RSS feed for Talk About the Falcons Board http://boards.atlantafalcons.com Fri, 24 May 2013 00:24:58 +0000 3 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978677-whos-everyones-surprise-starter-this-year/
Everyone else?]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:24:58 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978677-whos-everyones-surprise-starter-this-year/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978628-are-there-any-falcons-fans-out-there-who-love-to-fish/ ve never fished it nor do I know what kind of fish is in there other than trout.  Insight please.]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:20:19 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978628-are-there-any-falcons-fans-out-there-who-love-to-fish/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978663-honest-answers/ Why does the media think aj green is better than julio? they are close but i think julio is better at catching the ball and making spectular plays. uga homers please dont be bias! Fri, 24 May 2013 00:18:45 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978663-honest-answers/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978637-td-on-alfordmy-favorite-video/
http://www.atlantafalcons.com/media-lounge/videos/Thomas-Dimitroff-News-Conference-Day-2/cfc354f8-68cb-4325-99c0-2b799f49abba]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:17:11 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978637-td-on-alfordmy-favorite-video/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978503-roddy-white-dirk-koetter-a-fearless-play-caller-interview/
With the arrival of general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith in 2008 came unparalleled success for the franchise. In 2009 the Falcons put together their first back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history. Since 2008 the Falcons have won 56 games and been to the playoffs four times in five seasons.

But the team’s first playoff win under Smith as coach and Matt Ryan as quarterback was elusive. After three one-and-done appearances in the postseason, the Falcons found a way in 2012 to put the pain of postseason’s past behind them by beating the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round of the playoffs and advancing to the NFC Championship Game.

The Falcons came up just a few yards shy of beating the San Francisco 49ers to move on to Super Bowl XLVII and that pain is something that still sticks with wide receiver Roddy White.


“When you’re 10 yards away from a Super Bowl and you’re right there at the doorstep, it adds incentive to make you go even harder than you’ve actually gone [before]," said White, almost four months removed from the loss at home to the 49ers.

With the recent success of the franchise, with all the pieces Dimtroff has put together for this team, Atlanta is extremely close to the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl. The Falcons are in absolute “win now” mode and the next playoff obstacle for Smith and Ryan and every other player on the roster is making it to Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey after the 2013 season.

The Falcons learned so much by suffering through three painfully early playoff exits that now White feels getting past this next obstacle and into the Super Bowl will be easier than getting the playoff-win monkey off their backs last season.

“I know we know what it takes to get over the Super Bowl hump,” said White. “So now the players we all realize we need to get to the Super Bowl. Everybody’s on the same page, so it’s time for us to get over the hump.”

White has been working feverishly in the offseason to prepare for the 2013 campaign. He said he had a specific routine that he follows, a training regimen that includes football activities, workouts and diet, and even the rewarding opportunity to take some time to teach kids about health and football.

White will take two days on June 17 and 18 in Marietta, Ga. to team up with ProCamps and popchips® at Lassiter High School and put on a football camp for boys and girls between the ages of seven and 14.

The advanced kids will doing a lot of 7-on-7 drills and activities that White called “more competitive” in nature. The younger kids will be learning football fundamentals, and everyone will be eating popchips®.

“Popchips, they’re doing an excellent job of teaching kids how to eat healthy and giving out healthy snacks and things like that,” said White. “We need people like that because of the obesity problem that kids are going through at such a young age.”

Once White finishes with the kids at his camp, he’ll return his full attention to the Falcons, who he feels have done an excellent job in the offseason at bringing in talent to upgrade the team.

“I think the Steven Jackson move was a great move for us,” said White. “It [the offense] will be much more balanced. That guy can run, catch; he’s a three-down back so we won’t ever have to take him out of the game.”


Being able to leave Jackson in the game at running back on all downs will help offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter disguise his play-calling even more in 2013. Instead of having to alternate running backs Michael Turner and Jacquizz Rodgers for different aspects of the offensive play-calling, having Jackson in there all the time will make it tougher for defensive coordinators to catch up with what Koetter’s offense does on a down-by-down basis.

That will greatly enhance on of Koetter’s best traits: His aggressive tendencies on offense.

White called Koetter a “fearless play-caller” and said he expects the offense in 2013 to be even better and to dial up big things. This Falcons offensive unit will regularly be on the attack and have a number of new wrinkles with the addition of Jackson and the natural and needed progression by Koetter from Year 1 to Year 2 as coordinator.

Another aspect of the Falcons offense to watch out for in 2013 is slot receiver Harry Douglas, who caught 38 passes last year and has averaged just over 30 catches per year in his four pro seasons (he missed the entire 2009 season with a knee injury).

White said he’s anxious for Douglas to break out and marvels over Douglas’ work ethic and preparation techniques.


“He’s [Douglas] kind of the hidden guy that’s waiting to explode,” said White. “I’m just hoping this is the year he takes off and all of us get 1,000 yards, just like the [Indianapolis] Colts when they had all those guys running up and down the field and catching all those balls.”

With White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez on the team, White admits it will be hard to find enough touches for Douglas, who White believes would catch 60 to 70 passes if the receiving corps were less crowded. But Koetter knows how to integrate numerous weapons into an offensive scheme, and with Jackson now in Atlanta, defenses will have to prepare more for an Atlanta rushing attack which will open up passing lanes for not only the Falcons’ “Big Three” but Douglas too.

This Atlanta team has improved in the offseason, but White’s also noticed improvement within the division (he still calls new Tampa Bay cornerback Darrelle Revis the best cornerback in the game) and among the powers of the NFC, San Francisco and Seattle.

“I still think from top to bottom we’re one of the best teams, if not the best team in the NFC,” said White. “We’ve just got to, with the experience that we have, go out there and find ways to win.”

