Era of the DK: The Beginning?

I don’t know why everyone is going dogging the hire. Nothing of substance can really be taken from his last few years in Jax, he had nothing to work with. Give the guy a chance before you crucify him.

I read here and there where the Falcons and Koetter need to go deep. I see it differently.

Yes throwing deep occasionally is necessary to stretch defenses, and even better if we hit one or two. No matter how you spin it, Ryan simply does not have an arm for the deep ball. Julio constantly out ran his passes and had to pull up to stay underneath the ball.

Ryan’s throw at the end of the first half, of Giants’ game supports my contention. Rainbow pass, only 45 yards, give or take.

However, we don’t need to throw deep successfully to win, just ask Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. What is needed, in my opinion is crossing patterns to Julio, screens to Rodgers (or Turner for now) , the out patterns White does so well, and go routes when adjusting for blitzes.

You ever see Ryan throw an quick dart to White or Jones, when being blitzed? I don’t remember any.

I say look at Tom Brady and Wes Welker, and the Patriots’ tight ends. Like the Montana and Rice days, it was not bombs away that won games, it was excellent short and middle passing with the receivers BREAKING TACKLES that put points on the board.

Finally, I am not a believer in Harry Douglas. I see him as another fragile player who cannot break a tackle. If he has sure hands, and could jump in a crowd then that would overcome his inability to make yards after the catch.

My two points are that you can win big in the NFL with medium and short passing games, and the Falcons did not do it well. Then you need to create something after the catch and we don’t do that well either.

That is where we needed Jones, to be sure and we got him because he has it all, and can break tackles.

However, I think the Falcons’ offense is actually on the downside, and needs a major influx.

1) Gonzalez is old and frankly we signed him this year out of desperation. We are not “cutting him one year too soon, rather than one year too late” as is our professed philosophy. He cannot break tackles.

2) White is an out route, possession receiver who drops balls in big games. Also too emotional when game is big. Not good. This is as good as he gets, and when he is touched, he goes down like $20 hooker.

3) Turner is done. Way past his prime. The average life of a running back is 3.5 years, and we used him heavily for four years. He cannot create anything and has poor hands. I like Rodgers, and we need him.

So, the vaunted Falcons’ offense is actually in trouble, and until we get a beastie offensive line, and don’t play creatively then we get 2011. Weak.

Koetter, good luck. We need you and you are the man on the spot, along with Coach Smith.

#1, 2 and 3: Agree completely!!