Falcons And Dolphins Recap: Starting The Season Off Right
by Dave Choate on Sep 14, 2009 12:00 PM EDT
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The truly wonderful thing about the beginning of a football season is how much lies ahead. It's a fresh slate, and if you mark it with a win, you're undefeated, at least for one week. The Falcons took on another young, up-and-coming team and did what they've been doing consistently since they first set foot on the field against the Detroit Lions in 2008: Exceed expectations. It doesn't matter if Football Outsiders, as great as they are, decide we're due for a regression. It doesn't matter if ESPN's Bill Simmons figures we were just a fluke last year. What matters is the games we play each week. I've found that no amount of rage or righteous indignation can change things, so we must depend on wins to make our case for us.
I'd say this was a good start, wouldn't you?
Now jump, jump after the jump, as we break this down Dave the Falconer style.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Our heroes were on defense today, and on the off chance that anyone from the team actually reads this, y'all should know that that was a heartwarming effort. We'll start things off by mentioning the defensive line, which ate Chad Pennington and the Miami offensive line alive today. John Abraham was his usual monstrous self with two sacks, Kroy "The Beerman" Biermann looked unstoppable on his way to two sacks of his own and even perennial whipping boy Jamaal Anderson was active on the front line. That's to say nothing of Jon Babineaux and Peria Jerry, a great combination at defensive tackle if there ever was one. I could go for a while, but I think saying they were very, very good should suffice.
- And as good as they were, the linebackers were their equal. Mike Peterson's pick was a sight to behold and he also casually tackled seven people and threw in a forced fumble. You know, just for kicks. Stevie Nickels dropped seven tackles of his own and looked very athletic while doing so, and Curtis Lofton had ten tackles and a forced fumble of his own. These guys were all over the field today, and that's going to be a critical part of our success going forward.
- Our secondary wasn't lights out or anything. I'll acknowledge that. Still, can you not give them credit for looking somewhere significantly north of competent against a pretty good offense? I certainly can't. It appears our concerns about the defense, which seemed legitimate during pre-season, need to be laid to bed for the time being.
- I know my esteemed colleague tloz
morlockwarlock disagrees with me, but I think Matt Ryan looked pretty damn good out there. There was some overthrows and a couple of less than stellar decisions, but on the balance he came out of it very well and should get into a better rhythm as time goes on. The fact that he has a good rapport with Tony Gonzalez right away and spread the ball around well speaks to his chances of having a truly great season. - Speaking of Gonzo...well, what do you say? Dude's an easy first ballot Hall of Famer. I'd no longer be surprised if he plays until he's 50.
- Raise your hand if you saw Ovie Mughelli catching a touchdown in this game. Scratch that. If you saw him ever catching a touchdown this season, raise your hand. Scratch that. If you saw a point in spacetime where the will of long dead gods and the whimsical luck of a cold, dark universe converged to allow Ovie Freakin' Mughelli to catch a touchdown, raise your hand. No takers? I thought not.
Seriously, though. The guy's built like a truck, so passing him the ball from time to time seems like a great move. Eventually he's going to run over everyone on the field, Tecmo Super Bowl-style, and run unobstructed for a long touchdown. I see no downside to this strategy. - Way to bounce back, Jason Elam! Of course, you wouldn't have needed to do that if....wait for it....
LOWLIGHTS
- It's one game, yes. The previous misses were in the pre-season. Si. That doesn't mean Elam's performance on Sunday doesn't concern me. The man whiffed on two field goals and an extra point. I'm a firm advocate of practicing patience with kickers, and so I'll advocate it here. If he continues to falter, there are options a phone call away. I'm sure he'll rebound nicely against the Panthers.
- If you asked me to sprint down a football field and put a brick wall in front of me, I'd be pretty mad if you chasisted me afterwards for breaking half of the bones in my body trying to go through it. So I really can't be too angry at Michael Turner, who had upwards of fifty people dogging his every step. Still, the Burner didn't make many guys pay today, and he'll need to crank it up a notch or two next week.
- The return game wasn't fantastic today, but Eric Weems is going through the learning curve. Here's a free pass, Eric!
THE WRAPUP
Game MVP: This was tougher than you think, but in the end it has to go to Mike Peterson. You could argue that his interception and forced fumble set the tone for the game and potentially altered the course of the contest, and his crack about having "the best hands on the team" shows a great confidence. I gotta give it to the veteran here.
