Falcons Vikings Recap

The Falcons get their 7^th win of the season against a struggling Vikings team, but there are still many faults with this team.  Let us take a look at the Good and the Bad.

THE GOOD

Matt Ryan- Matty Ice probably had his best game of the season on Sunday.  He completed all but 7 of his 34 passes, and could have been all but 5, but the receivers dropped a couple of well thrown balls.  He showed poise, and the offensive line did a pretty good job of keeping him upright.  Major Props to Will Svitek for shutting down Jared Allen.        

Sean Weatherspoon and Curtis Lofton- These two have been playing great all year.  They collectively racked up 19 tackles, and Spoon had a sack, and three tackles for a loss.  These guys both deserve to be in the Pro Bowl, but I suspect they will get snubbed since the Falcons aren’t known for a shutdown defense.  People who know football know that this is a special Linebacker Corps.

Chris Owens- While Owens still needs a lot of work on his covering abilities; he made a great effort to run down Percy Harvin on that kick return.  Harvin is one of the fastest returners in the league, but not fast enough to outrun a determined Chris Owens.  That could have been a different game if he didn’t make that tackle.  Having said that, the defense still needed a goal line stop, and they delivered with another great stop by Spoon

Jacquizz Rodgers- This guy needs more carries.  He draws many comparisons to Darren Sproles, and Ray Rice, and I think that he is the real deal.  Turner is still a beast of a Bruising Back, but utilizing Quiz is only going to keep Turner fresher longer.  I see no downside to getting him 12 or 13 touches a game. 

THE BAD

My only real complain is the third quarter.  I don’t know where this team goes after half time.  They have been getting outplayed by everyone in the third.  I think we need some guys to step up in the locker room to keep the intensity for a full 60 minutes.  

Next week we have the Texans.  They are banged up bad at QB and will most likely be starting there third string quarterback.  If the run defense can stay stout against Foster, then I like our chances.

A look back at the Falcons last 5 games

Week 6
This was the Falcons first really rewarding victory, a must win game against a division rival in the Carolina Panthers.  Matt Ryan managed the game, Michael Turner had his best game of the season, and the secondary made Cam Newton look like the Rookie that he his.  This game also contained one of the best defensive plays of the season.  A one handed interception by DT Corey Peters on a screen pass.  This was one of many games that Peters had a big impact in.

Week 7
This was our chance to finally win back to back games this season.  A tough road game against the Detroit Lions, but one that we would eventually come out on top in.  Another great game for Turner, going over 100 yards for the second consecutive week, and although Matt Ryan didn't look great, He came back after an injury and completed a beautiful pass to Harry Douglas for a much needed first down.  This was a huge win, and could make the difference between the Falcons or Lions making the playoffs.

Week 8
BYE WEEK

Week 9
A game against the winless Colts, that would prove to be a field day for Rookie Julio Jones.  The Falcons got there third consecutive win here, and the highlight reel consisted of two amazing touchdowns by Julio.  This was the first game that the team seemed to fire on all cylinders.  Matty Ice played great, the running game was effective, and the defense didn't let up a score the entire game.  The Falcons appeared to be getting hot at the right time.

Week 10
Our first game against the Saints.  The game was in the Dome, and we really wanted a win.  Another lights out performance by the run defense, and the offense played good enough to take the game into OT.  The Falcons won the toss, and got the ball first.  In the end, the game came down to a questionable call by the officials, and the an even more questionable call my Mike Smith.  We decided to go for it on 4th and 1 in our own territory, and Turner got stuffed.  It was a devastating loss, and I suspect will we come out fired up when we meet them again week 16

Week 11
A must win game against the Titans to stay in the hunt.  The run defense established itself holding Chris Johnson to 13 yards on 12 carries.  The Falcons led the entire game, but unfortunately still let rookie backup quarterback Jake Locker put up two late touchdowns on us to make the game closer than it should have been.  In the end a win is a win, but it would be nice to play a full 4 quarter game.

The Falcons have the Vikings in week 12, another must win to stay in the hunt for the playoffs

A Look Back at the Falcons first 5 games.

This season has been one filled with frustrating losses, and even some frustrating wins.  The Falcons came out of the gate falling down, got back up around week 6, and actually appear to be making an end of the season run.

Week 1
It started in Chicago, the Falcons ran out onto Soldier Field only to get whopped up on by the Bears.  I saw the beat-down first hand.  The play calling was predictable, the secondary played little to no coverage, and the offense tried and failed at working Julio Jones into the lineup.  It looked like the Falcons were playing a 5th preseason game, and the Bears came out ready to start the regular season.  In retrospect, I suppose that its a good thing to have your worst performance in the beginning of the season, rather than the end.

Week 2
After that we were off to play Mike Vick and the Eagles.  A game we were happy to win, after laying an egg in our opener.  The falcons showed a few flashes of the greatness, but looking back we realize the Eagles weren't the "Dream Team" that we thought they were, but this was a must win game considering if we hadn't gotten this one we would have been sitting at 0-3 through 3 games.