And if the Falcons don’t find a way to take that next step?

“If we don’t get to the Super Bowl it’s going to be a disappointing season for the Atlanta Falcons,” said White.]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:12:04 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978503-roddy-white-dirk-koetter-a-fearless-play-caller-interview/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978617-the-seattle-seahawks-and-san-francisco-49ers-have-terrible-defenses/

Actually, this has a potential to be an interesting discussion. All we have done on this MB is bash our defense, yet the teams that allowed the fewest points in the NFL OT gashed by us.

Are the days of dominating defenses simply gone?

My thoughts are that giving up the least points possible and takeaways are all that matter.

]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 00:05:36 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978617-the-seattle-seahawks-and-san-francisco-49ers-have-terrible-defenses/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978345-where-do-you-live-as-a-falcons-fan/
My personally, obviously I live in Rhode Island. Born and raised here. I became a Falcons fan when I was 8. My parents loved football and I wanted to get into it myself so I turned on the TV and first game I watched was a Falcons game. Honestly, I just liked their colors and jersey more than the Pats ones so I decided to make them my favorite team. Despite the minor reason to become a fan, I am turning 23 next week and I am as big a fan as ever.

My father raised me to be self-sufficient, so once I was old enough to get a job, everything was on me to pay for. For a few years I was a road warrior up here. I saw when they played the Pats up here (I've learned to detest the Pats), I drove through a blizzard to get to a game against the Jets (worst fans by far), I went to Pittsburgh for the season opener a few years back, and unfortunately spent tons on tickets for the playoff game in New York against the Giants as well.

Two years ago, I finally decided it was time for me to experience what it was like to be part of the home crowd. I hated Green Bay after that playoff loss, so I flew my roommate and I into Atlanta for the SNF game against them. I was so excited to be loud for my team that my voice was completely gone after half the first quarter. My roommate and I never sat down (much to a lot of fans displeasure as I always splurge and by 50 yard line 100 section seats). Heart broken with a loss, I knew I had to save all year to fly us down again. I decided to fly us down to the MNF against Denver, and thank God I did. After seeing only ONE win in all my games, I was really hoping this next trip was money well spent. My voice was gone before Denver even had their first drive. But I continued shouting, and again, my roommate and I never sat down.

I guess that win left me hungry because I've already booked ANOTHER trip for my roommate and I to fly down the weekend of the New England game (as a Bills fan, he hates them even more than I do). Decided to do a little extra and also going to the GT vs VT game Thursday night for the heck of it.

So now that you know my story. What's yours? I like hearing about where everyone is from.]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 23:59:06 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978345-where-do-you-live-as-a-falcons-fan/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978675-gonzalez-toilolo-and-12-personnel-group/
In the last few years, teams with two talented pass-catching tight ends have enjoyed much success out of 12 personnel group.  The Patriots led the way with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.  Last year, the 49ers also used 12 personnel to good effect with Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker.

In order to improve the 12 personnel group, Toilolo does not have to be a clone of Gronkowski.  He simply has to be effective in multiple roles.  He has good hands.   He has demonstrated in college the ability to run not only the fade, but also the seam route.  He was an effective blocker at Stanford.  He has tackle-like 34-1/2 inch arms and 10-1/4 inch hands.

I am intrigued by the possibility of having three tall receiving threats - Jones 6-3, Gonzalez 6-5, and Toilolo 6-8 - *plus* Roddy White and Steven Jackson on the field at the same time.

In a preview of the 2012 NFC Championship Game¹, an Football Outsiders contributor, Danny Tuccito, claimed that the Falcons last year ran 51% of their plays out of 11 personnel (1RB, 1TE).  The second most employed grouping was 21 personnel (2RB, 1TE) at ~20% (link).  It will be interesting to see if the 12 personnel group sees a larger share of plays in 2013, since one of the match-up decisions for 11 versus 12 personnel has changed from Douglas-versus-Palmer to Douglas-versus-Toilolo.

¹ http://www.footballo...ip-game-preview]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 23:58:23 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978675-gonzalez-toilolo-and-12-personnel-group/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978641-talk-about-the-hawks/
I knows there's a Hawks Message board, but I'd have to make an account and all that. So, for those who might be interested, maybe somehow we could get the mods to produce a Talk About the Hawks forum if the idea is popular enough.

Just throwing the idea out there for anyone potentiallyinterested. Let's see how many Hawks fans are out there.

Thoughts?]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 23:51:15 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978641-talk-about-the-hawks/ http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978672-im-still-just-worried-about-the-lb-spots/
I know we will having growing pains, this yr and im fine with that. but The lb spot or lack there of just baffles me, lets just be real honest we have one true starter in spoon, thats it. nick is avg at best and im trying to be nice, and dent well I just think he is a career 2nd or 3rd stringer. we need to do something there, I would love to get richard seymore at dt but honestly we need a LB twice as much. I jsut think most on this messagebaord put too much blame on d line and not enough on lbs

here is a perfect example where our lbs played well and it made an impact. the giants game on 3rd and 4th down. our d line held up but didnt get no great penetration, but what did happen was or lbs actually be in position and shadow down the line and make the tfl. we need more of that and less of not getting off blocks, and less out of position in coverage. I dont care if we bring in richard and bring back abe if we cant cover a TE we will still see them gaining big yds on the regular.

also our LBS and Safeties need to learn how to finish and tackle. its sad when an over the hill chris hope is the best tackler on the field and he hasnt played in 9 weeks just saying...]]> Thu, 23 May 2013 23:48:15 +0000 http://boards.atlantafalcons.com/topic/3978672-im-still-just-worried-about-the-lb-spots/