Game Theme Song: Victory!
One Thing To Take Away: We may have severely underestimated this defense. Please let that be true.
Next Week: We'll take on erstwhile divisional rival the Carolina Panthers, who are represented by the fine folks at Cat Scratch Reader. Go pay them a visit while you wait for sweet, glorious football to arrive once more.
Final Word: Awesome.
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Agreed on Peterson.
The interception was the hinge joint upon which this game turned from decent contest to utter domination.
Don’t be so hard on the Burner. Miami keyed on him all day long and he started looking like himself late in the game. He would have looked better if the team had actually, you know, not wasted 1:57 kneeing the ball at the Miami 4 yard line…………..
You have opinions. Share them.
I'm trying to balance reality with perception
Reality tells me he didn’t really have a chance to do much. Perception tells me he’s Mighty Michael Turner, and he should’ve been able to make more of his chances. It’s probably irrational to blame eight men in the box on the guy.
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by Dave Choate on Sep 14, 2009 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Really
You’d think with the ubiquitousness of Fantasy Football, Turner and Smith would have gone for the late score, just to make FF fans happy. I don’t often see NFL coaches chose the kneel down route that Mark Richt of the Bulldogs generally chooses, mainly because for the most part sportsmanship seems dead at times in the NFL. But, good for them. Running the score up served no real purpose, and limiting Burner’s carries now will do us wonders later.
These new Falcons
They’re a classy bunch.
You have opinions. Share them.
by Adam Schultz on Sep 14, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions
i agree
no reason to risk injury to anyone with the game in hand.
Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that. - Bill Shankly
by armchair quarterback on Sep 14, 2009 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Tecmo Super Bowl style
I loved that game on super nintendo lol. But there are many things to be excited about and not much to be worried about. Did anybody else notice Brent Grimes slowly taking Chris Houstons playing time during the game? I enjoyed that and Brian Williams looked good too so I’m not really worried about the secondary either. GO BIRDS!!
by ATL Forever on Sep 14, 2009 12:36 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Brent Grimes only came in on Nickel Packages...
I don’t think he was ever on the field when Houston wasn’t except for on special teams.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
Really?
Maybe he was just around the ball on more plays and it made it seem like it. But he had 3 tackles in the game and I think Houston got beat quite a bit again
by ATL Forever on Sep 15, 2009 1:12 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
As a KC fan
I’d just like to say “You’re welcome” and good game. Good to see TG making an impact right away.
Thanks for coming by!
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by Dave Choate on Sep 14, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Well
Hope you enjoy that 2nd round pick. Pioli generally seems competent as a General Manager, so I’m sure you’ll get someone worthwhile with it.
Ovie!
If you saw a point in spacetime where the will of long dead gods and the whimsical luck of a cold, dark universe converged to allow Ovie Freakin’ Mughelli to catch a touchdown, raise your hand. No takers? I thought not.
The big grin on Matt Ryan’s face at about 1.37 in this video says it all…
Changing the subject slightly, are we allowed to say nice things about the opposition? Because I thought that trick play the Dophins pulled off in the 2nd quarter was frickin’ sweet. Pretty glad they fumbled it immediately afterwards, of course…
Mughelli
With Gonzo in the picture now, Ovie’s probably more likely to get overlooked as a receiver by opposing defenses. I can see that happening a few more times this year, easy. Love it when an ‘invisible man’ like him gets to score!
MVP for the Day
Is Jake Delhomme. God bless those plucky little Panthers…
Next week will hopefully give Jake another opportunity to be, well, Jake :-P
Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish — a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow — to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested...Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll.
by iRonin on Sep 14, 2009 1:02 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Honorable mention:
Jay Cutler, because I hate the Bears and their fans
Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish — a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow — to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested...Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll.
by iRonin on Sep 14, 2009 1:04 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
they were who we thought they were
no just kidding!! I loved the way our D looked, they were swarming the ball….it seemed like every tackle they made there were 6 or 7 of them in on it…….that hit Babs had in the 3rd quarter was just NASTY!!!
only thing that really worries me
is that the offense MIA runs strikes me as a “gimmick” offense(might be a better word to describe it) alot of trick plays plus the wildcat not many balls thrown deep..stuff like that, i’ll wait till we play a more “traditional” offense before i’m totally sold.
