What Had Me Screaming:
- The Falcons, despite mostly reduced to second stringers, somehow managed to give the Saints a tough game.
- Eric Weems is a return master.
- The Falcons fans. Despite being nearly outnumbered (one Who Dat-er remarked "It's like being at home!" when counting all the black and gold jerseys), Falcons fans were on their feet, cheering and yelling on every single play. We showed the Saints fanbase just how loud we could get. Very proud of my fellow fans.
- Brent Grimes, who apparently is no longer allowed to actually, you know, defend a pass. He had an amazing diving pass deflection that was, after the whistle was blown, penalized for interference. To add to that, he had an amazing diving interception near the 5 yard line that was, once again, called back due to interference. Funny how Grimes was (legally) bumping and going with his man the entire time, the ball thrown perfectly in his direction, and when he seals the INT, it turns into a flag. Hmm...
- For all intents and purposes, Matt Bryant > Jason Elam, for now.
What Made Me Boo:
- The lack of a pass rush. Brees had time to give himself a manicure back there. And Abe continued to drop back into coverage. What?
- Our redzone offense. Three times in the first half we were in the red zone. And three times, we had to settle for field goals. That's not how you beat the #1 team in the NFL.
- The playcalling near the end of the game. You run a double reverse on 1 and 10 with 4 minutes to go when the rush is getting momentum? Guess what happened! 2nd and 22 for pete's sake. Then what? INTERCEPTION! Woo! Ugh.
- The refs. My God, when even the Saints fans are shaking their heads at calls against the Falcons,something is wrong.
What Ya’ll Seem to be Forgetting:
- We still have a winning season to get after. And right now, that's all I care about. We will win these next three games. We will.
Some Pep for your Step
Daniel Cox has some good perspective on our postseason chances:
#falcons playoffs simplified. if dallas can continue its december collapse and giants lose two of last three and atl wins out, they're in. - @danielcox
tlozwarlock's Fan of the Game
The awesome lady next to me who gave me her ticket for the Buffalo game. Now I can bring two people to experience the Birds' destroying of the Bills.