating loss. The offense did not play particularly well, but Ryan’s pass to Gonzalas was on the mark. On the next series the defense held on to intercept Sanchez for the third and last time. Just like that, Falcons are now 7-7 with a home game against the Bills (5-9) and a season ending road trip to visit the Tampa Bay (2-12). Both are highly winnable games.

Dallas ended New Orleans bid for a perfect season with a 24-17 victory Sunday night on the NFL Network, which is not in the homes of millions of NFL fans. In the process, Dallas saved their own season, solidifying their playoff positioning, and officially ended Atlanta’s thin hopes for a spot in the playoffs. The reality is that Atlanta never really had much hope; as a famous Jedi would say, only a fool’s hope.

Now the Falcons can focus on closing out the season with three victories in a row to end on a high note: back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. For those of you keeping notes at home, we are talking about never have consecutive winning season since 1966. Ouch.

It will be interesting to see if the Falcons continue to fight, or if they pack it in to go home for the winter.

This summary from the AFC East blog at ESPN is certainly one way to look at the Falcons/Jets game:

What is the opposite of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object? That would be Mark Sanchez facing the Atlanta Falcons’ pass defense. Something has to give — and give and give and give. Jets coach Rex Ryan announced Sanchez will return from a knee injury and start Sunday at the Meadowlands. Sanchez’s interceptions have cost the Jets a legitimate shot at the playoffs, but the Falcons have the 30th-ranked pass defense. Opposing quarterbacks have posted a cumulative 98.2 passer rating, second-highest in the league.

The Falcons tend to make everyone look like a winner; that’s just how they roll this year. Besides, the Falcons injury report is still a mile long. Abrham, Jamall Anderson, and Babineaux are all shown was “questionable” after limited practice yesterday, and Chris Houston is out for the second week in a row. I never cared for Houston, but the Falcons do sort of need a defensive line to have any chance at forcing Sanchez into mistakes.

If Turner is healthy, I say the Falcons win. A battering ram that controls the clock does wonders for keeping a piss poor defense from being exposed. I would hate to think a rookie QB could put up winning numbers vs. Atlanta, but let’s be honest, our defense stinks.