My game ball goes to Van Gorder
He called his best game as the Falcons DC yesterday. Last season, my main complaint with him was his predictibility on third down. We would do one of three things-go to a three man line and rush three, go to a three man line and rush four, or go for an all out OMG kamikazi blitz. That was it. We were far too easy to figure out. Either we send so many men that a receiver can easily find space, or we gave a quarterback so much time he could pick us apart. For a great example, just look at the first half of the Chargers preseason game. This was gone yesterday. We were mixing up personnel, plays, and players, and it worked magnificently. That was some playcalling I have been waiting to see.
If you had told me in the preseason our defense would win us a game, I would have said we stole that one. After yesterday’s performances from Peterson and Williams, after seeing how disruptive Babs and Jerry can be inside, and after seeing Kroy Biermann match Abe sack for sack, I’m not so sure it goes down as a steal anymore. I think it goes down as our defense carrying the offense on a day where they didnt have their best (yes, Ryan did look a bit rusty, but its nothing to worry about). This just might be a much more complete team than any of us could have seen coming.
by SG Standard on Sep 14, 2009 1:43 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs
Great defensive game
About two weeks ago, I made a rather lengthy post (that no one read) about the defensive shortcomings in the Chargers postgame thread. My main complaints were frequency of blitzes (especially zone and big blitzes) and the positioning of the linebackers.
Both of these were completely non-evident on Sunday. Brian VanGorder called a masterful game, with very few mistakes from the coaches perspective OR the player standpoint. I was most impressed with our coverage of the Wildcat. Men in every gap, everybody sticking to their assignments, and getting to the football. Miami ran over 90 Wildcat plays last year (Stat: FOA09), but only two or three against us, for less than ten total yards. Kudos, sir.
Hey, I read it
Just didn’t reply – I do agree with what you said then (and are saying now). The amount (and design) of the big blitzes and zone blitzes in the pre-season was terrible. Being able to consistently apply pressure with Abraham, Biermann (and some others) helps remedy that problem…
Preseason
No one game plans in preseason.
Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish — a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow — to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested...Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll.
by iRonin on Sep 14, 2009 8:14 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I was
pleased to see that the D was able to play to the level that they did in this game. They looked good. I would give them and A- overall. And like others here I hope that this is the D that shows up for us every week. I am still concerned about the corner position but maybe #23 can pick up his game nad play better than what we saw vs. San Diego. I am hoping. fingers crossed, rosary in hand… lol! The offense is going to be fine. I think we proved that if the running game isnt working that we can do what it takes to score points and win anyway. I dont expect Turner to have many games like yesterday going forward myself. Not that he played bad, but just not his usual Bad Ace self.
Looking forward to Carolina now!
Life is a garden. Dig it!
by Hardcore Falcon on Sep 14, 2009 1:57 PM EDT reply actions
I don't mind Turner having a few off games... as long as we still win
Makes teams have to plan for more than just Turner. You could tell that Miami PLANNED for Turner. They still stacked the box like teams did all last season and we were able to make them pay. Carolina will probably see this week’s game tape, try to cover the receivers/SUPER TE better and Turner will wind up having a very Turner-esque game.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
My only concern with Turner
And something many people outside our little enclave have seized on is that he hasn’t consistently displayed another gear to punish really good defenses. Too small a sample size to say if that’s really true.
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Yeah
I’ve noticed that when I was doing my fantasy football drafting work. I ended up taking AP, not because I don’t believe Turner will have another big year, but with all the other options we have, I’ve got to think maybe Smith doesn’t try to ride him as hard in most games as a matter of principal so next year he doesn’t fall off the face of the earth. Turner comes through where we need him this year instead of having to carry us all season and we’ll be fine.
Wait. Question.
I’m as big of a Falcons fan as everybody else here, but you had the option of AP and Turner, and you hesitated? Really?
Well, it's only 1 game
But Turner 22 – Norwood 2. They’re not exactly trying to balance out the carries yet…
A few things
1) Ryan was very inaccurate in the first half – I’m probably going to have a little extra tidbit on this later…
2) Ovie’s TD was certainly a surprise, but he had 21 catches with 2 TD’s in 2006 for Baltimore – so he’s capable of being used in the passing game some.