Week 3
A loss to the Bucs.  This one probably stung as much as any regular season loss I have ever seen.  Both teams looked pretty bad the whole game, but all we needed was a stop on 4th and 1 to have a chance to win the game.  No one will ever know if we would have made that stop, because Corey Peters jumped off-sides before the ball was snapped.  It was clear that Josh Freeman just wanted to draw someone off sides, and that he probably had no plan to even run a play.

Week 4
This was one of those frustrating wins I was talking about.  A game where we led by 17 at the half, we only manage to win by 2.  This might have been acceptable against a playoff caliber opponent, but it wasn't.  It was against to Seahawks.  The second half play, and play calling was terrible.  Unfortunately, the the theme of letting teams come back in the seconds half is proving to be a common one.

Week 5
This was the big game.  Our rematch with the Packers.  We came out ready to get some revenge.  We were in great rhythm, and even had an 8 point lead going into the half.  Then we threw it away in the second half.  this game is the perfect example of what I alluded to in the "Week 4" section.  We gave them the victory, by not scoring a single point in the 3rd, or 4th quarter.

Though 5 games our so called "Superbowl Caliber Team" sat at 2-3.  A look at our last 5 games coming on Turkey Day if I can squeeze it in between the games.  

THE AFB (Atlanta Falcons Blog) IS REDESIGNED AND RUNNING!

After a long drought, The AFB is back and blogging!  New post coming within an hour!

Corey Peters Injures His Knee

Corey Peters was carted off the field after sustaining a knee injury.  This could be a huge blow to the Defensive line if it is serious.  He is one of our best run stoppers so hopefully he recovers quickly.

UPDATE
Corey Peter's knee will not require surgery.  He will miss the Jacksonville game, but it is not an ACL tear.

Falcons Sign Defensive Tackle Carlton Powell

Powell was released by the Jets after being unproductive in his 3 years in the league. This signing means guys like Vance Walker and Trey Lewis will have to stay sharp.

Falcons Lose 28-23, Falcons Starters Win 14-0

GAME RECAP

The first preseason game was a real thriller to start, but didn't end as the Falcons hoped. While the starters looked dominant over the Dolphins, some of the backups did not impress. Let's run through the players that got themselves noticed, whether it was for good or bad play

THE GOOD

Matt Ryan - Ryan started out shaky. His first 4 passes were incomplete, but after he completed his next 6 for 90 yards and a TD to Harry Douglas. Probably his two most exciting completions were those to Julio Jones. The first time he hit him running a short route across the field, that allowed Jones to pick up considerable yards after the catch, and shortly after that he found him open in the center of the field for a 22 yard completion. All in all Ryan looked sharp once he got into a rhythm with his receivers.

Michael Turner - I couldn't tell if Turner was looking awesome, or if the Offensive line was just making huge holes. After thinking about it, I decided it was a little bit of both. Turner didn't stay in very long, but on his 4 carries he put up 21 yards and a touchdown. He looks ready for another 1000 yard season.

Jason Snelling - Jason did exactly what we expected; he carried the ball effectively with 6 carries for 27 yards, and he caught a short pass that he turned in to a first down. Typical Snelling.

Julio Jones- Julio looked great. I already talked about his two catches for 43 yards, but I left out the 12 yards he picked up on the ground. That's right Julio Jones can run the reverse. The fans went crazy every time he touched the ball. He already looks to be adding explosiveness on the Offense, and I'm sure it will only get better as a gets more experience.

Harry Douglas - I was really impressed with Douglas. He was our leading receiver, and caught a great TD from Ryan. He is someone that could really surprise some people at at the slot receiver position.

The Offensive line - The starting line looked awesome. The Falcons running backs averaged close to 7 yards per carry when they had the starters blocking for them. In addition to that, I can't recall one play where Matt Ryan appeared to be really rushed. Great Job by the O-line.

John Abraham - Abraham had a ridiculous interception, that Definitely got the Miami receiver yelled at. It was good to see one of our big name guys make a big play.

Brent Grimes - Grimes just did what he does best. Makes Quarterbacks look like idiots. Chad Henne could not catch a break against our defense. He was picked off of a dropped pass by Abe, and then he tried to throw one down field, and Grimes used his 90 inch vertical to jump up there and snatch it. It was awesome.

Cliff Matthews - The dolphins appeared to have the momentum for most of the 2nd half. But on third and long Cliff Matthews did the best thing a defensive player can do, got the defense off the field. It was a 3rd and 9 and Cliff just Bull Rushed the Offensive Tackle and put Matt Moore on the ground. It was clear that he wants in on the Defensive line Rotation.

OTHER PLAYERS THAT LOOKED SHARP

Brandyn Harvey made a couple nice cathces
Sean Whetherspoon stuffed the run a couple times
Emmanuel Stephens had a nice sack
Kerry Meier had a nice catch for 18 yards
Jacquizz Rodgers showed that he can run between the tackles
Rafael Bush had a great INT off a tipped ball
Bear Woods led the team in Tackles

THE NOT SO GOOD

Obviously the backups guy aren't going to play like the first string guys, but I was hoping to see a better game out of Christopher Owens. The only time I really noticed him, was when he blew coverage and costed the Falcons a Touchdown. If I had to guess I would say that Dominique Franks is going to be the front runner for the starting job after that.