Slingin' Curtis Painter And Why The Falcons Must Be Wary
by Dave Choate on Nov 2, 2011 7:30 AM EDT
in Falcons News
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PrintObviously, this is going to come up again tomorrow in some form or another. There's a fairly short list of alarming facets of the 2011 Indianapolis Colts, so I could hardly do my questions without it.
I do think it's worth focusing on the unique dangers posed by a desperate team, one with offensive weapons that's becoming all too familiar with playing from behind. The Colts have shown a propensity for the pass in recent weeks, a willingness to just say the hell with it and air it out to Pierre Garcon and anyone else within range of Curtis Painter's arm. It's an inelegant
Let's be blunt: These Colts are not a good football team. Peyton Manning is the rare player who can put an entire team on his back, and he long has done so. But these Colts are also in transition on defense and look pretty pedestrian on offense without Manning under center. They've compensated for that, in essence, by throwing like crazy since Painter took over the job.
In his six weeks as a starter, Painter has thrown at least 30 passes three times, and 27 another. In those four games, he's managed five touchdowns and three interceptions. His completion percentage and yards per attempt are brutally bad, but again, there's a handful of nice plays a game.
So yeah. Has Curtis Painter been, at times, like a poorly drawn childrens' picture of a quarterback? Yes. But a guy who throws almost 50 passes in a game is bound to do damage, and the Falcons are still more than capable of giving up big plays despite a rapidly improving defense. It's not like Reggie Wayne and Garcon are slouches, either. The Colts' best chance to beat the Falcons is to clamp down as hard as possible on defense and sling, and they have to be aware of that.
So the best move for the Falcons would be to take away the pass, because Delone Carter and Donald Brown are about as frightening as a plush Cerberus on the ground. The Colts have been pretty good at protecting Painter thus far, so it's incumbent on the front seven to generate a nice little pass rush to help him make the mistakes we know he's capable of making. Shut down the pass and you've got yourself a game the Falcons should win easily.
Does this concern you, or am I making a mountain out of a Colthill?
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ANY GIVEN SUNDAY!
That’s what the Saints remembered last Sunday. I don’t think Mike Smith will overlook the Colts for that very reason. But I also think the Colts know they have nothing to lose by taking chances on virtually every play. Their season is over already, so every player (and coach) on that team is fighting for a job next year.
This game feels like the Seattle game. I feel confident we’ll win, but there is that nagging feeling…
I'm worried about this game
kind of…
and it’s not just the Rams vs Aints example (these Aints have a tendency to lose a game or two to mediocre teams like Arizona and Browns last year, Rams this year).
we also had the Seahawks game we nearly blew. There too, we were facing bad run defense and the offense spearheaded by the mighty TJax. and we made them look good, but after dominating in the first half. that was caused by complacency.
I doubt we make the same mistake twice, but if we do lose it would be squarely on coaches.
Atlanta Falcons fan in Moscow, Russia
Not worried
You pointed out that Rams v. Saints example. Brees does lose a game or two to Max Hall or A.J. Feeley from time to time. It comes with the territory of being slighty too confident in your own abilities.
The Falcons are not built like that. To this day, in three plus years, the Smith/Dimitroff/Ryan regime has not lost to an opponent that finished the season with a losing record. I don’t see any reason why they should start now. We take care of our hubris, and we win games we’re supposed to win.
I will give you 5 words on why we should not underestimate a team like the Colts
They’ve
Got
Nothing
To
Lose
Easy to play “balls to the wall, go for it all” football when your in their position…just saying…
"I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl." - Joe Jacoby, formerly of the Redskins
"To win, I'd run over Joe's mom too." - Matt Millen, formerly of the Raiders
"We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite" - Murray Walker, Sportscaster
Spot on Dave
No NFL team should ever be taken lightly. Not saying they did but just look at the Saints two years in a row now. The difference between a good and bad team in the NFL is really not too far apart. One mental lapse and the other team gets momentum and you can’t stop it. We frequently hear players talk about it now, I for one believe it’s real.
The Falcons should win but they still have to play and execute well.
These guys want the number 1 pick
Not sure how much of a fight they’ll put up knowing they are head to head with the Dolphins for Luck.