3) Loved the Game Theme Song, man.
4) I cannot believe you included Weems in the Lowlights. That 10.3 average on 3 punt returns is not bad (HD was 11.9 last year), and he was in on a couple special teams tackles, too. I thought he did just fine.
I agree about Weems
and I think Matty Snowballs will be alright. His strength last season showed itself in the first quarter of play but in this game he demonstrated his ability to progress even into the 4th quarter. I think this game was just a little bit of a fluke. Last season, his reads were “look at Roddy White, look at read #2, pick one and throw” – this season they are having him look around the field more and I think he’ll get a better hang of it as early as next week.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
Tackle!
1) I’ll acknowledge that, but I’m not at all concerned about it. I tend to gloss over things I’m not worried about. Some would call it a bad habit.
2) I should have re-phrased that. In this offense, with these weapons, I was stunned to see him catch a touchdown pass. Not that he’s incapable of that.
3) Thank you!
4) The punt average was pretty good, but I’m still waiting to see what he can do on kickoff returns. Part of me is still afraid every one of our returners is going to morph into Adam Jennings.
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might I also add...
Biermann managed to do everything in one game that Anderson did all year last year, and on one occasion, without having Abraham drawing a double team on the other side of the line.
Gotta prop JA98 on his tipped pass though. He tries to get around defenders with a high stance which hurts his ability to get around them, but he is able to see the play much better this way (also thanks to being 6’6) and it showed it’s worth for a split second against Miami. So really, as much as we demean him for his non-existant pass rushing skills, his play recognition ability can be pretty useful.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
Don't forget special teams
Biermann was an absolute terror on kick coverage. You don’t see many defensive lineman come flying down the field and being the first one to reach the return man three or four times in a game. When he didn’t make the tackle on the last kickoff, I was actually kind of disappointed.
And still, I am not giving up on Anderson. He did some stuff yesterday that doesn’t show up on stat sheets. He got a couple pressures, forced poor throws, and flushed Pennington into Abraham for one of his sacks. He’s never going to be The Predator, but he should be able to hold his own, especially giving the amount of rotation the Falcons do along the defensive line.
I agree about #98
and for a smaller contract, I vote we resign him.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
Good Point on Elam
Worse comes to worse we could always go back to letting Koenan (sp ) go back to booming field goals.
Please, lord, not that again
For whatever reason, that just didn’t work out. I’d rather not shake his confidence again, even though you’re absolutely right that Koenen has the leg for it.
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Morton Andersen is a phone call away...
lol
I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.
Elayne Boosler
hey
I can kick 40 yds all day long. think I will pay a visit to camp.
Life is a garden. Dig it!
by Hardcore Falcon on Sep 14, 2009 4:43 PM EDT reply actions
I admit I was concerned for our secondary prior to Sunday’s game. But I have to give them a higher grade than Dave did. Although they did nothing spectacular, they did completely shut down Miami’s passing game. I also have to give special kudos to DeCoud—-I rarely saw him step up in preseason but Sunday he was always near the ball.
This is just weird
Released Saturday, back Haynes re-signs with Falcons. I’m sure theres a reason but I don’t get it
It's because Haynes is a Vested Veteran
All Veterans of I believe 5 years receive guaranteed money after the first game of the season (or somewhere thereabouts). Meaning that if you’re on the roster, and a team wants to cut you to make another move, they will have to pay out your full salary for the year to cut you. If you aren’t on the roster before the first game, but a team signs you afterwards, they can cut at any time without paying the guaranteed money.
by LetsGoFalcons on Sep 14, 2009 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Rec'd
Exactly the reason. I still don’t understand why he’s valuable to this team.
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Wait
I Rec’d that too, but the more I think about it… That can’t be right, can it? Why would there be such an emphasis on guaranteed vs non-guaranteed money in contracts if they could just dump an over-paid under-producer before the first game… I could easily be wrong, it just doesn’t seem right to me.
Makes you think that TC might be undecided on him...
He might be thinking everyday wither he wants Brown back on the 53 man roster. This gives him flexability to do that…
I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.
