falcndave

1) I honestly don't think power rankings impress any player in the NFL. As such, I doubt they are motivational. They barely matter to some fans. 2) Nothing in Sunday's game left me thinking they were lacking in Motivation. Win the trench war, check. Attack relentlessly, check. Make big plays that were left on the table for first 12 weeks of last season, check. Attack in the red zone, check. This team was popping anything in Green. It was a bad day to be an opponent. Motivation? Check!

Certainly the Cardinals home game several years ago was his highlight moment. I think he had 5? and still won.

I almost wonder if Koetter has injected "gunslinger juice" in Matt's Slurpee. Some very unlike Ryan-like aggressiveness being displayed. There is a fine line between aggressiveness and carelessness.

No argument there, I was just saying 70% pass was the right balance for this particular game. No reason to bang your head into that front 7.

This week, pass heavy was 100% the way to go. No question. The Eagles were exposed in week 1. To not attack that secondary would have been criminal. That said, you are correct over the long haul. It needs to be more balanced after 17 weeks. That said, look at the pass plays that were there to make that we let get away. The Eagles secondary was so bad they did not even attempt to cover all the receivers on some plays. They were literally playing pee wee ball and sending the house on every significant snap. So, big picture, you are correct. For this particular game, we used a good deal of passes designed to attack aggressive defense...even more screens and flat routes would have been okay with the amount of zero they were playing. If Belichick played this team, he might not run the ball once in the first 15 plays. The game plan pass balance was correct. Ryan's willingness to throw caution to the wind was interesting, but I'm sure he was told to just let his guys make plays. The one into double coverage in the endzone could not have been more perfect. Two defenders draped on the receiver, and the only one with a chance to touch the football was Ridley.

I loved this game. I know the Eagles had injuries, but the Falcons stood up in the trenches to a team that pretty much took them to the wood shed at the LOS last year. If you caught the ball for either team you had to trot to the sideline to let them take a rib count and make sure none were missing. Wentz was a one man army and Ryan's blitz recognition and audible to the screen made up for some of the mistakes. Matthews burying the Db on Julio's second TD and Wentz completing a pass with a defender dragging him down will be my enduring images of this game. Smash mouth in the Benz tonight. I think the guys who played in leather helmets with no face guards were smiling down on this one.

Banged up O Line looked very solid vs. one of the better front 7s in the league. Very encouraging. Compared to the beating Ryan took last week...big step up.

0-2 is not good. 0-2 verses two potential playoff teams you may need to finish ahead of to make the playoffs is even worse. Who you lose to is often more important that when you lose. Losing to Eagles and Vikings could be the difference between getting in with 10 wins...or needing 11. That said, the Eagles secondary looked very suspect. I'm not willing to put this game in the loss column without playing it. Let's tee it up and see what happens.

The offense needs to define its mission and purpose. What is the units intent and how will it enforce that will on the opponent. It can't get to the destination in four weeks if neither the destination nor the method of conveyance are defined. Their goal is to do a little of this and a dab of that so far as I've been able to tell since the new staff was named.

I know Grady is more a lead by example guy, but I bet he'll be casting the evil eye at the highly esteemed DC and a few gentlemen on the edge. His comments after the game were about as direct as anything I've ever heard from them. He should sue for breach of contract and go find a real team if this continues about 3 more weeks.

Grady Jarrett. EOM!!

One indisputable factoid, for sure!

Freeman was out-gained by Matt Ryan on the ground. He averaged 2.4 per carry on 8 attempts vs. Ito's 5.2 on 6 attempts. Yes, Ito's came when Vikings were playing softer. That said, the OL and Freeman MUST average more that 2.4 per carry over 19 rushes against all opponents in all circumstances. They MUST. The OL did not power block well. They did not zone block well. They did not pass block well (looked better once Vikings called the dogs off late in 2nd half). Freeman looked quick and powerful. That said, he didn't seem to have his normal vision and decisive first move. I'm going to chalk that up to being out of competition for nearly a year. I really don't know what RB would have done significantly better. It just seemed that the Vikings were running in clear lanes and the Falcons appeared outnumbered at the point of attack on must rushing attempts. Outside off Ryan's scrambles, the team rushed for 49 freakin' yards. 49? Really?

You know, saying two garbage time TDs made it look closer than it was is a lot like saying 3 turnovers and a blocked punt made it look more lopsided than it really was. At the end of the day, it really is what it really was. A 28-12 pile of ...

I'm disappointed. I'm concerned. However, if we can't clean up 3 turnovers and a blocked punt, we can play well enough to stay in games, even without a running game. We moved the ball well enough minus the give aways.