Last night I had a dream...

Nothing close to the prowess of Martin Luther King's Dream, but something pretty damn enlightening.

In this dream my beloved Atlanta Falcons did not have Tony Gonzalez, and shockingly developed into a more effective offense because of it!  Ryan was taking more deep shots to Roddy and Jenkins, much like last season, and our offense was putting up 35 points a game.  Turner and Snelling were also benefiting from the absence of Gonzo. HOW? Defenses were not coming up close to the line to double our TE, but rather playing deep to cover our WR's.

Problem:    My observations from looking at film from this season thus far is Ryan is forcing it to Gonzalez.  Tony is always the first or second read, and if he isnt open Ryan throws the ball away.  The last time I saw Tony down field 25+ yards was the TD against KC earlier this season.  WHY?  It seems that we are trying to give Tony the short route to help bail out Ryan, and help him settle into games.  Instead we should be opening the field up and spreading it around to more people.  Roddy and Gonzo have the majority of the receptions on our team, and their is a huge drop off in the next players receptions.  All successful passing teams New Orleans, Indianapolis, New England, etc. spread the ball around to everyone on the offense.

Solution:   Use Tony more as a decoy than as a primary target.  When we played San Francisoco we used him to perfection.  Saftey's were pressing up on Gonzo, and Ryan was able to hit Roddy over the top!!! Why have we gotten away from that? Could someone (Malarky) explain this to me? 

Why is the offense so stagnant?

If we are going to start winning games again we need to get it going on offense.  Our defense will give up points, so our offense needs to start scoring, a lot!

This is my first attempt at a Matchup post, so if I'm leaving something out that you guys think I'm overlooking, just let me know in the comments.  I'm going to try to find areas the Falcons can exploit, or where we are especially vulnerable - using Football Outsiders' DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, explained here).  A quick explanation is that it is a percentage above or below average, with positive numbers good for Offense and negative numbers good for Defense.

Just so everybody is clear, I'm going to list the DVOA, then the league Rank, because what does a 58.7% Passing Offense mean (besides 50%+ better than average)?  I think it's easier to understand if I tell you that's the #1 Passing Offense in the league (that's the Patriots, by the way).  The DVOA number is more important, because there may be a huge gap between #5 and #6, but both numbers together should give everybody a good idea of where we stand.

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I’m going to just post what info I have before I get two games behind.  I haven’t been doing this, but I really should – here’s the link to the NFL Game Book for the Redskins game.

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Hey Everyone!  Just thought you should know about the Atlanta Falcons Charity Toy Drive in December.  Several players will be out at the Mall of Georgia signing autographs for fans that bring in a new, unwrapped toy ($10 +).  They're putting this on for charity, with the Toys for Tots program collecting the toys.  There will also be Marines on hand to collect the toys and greet fans.

The event is at the Mall of Georgia (Nordstrom Court, near Santa) on Monday, 12/14/2009 from 6:00-8:00 PM

The players participating are:

Thomas DeCoud

Erik Coleman

Tye Hill

Chevis Jackson

William Moore

This is a great opportunity to meet some players, get some autographs, and give back during the holiday season.  There are plenty of children out there that aren't as fortunate each year, and this is a win-win opportunity for everyone involved to have a truly magical  holiday season.

via i37.tinypic.com

Bummed about the Panthers game?  Do as Professor Frink does when HE's feeling blue!  Immerse yourself in warm, soothing data.  Ahhh...

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KDC made an excellent point in a different thread in response to a comment re: overreaction on this site.  It got me thinking: MAYBE everyone really deserves a place to vent.  I am not saying you can only vent here, but I think it might be a good idea to have a place where one can vent absent sarcastic responses, accusations of haterdome, and retributive malevolence.

We'll here you go.  I declare this (I'm not even sure I have this authority - thus feel free to delete this thread if it is out of line Fearless Leader) Vent Fest '09.  I doubt our collective frustration will be any higher than it is now in the near future (i.e., we're finally realizing this is not a SB team and - more than likely - not a playoff team, depending on how certain people recover).  Accuse Matty Ice of illicit drug use, call for Burner's resignation, question if Smitty's eye brows are simply throwing off the team's mojo ... your comments need not be rationale or based on facts.  In other words, opine to your heart's content!

I only ask that you recommend this, thereby allocating a space where irrational rants can be had until Matty and company turn this ship around next week.  THANK YOU and GOOD DAY!

Good Morning Everyone,

Jim here from Big Blue View, and we're ready to take your questions on the Giants heading into this week's game. With the Eagles and Cowboys losing yesterday, the Giants can bring themselves back into the race with a win over your Falcons. Should be a fun game, both teams need this one bad. Weather is not expected to be a factor, which probably benefits the Giants as well as the Falcons, based on Eli's troubles throwing in the wind.

Ok, fire away!

Hey falcon fans, my name's will

I'm here to wonder what you think of Big Blue and how you think the game'll go in two weeks.

I realize you guys are probably all excited about the panthers game (or maybe not depending on which Delholme shows up), but it's never to early in my opinion to find out what the enemy thinks.

Reading one of the posts, it seems a lot of you guys have a pretty low opinion of the giants and think you'll have a win against us.

Anyways, thanks for answering. Bye weeks are killer, and I've been excited about this game for a while. One of my best friends is a Falcon fan, so this'll be a little friendly battle between us. Hopefully it'll be as good as last weeks game (but with different results)

Well well well,my birds are back..I know you sayin where they go,thought they was here..Uhm NO!2008 year was great year,letting Micheal Turner anchor the way,while Matt Ryan guide the way..begining of this year(2009)It was the other way around.

We putting the defence back in the box again and working them from in to out.Which Matt Ryan is able to pick off the 'D" when passing.(he's at his best when doing that).At the start of the year we was to busy trying to work in everybody in every game(Anthony,Roddy,Micheal and Letting Matt ryan shine more then ever),no,thats where they went wrong.Play like we played the last two games(as we did last year )and evrything will fall in place..

what do you think?