Elayne Boosler
Alright you sonsafalcons,
After 37 years of being a Dolphins fan, I got to my first Phins game. Yeah, you all came with your game faces on. We definitely got beat by the better team. I offer congrats. Us? Well, our line accidently brought clown masks. Some of our D actually did show up, but it’s obvious why Gonzo’s achieved 11k in yardage. And your young secondary way beat out our young receivers. We did learn one thing. Pat White can be arm tackled.
Over on Phinsider, there have been a coupla grumblings over why we took Long instead of Ryan (sigh).
I daresay, you didn’t give us the shellacing that Sparano will be giving the Phins.
Anyway, I’d like to say thanks to your fans for being respectful hosts. Throughout the whole game I only saw one idiot and he got an earful from another Falcon. Regardless, of the score, it was great fun.
Armchair QB's always complete the pass and armchair coaches always pick the right players.
Yes, Larry Little is still the man.
by Tunaflipper on Sep 14, 2009 7:07 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I'm glad you made it out
You Dolphins fans seem to be of good character yourself. I had a Phin-fan in the seat right next to me and he was handling the consistant disappointments with true class…. nothing more than huffing and occasional “it’s okays” but still shook hands with Falcons fans after the game.
Thanks for stopping by. I wouldn’t mind seeing you again in game 19.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
My biggest mistake is not having Ovie on my all Falcons fantasy team !
But now he will join these in my starting line up :
Ryan
Turner
White
Gonzo
Norwood
Elam
Falcons D/ST
Jenkins
People didn’t think I would start the Falcons D but I did :)
You're going to have to let us know how that works for you
I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
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Heh well I lost my first game – was close though.
I will replace Booker with Ovie this week !
I actually have 2 All Falcons FF teams. The other also lost a close game. Crazy thing is there’s an all Saints team in that league and she is tearing things up !
Drew Brees = 1 man fantasy team
at least he was after his showing from last week.
He put up 40+ points in most leagues.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
by MentallyMIA on Sep 15, 2009 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep
And w/o a running game, I’m looking for him to be in the 30-40s all year..
I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.
Elayne Boosler
I was very humored by your game
in a game where you have 2 players that put up 0 points… you aren’t supposed to win. lol.
Drew Brees and the Eagles Defense were amazing for you. Or, should I say Jake Delhomme and Brees were a super QB tandem for you last week.
know what you believe in and why you believe in it
by MentallyMIA on Sep 16, 2009 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Good luck in week 4...
I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.
Elayne Boosler
Oh all the things I saw in the Dolphin game...
John Abraham bull rushing Jake Long and throwing the huge 6’7 tackle on his backside on the way to a sack was incredible. I don’t usually get quite as excited about the pro game as I do about college football, but at that moment I was jacked up…
I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.
Elayne Boosler
Just wanted to stop over and give ya all some congrats on the win.
I wished it had been different of course.. lol But outside of what I feel was a couple cheap shots your team played a well planned and executed game. Heres to your first win of the new season !
CP10 is the current leader of this team... respect him
Henne is the future leader of this team...
Beck could have been.. its a shame he was thrown to the wolves unpreped
Driver of the Camarillo, Hartline & Bess fan club bus.. hop on and enjoy the ride!
JT.. Porter.. Wake.. gona getcha !
post game wrap up notes...
Yes, the defense played good people but it’s only one game, we haven’t won anything more than that…. YET! Remember, the phins offense is a ball control type run it and short passing game offense, wait until our young secondary is truly tested against a better passing attacking team. Then we will see what we are working with here as a defense, because there are several types of offenses out there that we will need to stop this year.
Yes, Matty ice was a bit rusty, but remember, early in the season those downfield crossing pattern angles are the hardest to get the timing AND the distance down correctly- WHAT YARD MARK TO THROW TOO?, WHAT ANGLE TO THROW IT DOWNFIELD AT FOR THE RECEIVERS BREAK 45 OR 30 DEGREES? So I’m not too worried about Ryan missing those WIDE OPEN running red shirts downfield early in the game, mainly because it didn’t matter in the end, we won!! lol He’ll be just fine.
We ARE happy we’re still undefeated after the first game, I know I am, but I am more optomistic about our defense and just hoping for a clash of undefeated teams in New England in 2 weeks, that would be a great game, no,.. that WILL be a great game(did you guys see tha pats come back on the bills? WOW) Anyways, that means we beat CArolina this week at home too, I’ll take that all day long peeps!!
See ya later guys,
LETS GO FALCONS!!
