Remember when the Falcons were up 10-0 in the second quarter after Ryan had limped off to the sideline? There was a feeling of calm in the stadium; it was soothing, warming, welcoming. It also lasted all of a TV timeout. Tampa came out the next drive and fired off two successful passes, traveling 80 yards for a score in all of 14 seconds. And then a man collapsed in the adjacent section. I was too busy texting Dave about how awesome it was to see Jerious take a shuffle pass when iRonin, ever the watchful observer, noticed EMTs rushing into a crowd of people. One man was fanning his gameday towel, another was holding the victim upright.
So thank you Josh Freeman and our secondary; you actually made a full grown man lose consciousness with your performance on the field yesterday. On to business.
- Dave's said it, now I'm saying it. Regardless of how Michael Turner felt yesterday, he should have been on the sideline in sweats.
- Matty, Matty, Matty. Back in my playing days, we called a stubbed toe a lucky break (in lieu of worse ailments), not a game-ending injury. I know he has to put weight on it to throw, but seeing as he's been throwing off his back foot most of the time anyway...
- At one point, iRonin shouted "Come on, Defense!" I turned to him and asked "What defense?" and he nodded sagely. In all seriousness, our defense made yet another mediocre quarterback look outstanding. That's now two bad QBs so far that have had banner days against our secondary. Jake Delhomme looked amazing against us last week. Let that sink in. Stings, doesn't it?
- Redman is as Redman does: holds on to the ball too long but throws a mighty fine spiral. He was both good and bad in his first major playing time since pre-season. I'm not complaining too much about the man that helped win a game that we were desperately trying to lose.
- Jerious Norwood is back, but for Pete's sake don't send him up the middle. His strength is on the screen and outside run. Durrrr.
- Why is John Abraham dropping into coverage 30% of the time? Is it because every team double or triple teams him now? Seriously, in the immortal words of iRonin, "That's like trying to tow a boat with a Ferrari." Total misuse of resources.
- Roddy and Gonzo were their usual selves. Can't complain much about them.
- The officiating was, as has been a recurring theme on this feature, absolutely atrocious. So nyah to the zebras.