Four Critical Matchups In The Falcons-Colts Game

by Dave Choate on Nov 5, 2011 12:30 PM EDT in Falcons News

One guy we'll be watching. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

I've spent all week giving the Indianapolis Colts credit for what they do well, warning that teams backed into a corner can be dangerous. I'm now going to reverse course a bit.

The Falcons completely outclass the Colts this season. From top to bottom, their roster is deeper. The Colts have a handful of true stars who are better than or equal to what the Falcons can bring to bear—Dwight Freeney springs to mind—but they shouldn't beat Atlanta. Period.

What I want to see is a Falcons team that comes out and beats the tar out of the Colts. I want to see a team hungry to push for first place, one that is past the yips that characterized early games, especially the excruciatingly close win over the Seahawks. We all know, deep down inside, that the Falcons are capable of playing excellent football and equally capable of playing down to the level of their opponents. That's why I'm so eager to see a great game from our beloved birds.

After the jump, we'll hit four critical matchups in the game ahead.

Dwight Freeney versus Will Svitek

The Falcons have faced some tough pass rushers this season, but Dwight Freeney presents a unique challenge. Smaller than your average defensive end, Freeney has all the moves of the great pass rushers and has 98.5 sacks for his career.

Whether you're a big believer in Will Svitek or not, you have to admit Freeney versus Svitek is a matchup no one's thrilled about. If the Colts can get Freeney in the backfield, he's going to be bad news for Matt Ryan. It'll be a truly great test for Svitek, who actually has an outside shot to lock up a starting job down the line if he can play well.

Michael Turner versus Colts Interior Line

Let's face it, Turner's going to get a ton of carries. If he can approximate what's he done for the last several weeks, the Falcons should be in excellent shape.

Given that the Colts are no great shakes at stopping the run up the middle or around the outside, it shouldn't be hard for Turner to keep his run(ning) going.

Pierre Garcon versus Brent Grimes

An aging Reggie Wayne is still a concern, but it's Pierre Garcon who is making waves in Indy these days. An athletic, shifty receiver, Garcon can get open and is definitely Curtis Painter's favorite target.

Thankfully for the Falcons, he should be lining up against Grimes for most of the day. As we all know, Optimus is supremely athletic himself and feasts on inaccurate quarterbacks. I'm hoping Painter tests him all day long.

Matt Bosher versus Blair White and Joe Lefeged

If the Colts' depth chart is correct, it'll be these two guys returning kicks and punts against the Falcons. Bosher has the power to all but cripple an already anemic Colts offense by giving them poor field position. Let's hope he does so.

What matchups do you have in mind?

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Their run game

I mentioned it in the other thread, but I’ll repost it here:

Really the only thing we need to take care of…is actually their running game. Carter, Addai and Brown all have better DYAR and DVOA than Turner and their rushing offense is 10th in DVOA. Except for Carter having troubles being an effective receiver out of the backfield, their RB corps is doing a good job. Much more effective than Painter.

We do have a Top 5 rushing Defense to counter that, but if there is one thing to focus on when they have the ball, it’s Loftspoon against their backs.

by wiesengrund on Nov 5, 2011 12:33 PM EDT reply actions

But even the run game while our best area likely wont make enough of an impact to make a difference because as well as each guy has done they don’t stick with it. For instance, Carter last week had 8 carries in first have and was running well I believe 5 yards a carry. But guess what in the 2nd half they only ran him ONCE and that was with under a min. left in the game. And at this point the game was not out of reach when they stopped running they just went to someone else interlay so while individually they are having success the unit as a whole isn’t having a positive effect on the overall performance.

by MoralesHomers on Nov 6, 2011 1:52 AM EDT up reply actions

It's a shame about the Colts.

They used to have an artist now they have a Painter.

If I had a nickel for everytime someone told me I should shutup, I'd probably have 5 or 6 bucks.

by pchaucer on Nov 5, 2011 12:54 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

good one

by JT131 on Nov 5, 2011 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Might just be due to extra time on the field

but the Colts’ Pat Angerer leads the league in tackles with 90 and has nearly 30 more tackles than the second place on the list. I know the Colts are allowing 144 yards per game on the ground, good for 31st place, but Angerer is flying a little under the radar at the moment.

Be sure to check out this week's Best Case/Worst Case article here.

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by Turner_The_Burner on Nov 5, 2011 1:08 PM EDT reply actions

When you're leading the league in Defensive Plays...

… it’s clear that your tackle numbers will be up. Their D is on the field 80% of the time, usually playing from behind, which that teams do run out the clock on them often. That means more runs and more tackles for MLB. He’s serviceable in a Defense that ranks 32nd against the pass ad 28th against the run in DVOA.

by wiesengrund on Nov 5, 2011 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions

We are allowing 144 yards against which is 31st place. However, take into account that we are also facing the most rush attempts against per game in the league as well. I don’t have numbers on my but I believe its by quite a few as well.

by MoralesHomers on Nov 6, 2011 1:53 AM EDT up reply actions

I want to see their offensive line versus our defensive line.

"I'm about rings now"
~Arthur Blank

by CollegePark4Life on Nov 5, 2011 1:48 PM EDT reply actions

agree

Abe and RE vs their tackles

Atlanta Falcons fan in Moscow, Russia

by Gemini-RU on Nov 5, 2011 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

You want to see our 3rd string Oline :).

Ok some players are coming back this week but overall we have been throwing out the last few weeks our third string line in most positions. This line has little continuity with each other coming back from injury. Should be good matchup to see though the line as a whole hasn’t ben bad this year at all.

by MoralesHomers on Nov 6, 2011 1:56 AM EDT up reply actions

What if Jamal Anderson gets a sack? Really?

by ChickenLay on Nov 5, 2011 4:06 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

It could happen

He has been pretty decent for them

by leonw92 on Nov 5, 2011 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions

won't see a ton of pass rushing ops though

they are mostly using him as a run downs end. A role he’s quite good at. So far my opinion of him is a useful player that people would be very happy with if he hadn’t been drafted so high.

Choke/Clutch is the fetishization of the small sample size.

"Except for half a dozen in each town the citizens are proud of that achievement of ignorance which is so easy to come by. To be 'intellectual' or 'artistic' or, in their own word, to be 'highbrow,' is to be priggish and of dubious virtue." —Sinclair Lewis

by shake n bake on Nov 5, 2011 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Your (1) is scary to me.

But what I want to see is the Falcons playing 4 clean quarters of football. I DON’T want a blowout, just a steady paced game. With the offense massively dominating in time of possession and yards with a TD at the end of most if not all drives. And then the defense not allowing many long plays, few TD’s and while I want us to decisively win the game I do NOT want the Falcons to run up the numbers. We are a classier team than that.

by LuvGems on Nov 5, 2011 4:26 PM EDT reply actions