Falcons-Jaguars Recap: Best Game Ever

GO VOTE FOR OUR PLAYERS TO MAKE THE PRO BOWL. SERIOUSLY, CAM NEWTON IS/WAS AHEAD OF MATT RYAN. I DON'T CARE HOW GOOD CAM IS, THAT'S A TRAVESTY. GO HERE FIX IT.

Holy smokes, what a game that was yesterday. When we were threatening to score whilst up 17-0, I thought to myself, "This is the area where the Falcons like to not put a team away." which then leads to a lesser team making a run on us and making the game uneasy. However, the Falcons quickly and easily put any fears of that to rest.

I mean, what is there to say about this game? It kinda felt like a trap game, and supposedly only 56% of ESPN fans thought we'd win. I can't really say they should've felt differently. We survived the TealCats and then lost to the rookie-led Texans and their stingy D in previous weeks, and the Jags came outta nowhere to hang 41 on the Bucs last week, so really, I can't say I totally blame them.

However, the total fury of the Falcons showed up and put on a clinic. Let's attempt some specifics after the jump.

Much like Dave, I, too, laughed for much of this game. I also wasn't laughing at the Jaguars, but moreso because it seemed like we had Un-Murphy's Law going on the entire game. We didn't even have to have the ball. The Jags could've had the ball and we'd still do something ridiculous. Corey Peters TD? Check. Own player interception? Check.

Just ridiculous.

The Good

Geez, where do I even start?

The Whole Team, Except Weems That One Time - Kidding.

Matt Ryan - Another efficient three quarters of work for Matty Ice. His passes were sharp, he only errantly missed on maybe one or two passes, tops, but he was crisp on those 20 yard passes. I don't know if you all saw the stat last night, but Matty-to-Roddy is now the highest scoring QB-to-WR duo in Falcons history, passing Bart-to-Jenkins.

Julio - What a boss this guy is. I keep saying it, but he reminds me so much of Larry Fitzgerald. They're similarly sized, have similar athleticism, it's just that Fitzy makes all the catches. Julio makes many of the catches. At the end of the game, Julio made some absolutely ridiculous catches from Rojohombre, and the announcers quoted Gonzo in saying that when you start making catches like that, it starts to snowball into something better and better and better until he's catching everything, and if/when that happens, we'll have a real superstar.

Roddy - After a slow start to the year, Roddy has really kicked it into gear. I saw a stat that said Roddy is only the fourth player in history to have four consecutive 1000 yard seasons with all four of those seasons consisting of 80 catches or more. I know he struggled with drops earlier this year, but he's really been a model of consistency for the past 4 years. He also has five 1,000 yard seasons, good for a franchise record. He's also 170 yards or so from the franchise record for yardage. This era really has been special.

Gonzo - It should be noted that Gonzo had only one catch, good enough to keep his consecutive games with a catch streak alive.

The LBs - Spoon only had two tackles, but he had a fumble recovery and, of course, was everywhere. One of his tackles was for a loss, also. Lofton was everywhere, and recovered The Fumble That No One Wanted on that one play, and had a ton of tackles.

That Thing NFL Network Did With Matty/Roddy/Lofton/Spoon/Turner/Smitty Before the Game - That was cool.

The DL, Especially Boss Abe - Abe had a mega night, exploiting the weakness of the Jags OL in Guy Whimper. It got so bad, I felt bad for the guy. Abe destroyed Gabbert, and Biermann got a sack as well. Peters's touchdown was a thing of beauty. It looked like he was so scared to drop the ball, he covered it with both hands and then looked like he was gonna fall down on the way into the endzone. It was still awesome.

The DBs - DeCoud had a pick, Franks looked good, Willy Mo had a crushing hit on MJD, and even Toast had a nice pass deflection. Unfortunately, the DBs will have no such luck next week. NO's WRs are just a wee bit better.\

MJD - Yes, Maurice Jones-Drew. I have to give props to him. He is such a good runner, he was banged up, and he plays on a team that has been destroyed by injuries and just isn't very good. He managed to get 117 yards rushing on us, about a third of which was on one play. I feel bad for him. He's just another example of a great talent being wasted on a bad overall team.

and....

and....

much to the chagrin of many, many people on this board....

MM - Yes, I will give Mike Mularkey props for the offensive nuke we dropped on the Jags last night. Yes, I still want a new OC, but I have to give credit where it's due. At the end of the day, it's still his offense we're running, no huddle or not.

The Bad

The OL - Not that they were horrific, only giving up one sack and such. (I think they had another negated by penalty) but they had seven tackles for loss against them and generally had issues opening up holes for runners. By and large, they provided ample pass protection and running lanes, but our backups didn't do any favors.

The Status of Weems' Family Jewels - After taking a Turner Launch into a poor Jags defender, Weems took a helmet right to the groin, which couldn't have felt good.

Nothing for Ugly this week, except maybe the halftime show. I heard it was pretty bad.

NO. That Sweater Their Sideline Reporter Lady Was Wearing: Seriously, whoever advised her to wear that on Nat'l TV should be slapped in the head. Also, after the first time she was on air, they made her put a jacket on over the sweater. I laughed really hard.

Disclaimer: My short term memory is pretty bad, so I know I didn't account for everyone. I think it's safe to say the whole team was pretty rockin' for a while there.

MVP: Who else? Matt Ryan makes us all love everything again, though Abe comes in a close second.

Sound of the Game: This is what happens when our offense fires on all cylinders.

In a Word: Domination.