L-DAWG
is it just me, or...
does anyone else feel a “little” bit better about playing the Patriots in a couple of weeks? don’t get me wrong, they are still a scary team and may still be the toughest game of the season… but after watching them tonight, they suddenly look very beatable, which they never did when Brady was holding the reins. they really shouldn’t have even won that game… the only reason they did is because the Bills had a completely ridiculous turnover that put the Pats right back in it.
their D suddenly looks very weak against both the run and pass, and their offense did not play like the automatic juggernaut they were in 2007. their offensive line did a terrible job protecting Brady and the Bills were able to get great pressure all night long.
i know, it’s just the first game and they may look way better in two weeks, but i guess my point is that the 2007 team never had a single game where they looked like that, even the first one. they just dominated from start to (almost) finish. my fear was that we would be walking into a hopeless situation in week 3, but after watching the game tonight, i feel a little better about our chances.
by cheshire falcon on Sep 15, 2009 12:39 AM EDT reply actions
i felt the same
although, they tightened up at the end. They will definitely be more in sync by week 3 but, so will the Falcons. Should be a good game and not the blowout most are expecting.
Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that. - Bill Shankly
by armchair quarterback on Sep 15, 2009 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Hats off to our defense
I was looking for a little more than 19 points from our offense, but in the end I’d be happy with 3 if we held the other team to 2. Gimme the W over a nice stat sheet any day.
The Pats are a little less intimidating but Moss and Welker both had 12 catches. Brady tossed it up something like 53 times. I think Matty Ice better get his timing and accuracy problems solved by the time we play them because we will be in a shootout.
Gotta give a shout out to Mike Peterson. Great game all around but man that was one of the nastiest hits I’ve seen in a while when he popped Fasano? To force the fumble and good job Brian Williams being in the right place at the right time.
Gotta add my personal lowlight: Justin Blalock looked like a practice squadder out there. I think it was Phillip Merling that beat him two plays in a row to get to Ryan and was making way too many plays in the backfield. I like the kid but if he continues to play like that I wouldn’t mind drafting both the Pouncey twins from Florida. A guard to start and a center to eventually replace McClure
by FLA_Falcon on Sep 15, 2009 6:41 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Solid Game, But....
The Burds played a pretty solid all around game, however I would temper such enthusiasm as the Dolphins have a QB with a water pistol for an arm..The only deep ball that was thrown was was severely over-thrown and by Pat White, to Tedd Ginn who had at least 2 yards (huge in pro football) of seperation between he and two other defenders. If our front four can keep up there frenetic intensity it may cover for the lack of coverage we probably still have.
Secondly the offensive play calling seemed a little sketchy to me. Sure Turner didnt have a great showing but we didnt try to pond it all that much when the lead was in hand. We could have easily burned off an additional 5 minutes of clock time in the fourth which may have ultimately preserved the shutout. Instead we put the ball in the hands of the QB to try to make it happen. Sometimes 3 yards and 40 secs off the clock is a victory.
I digress, overall the team played a great game, just a few things that need to be tightened up before Carolina, and there prolific running game, and the broken ego of Mr. Delhomme…Focus D. Williams, keep him contained, and the Burds should be just fine!!
Thanks for joining the site!
Good thoughts, all.
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by Dave Choate on Sep 16, 2009 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Ryan to Gonzo - TOUCHDOWN!
This is the Guatemalan Bills fan checking in, the Falcs are my NFC team and I’m a huge Matt Ryan and Tony G fan.
First of all congratulations on a nice victory. And I was especially pleased to see the first of hopefully many Ryan to Gonzalez TD connections! I am looking at that happening TEN times this season and it was great to see the first one in game one.
I couldn’t see the game so I have to rely on your descriptions of what transpired to get a clear idea. I was surprised that Turner didn’t have a better day, but it really does seem that the Fins were keying on him. He will have BIG games against the Panthers and the Pats, trust me. The 49ers will be tougher.
As I peruse the schedule I’m very happy to see the bye week between those two difficult road games: Pats and 49ers. After four weeks 3-1 and possibly 4-0, please beat the Pats! I think Matt Ryan would enjoy doing that in the city where he played his college ball! GO FALCONS!
by Andrew from Guatemala on Sep 17, 2009 10:10 PM EDT reply actions
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