Falcoholinks: All the Falcons news you need for Friday, September 7th

You all saw last night’s game. The Falcons looked at times good, and at times very mediocre in a narrow 12-18 loss to the Eagles. Injuries played a factor on both sides, but the game once again came down to Atlanta’s red zone struggles.

Here’s a roundup of all the biggest stories and news items that we learned from last night’s game.

Falcons lose an injury-marred nail-biter to the Eagles, 18-12

Well, what more can you say about the game. It was fun to watch the defense fulfill their potential. It sucked to see the offense stuck in the mud, with particularly bad days from Matt Ryan and Steve Sarkisian. Here’s Dave’s recap of the game from last night.

Keanu Neal left Thursday’s game with a knee injury

The worse news from Thursday night was on the injury front. Atlanta lost several starters at various points throughout the evening, with CB Deante Burton even having to play a few snaps. The only injury that seemed to linger was Neal’s, as he was ruled out for the remainder of the game. Dan Quinn stated that Neal’s injury “doesn’t appear to be something serious”. We’ll continue to hold out hope for good news with Neal, and we should know more today.

Recap the game with The Falcoholic Live’s Week 1 Post-game Special

The Falcoholic Live was up late after the rain delay to bring you some very hot—but sometimes measured—takes on Falcons vs. Eagles. Hear us give Sark some deserved criticism, but also caution against overreacting to a sloppy Week 1 performance. You can get both the podcast and video versions of the show here.

There was an awful officiating gaffe that significantly hurt the Falcons, and it involved Julio Jones

If you watched the game, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Julio appeared to make an acrobatic—if somewhat bobbly—catch well within bounds. The officials first called it out of bounds, which was blatantly wrong based upon replay. It wiped out a huge play for the Falcons that could have easily turned the tide of the game. We’ll be talking about this one for awhile.

Adnan’s final Throwback Thursday Series takes a closer look at when the Falcons drafted Matt Ryan

If you’re looking for something not related to last night’s game, Adnan’s been doing great work with his Throwback Thursday Series—which you should definitely check out in it’s entirety. The last one for this season brings us back to when the Falcons selected Matt Ryan—a move that changed the entire trajectory of the franchise. Check it out right here.

What are your thoughts on last night’s game? Is Matt Ryan a bust? Shall we light the torches for Sarkisian’s firing soon? Or is everyone overreacting to Week 1?