Pre-Season Open Thread: Atlanta Falcons at Detroit Lions

Only 3.5 hours to go! I’m definitely excited that football is back. I’m really looking forward to watching the rookies get some game time.

Hoo-Ray!!

could have picked a better picture than the ‘V’ word…Turner torched them last year!

I got over-the-dugout seats at the Braves this afternoon, ofcourse, same time the Falcons play.

Thank God for DVR.

if the Lions do really well. I mean… I would like to see our first stringers dominate so I can get a very positive and dangerously over-optomistic evaluation of them, but the better the lions do, the better their chances of them upsetting the Saints in week 1 – and I kinda have a fettish for rookie QBs, so… go Stafford (even though he’ll be their second team QB this game… unless of course Owens or Middleton want to pick him off 3 times, that would be fine and dandy too)!

Either way this game goes… I’m excited. I’m just glad to see our guys on the field again.

I’m also predicting Grimes to be an elite punt returner… I think more than anything, I’m excited to see what he can do in that department.

either way, fantastic penetration…

low blow… really…

apparently Murlarkey still has faith in it… even if the rest of us don’t see why

it’s the defense I want to see anyways

I’m rooting for you… unless you are a monster punt returner, then you should save your energy

even for a pre-season game

looks clueless

weems will be able to run the punt back this time

35 yard return by weems

can’t stand still… I love rookie QBs

we have a lot of good DTs

Stafford is looking pretty solid… handled the pressure well, hit his receiver in the hands… that sucks for him and is definitely going to hurt his confidence throwing to a receiver that is going to be open a lot.

i was hoping we would at least get one

not much owens could do about that TD pass. good throw by stafford

he got smashed and nailed that throw… I can’t even hold Owens accountable for that, that was textbook.

Couple of nice returns today. Return job probably should come down to one of them.

in our backup defense than our second team offense… I think we have much more consistant depth on defense. We don’t have very many capable replacements for offensive players.

Woohoo!

by James. Let’s leave his play for special teams.

whats happened to william moore and peria jerry?

good job Winborn.

again, who said we have no depth at LB?

too bad the pick got called back.

But I like what I’m seeing from the D.

not helping his case

and he has game experience from last season… I bet he makes the roster.

by kelley

it’s been fun, thank for the insightful conversation and shared observations.

The falcons seem to have a lot of decent defensive tackles….unlike last year

Trey Lewis looks really out of shape

Mike Peterson seems to be everywhere, which might be like having two middle linebackers on the field.

Eric Weems seems to have better field vision as a kick returner than Thomas Brown, but will there be room on the roster for him?

Thomas Brown’s playing time much higher than Snelling’s. Does this mean Snelling is being held out and is being considered over Brown for the #3 back? Or could it be that they are just evaluating Brown? I like both, but I don’t see either of them as a viable backup to michael turner. I also doubt whether Jerious Norwood could ever be considered a viable every down back. The contrast of blazing speed/size presents the same challenge as the Saints have with Reggie Bush.

DJ Shockley…I really wish DJ would break out, but he still seems to make a lot of the same mistakes as in college(inaccurate, risky throws). Is this because he’s working with the third team normally and has little protection, or is there no hope of him making it any further than #3.(or will he even make the cut this year?)

Is Kroy Biermann like 30-40 pounds bigger than last year?

Matt Stafford has an incredible arm. But does he suffer from the “uncatchable ball” syndrome that has plagued so many strong armed QB’s(Mike Vick for example)? The commentators blamed the receiver for missing three balls in a row, and that could be, but could it be that Stafford has no touch on the ball and the receivers don’t have time to respond? Could be a long season. Keep in mind Roddy White was blamed for dropping balls, until another QB started passing to him.

Chris Owens is a Raven-esque defensive machine. He is the next big thing.

OK, I’m done.

Here’s my summation:

1st string Offense = pure gold. Keep them healthy!
1st string Defense = still seems suspect against the run but covered the pass a tiny bit better.
2nd string Offense = decent. Redman was ok. Receivers were fairly dependable.
2nd string Defense = Peria was monster against the run, it’s just a shame the rest of the second defensive squad wasn’t. But man, our rookies seem to be ball hawkers! Love to see that.
3rd string Offense = Shockey….needs to play better than that. Way better. Mistakes, too-high/overthrown balls. Not good. Thomas Brown, when he has an adequate hole, can get the job done. But he won’t find those kinda holes against 1st team defenses.
3rd string Defense = what third string defense? How does a third string QB run for forty yards? Explain that. TD, get those roster shears ready!
4th string QB = surprisingly better than I anticipated after Roam the Dome. JPW actually made some good passes. He seemed poised enough. Still some decision making issues though.