16 Sundays: Week 3 - Kansas City @ Atlanta

[TheDirtyWordII]

To read the full origin and explanation of this project click on the below link:

http://life.atlantafalcons.com/forums/Topic3545779-45-1.aspxhttp://life.atlantafalcons.com/FORUMS/Post.aspx?SessionID=xor44cm5uqpmwxevs45hhk45' s_oid="http://life.atlantafalcons.com/FORUMS/Post.aspx?SessionID=xor44cm5uqpmwxevs45hhk45" s_oidt="0">

I figured I would embark on a project. Fact is, if you are still coming to message board during these dog days, you truly are a die-hard.  My endeavor would be to project each game on the Falcons schedule and provide a box score and write-up for it.  Sometimes the write-ups would be detailed accounts of the game, others might focus on a players contribution to the game or their role with the team.  But each game and write-up would unravel the story of the Falcons 2008 season in as realistic a fashion as possible. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The goal?  Try and re-create the excitement and enthusiasm of going through the week by week trials and tribulations of watching the Falcons again.  Each week is linked at the bottom of the article if you want to catch up.

 

Turner Proving His Worth

 

<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Kansas City was an important game for Michael Turner.  Not because of anything related to him personally or the fact that as a former AFC West rival, he was anxious to show his standing as the #1 RB for his own team.  Naw, nothing like that Turner chuckled.  For Turner, the reason he has Kansas City marked on his schedule came down to this, I ve got this teams back .  By that, he meant that knowing Glenn Dorsey would be coming to town, there were sure to be the inevitable Glenn Dorsey updates.  Back in April, amidst much hand-wringing the Falcons bypassed Dorsey to select Matt Ryan.  Plenty of debate ensued and Sunday allowed a re-opening of the conversation of sorts.  For Turner, the mission was to make sure it was an open and shut discussion.  And so when Turner broke through the line for what turned out to be a game winning 24 yard TD run with 4:12 left in the 4^th quarter, it was mission accomplished he had the Falcons back .

 

I ve loved being an Atlanta Falcon ever since I signed Turner said.  Before I came here, no organization had ever showed me the kind of attention and love I got when I came here.  San Diego was great to me no doubt, but I wasn t the man there.  Here, I m the guy this team is going to turn to when they need it.  Glenn s going to be a great player in this league.  But today, I didn t want that to be the case .  On his way to a 113 yard day, Turner was a key cog in the Falcons surprising rise to 2-1.  Dorsey picked up a sack, but the Falcons were largely able to keep him quiet.  It was Turner who was the story has his hard and relentless running set the tone for the entire game.

 

Our initial count was 20 broken tackles Coach Mike Smith said of Turner.  When you ve got a guy who is making the defense pay to tackle him, you re going to have some offensive success.  Last week, when Turner was largely stymied, Mike Mularkey kept on feeding Turner the ball.  You can t only be committed to the run game when it s going gangbusters added Smith.  You ve got to stay true to who you are as a football team and we are going to be a team that wants to control the ball.  Last week the going was tough& this week, we were able to do some things .

 

Through 3 games, Turner has amassed 66 carries.  That s a pace for 352 carries.  We ll have to watch Michael& make sure he s taking the load well.  You have to try and gauge in September where he ll be later on in the year.  He s never had this workload before so we have to exercise some degree of restraint and caution.  But we ve got Jerious too, so we ll mix and match.  But Michael s been everything we ve hoped he would be .

 

And then some he s not been spectacular, but he s been steady. His 278 rushing yards are 10^th in the NFL and he s allowed the Falcons to keep their defense off the field more than last year, not to mention help them move the chains with some consistency all the while helping to keep the major load of the offense off the shoulders of rookie Matt Ryan.  Matty s going to be some QB in this league& probably pretty soon Turner finished but he s going to need us to help make him better before he can make us better.  When that happens, watch out .

 

So far, the Falcons have been one of the NFL s early surprises.  A large part of the credit goes to Turner.  But as humble a guy as Turner is, you won t hear him say that.  He s just happy to be here. 

 

Player	Comp	Attempts	Yards	Comp%	YPA	TD	INT	SKD	Yds Lost		Scoring Summary
Matt Ryan	19	35	217	54.29%	6.20	1	1	1	7		1st Quarter
Chris Redman											Ovie Mughelli 2 Yard TD Run
D.J. Shockley											Roddy White 14 Yard TD Reception
TOTAL	19	35	217	54.29%	6.20	1	1	1	7		Cundiff 40 Yard FG
Player	Rushes	Yards	TD	YPC	Receptions	Yards	TD	YPR	Fumbles		2nd Quarter
Michael Turner	23	113	1	4.91	2	11		5.50			Bowe 14 Yard TD Reception
Jerious Norwood	6	21		3.50	4	43		10.75
Thomas Brown											3rd Quarter
Ovie Mughelli	1	2	1	2.00							Johnson 2 Yard TD run
Matt Ryan											Elam 24 Yard FG
Chris Redman											Cundiff 47 Yard FG
Roddy White					6	74	1	12.33			Elam 37 Yard FG
Laurent Robinson	1	16		16.00	2	49		24.50
Harry Douglass					3	25		8.33			4th Quarter
Ben Hartsock					1	12		12.00			Cundiff 31 Yard FG
Martrez Milner					1	3		3.00			Turner 24 Yard TD Run
Michael Jenkins

[FalconWong88]

as usual, great read.  Look forward to your next one.

[Tazz77]

Great read, I sure hope it pans out like that. Dont know how I missed week 2 but thanks for the link gone to read it now!

[Farmer]

This is great work TDWII.  I'm really enjoying reading these.  I would be very happy with a 2-1 start to the season.  Bring on week 4.

[Dana King]

Right there with you man, just as I predicted also.  Keep up the good work.

[falconfansince66]

Thanks again.. Good read and entertainment.