In other news, the new Grand Theft Auto trailer drops in an hour!!!!!
that’s a lot of exclamation points for a video game trailer, especially for a franchise that, imo, has been played out for some time.
Hey K don't be grumpy.
He’s excited, let him have his fun.
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Nov 2, 2011 11:25 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
as long as they stay off my lawn, hrmph.
by KMarch on Nov 2, 2011 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
You're joking
How many sales has the franchise made? How many records did they break? The 4th didn’t do as great as maybe San Andreas, but that’s like clowning the Patriots for not winning the Superbowl every year. Rockstar has impressed with pretty much all of their titles.
Not Sure
If you’ve seen the trailer, but it looks incredible. Didn’t know if I was watching a clip for an upcoming USA channel drama or a video game.
A little worrying in that we are great at stopping the run
And they aren’t even going to try to run it.
I can imagine a 2-1 TOP advantage though
Go ahead buddy, sling your guns.
We got something for that. O’l Painter will find out, like all the other QBs, why it’s not smart to target Optimus.
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Nov 2, 2011 11:02 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I'll agree with that one...
"I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl." - Joe Jacoby, formerly of the Redskins
"To win, I'd run over Joe's mom too." - Matt Millen, formerly of the Raiders
"We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite" - Murray Walker, Sportscaster
Ill be at the game
This will be the first time that I will have the great honor of watching this new falcons regime in person.
They do have nothing to loose, and I firmly believe non of the players or coaches are willing to lay down to get luck. No competitor is willing to lay down a goose egg for a season.
Ill be looking to see if we can get enough pressure from our dline to force bad throws into our zone. The zone has its weeknesses, but it should actually be the perfect defense for this type of game.
by icon3127 on Nov 2, 2011 2:23 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I could see Dunta and Optimus getting a pick in this game.
Just have to neutralize that pass rush of theirs and we’ll be golden.
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by Caleb Rutherford on Nov 2, 2011 2:35 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Any given Sunday, blah, blah, blah….. I hear what ya’ll are saying but sometimes you have to look deeper into the situation. I would also say I would worry about their pass rush but they rank 30th in the league in sacks and they’re thrown on more than anybody else in the league.
The numbers?
32nd ranked total defense
31st ranked run defense
30th ranked pass defense
Of course those rankings probably have a lot to do with their 62-7 loss to the Saints, but who allows 62 points in a game these days to a team not called the Patriots? Yes, you obviously feel my drift, I’m writing them off. As a matter of fact this game is so deep in the bag, there’s other games that we’ll play in 2021 on top of it. It’s going to be a party!
They should have.....
What would you think of a bully who was afraid of a nerd. Says a lot about your team if you don’t expect to party on a team who’s playing terrible.
I'm saying you think that way
you’ll get killed on the field. the bully and nerd analogy doesn’t match when talking about NFL calibur teams
Atlanta will win a championship....someday
I don't get it.
Thought you were African American. Is this like a Dave Chapel thing.
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Nov 2, 2011 3:14 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Don't just worry about his slingin'
Read a tweet that said he rushed for 79 yards last week as well. Containment will be key.
Said a veteran Ray Buchanan to a young Michael Vick:
“When everything else fails, your legs won’t”.
For the Colts, everything else is failing. I’m not worrying about containing Jason Vorhees’ look-alike at all, they’ll have to throw it plenty to win this game.
Jags snagged Robiskie
I think that’s the best fit for him, Mike Sims- Walker sucks goes to I.R., they need a reciever as usual, he’s got a good chance to do some things there.
I trust our head coach at least respects each and every opponent
If our defense does what they’ve been doing, we’ll be just fine.
One day....
I like Curtis Painter,
I mean look at this guys face, it’s the face of a guy who doesn’t give a shit. I bet he smokes weed, you can tell. He doesn’t have to win and he knows it, he’s not afraid of effin up because nobody cares. Truly in a luxurious position for an NFL starting QB. He gets paid to not be the best, awesome if you ask me. I’d have a shit eatin’ grin too.
Rule #1: Double tap.
by Ball Hawk on Nov 2, 2011 8:22 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Best Picture Caption Ever, Dave.
"It's called Thanksgiving for a reason. If I can give and people thank me for it, that's kind of the thing that makes me feel great inside." - Dunta
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