The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

[Richard-cNILE]

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Did You See What I Saw?

After 3 hrs of sleep Sunday morning, I jumped on a flight from Philly to travel back to Atlanta for the game. If you saw the game, I'm sure you know how happy I was that my flight wasn't delayed. I was excited to see what I would see, but had no expectation I would see what I saw. We all know the Falcons won so here’s The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of what I saw from my seat.

The Good:

I saw a disciplined team – While we did have around 7 penalties, only three of them were on the offense. False start in the 3rd qtr, Illegal block above the waist (I think it was a block in the back) and a hold by Roddy White which unfortunately nullified a Norwood TD. Given the new players on this offense, the new offense and so on, I would have fully expected some illegal formation, or illegal procedure penalties as players struggled with the formations and plays. Most of the other penalties were pass defense penalties, some of which were questionable, but when you are trying to defend the likes of Calvin Johnson, you’ve got to be aggressive.

I saw creative play calling – With over 300 yards rushing, you wouldn’t think it was that creative, but it was. There was one play that was nullified by a false start where our QB wasn’t even on the field, specifically a direct snap to a RB. Another where we ran a mis-mis-direction reverse. Roddy white lined up wide right, went in motion at full speed behind the formation to wide left, there was a fake handoff right and then reverse left. We also ran an attempted flea-flicker by Norwood. The play got blown up by the defense so Norwood kept the ball and bashed ahead for a few yards rather than flip it back to Ryan who was surrounded by the DLine of Detroit.

I saw a RB with vision – Many of Turner’s big runs were cutbacks where he was going left or right and the opposite side of the line just parted like the Red Sea and he had the vision and quickness to cut it back. Obviously anybody is impressed with 200+ yards from a RB, but I was very impressed with how it got those yards.

I saw “Velcro” blocking and tackling – Our offense got on their blocks and stuck to them until the whistle stopped blowing. Our Defense wrapped up and brought them down. Out of the 308 yards by Detroit, only 68 were on the ground. I couldn’t find a stat on Yards After the Catch, but I’m confident it was low. Just a side not, this type of blocking and tackling also goes back to my first observation of discipline.

The Bad:

I saw a rookie QB – Mike Ditka or someone said “given a choice of luck or talent, I’ll take luck in the NFL.” Ryan played well and most importantly he didn’t lose the game. He had some great plays where he looked like a poised veteran; some plays where he got very lucky and some plays where his inexperience came through and he looked like a rookie. All of this is to be expected, I’m not disappointed in any way shape or form, but sometimes he will not be so lucky and the rookie moments will come at times when we are down 14 points instead of up by 14 points. In the end it is inevitable, he is a rookie and he must get the experience.

I didn’t see a lot of pressure – If the last Super bowl taught everyone one thing, it was the value of an aggressive and relentless pass rush. Unfortunately we do not have that. While Abraham did record 3 sacks, with at least one in a critical situation, we were unable to consistently get pressure on him. Why Detroit didn’t pass more often and earlier in the game, I don’t know, but like I stated earlier… luck vs skill, I’ll take luck.

I saw one bad offensive line – Our offensive line is indeed offensive. They attack the defense. Watching this reminded me of a famous quote from a Marine General during the Korean war. “Hit quickly, hit hard and keep right on hitting!” I think his name was General Holland M. Smith and if I’m confident our O-Line coach is related, if not by blood, certainly by philosophy.

The Ugly:

I saw the Fan Code of Conduct in the cupholder of every seat in the Georgia Dome – While it may be a good thing overall, I was likewise shocked to see that you could send a txt message with the row, seat and section of someone who was breaking the “fan rules” and they would be removed from the stadium. After Ryan’s pass to Jenkins for a TD on our first drive, I was afraid I might be thrown out of the stadium for jumping up and yelling “&*#@ Ya!”

I saw a team – Yes, it was beyond good, it was such a beautiful thing to see, it could only fall under the Ugly category. I saw a team that played like a team, supported and when necessary disciplined each other. I saw veterans leading by example and rookies fighting to meet the expectations of their teammates. I don’t know how far this team will go this year, but for right now, I’m happy with what I saw in week one. How about you?

[Osama Finn Laden]

****, you're gay.

[Happy Mondays]

****, you're gay.

What a well thought out and clever reply

[Farmer (The 2nd)]

My only big concern was the D line and how vanilla our defensive playcalling was, hopefully b/c we were protecting a lead. But with our D line, we are going to have to send LB's on a blitz.

One thing I'd add to the good, is that Loften can freaking lay the wood. If we add some beef to the D line next year, he could be a stud.

[The_ATL]

****, you're gay.

I'm sure some would prefer gay to being mentally handicap. Too bad you cant change the way you are.

[falconfansince66]

The Nasty:

-The Falcons' OL -

The right side was a fortress in pass protection. I do specifically remember seeing Harvey Dahl pancaking a guy in the 2nd Qtr and pancake is putting it lightly. Almost looked more like a WWE 'Batista Bomb'... Guy's a real beast!

The left side was okay in pass protection, Blalock had a couple of problems there but did pretty good overall. Sam Baker is nothing but a BEAST and T-Rex was an awesome road paver for Turner/Norwood yesterday. He also provided good protection for Ryan as well. He was the main reason, along with Blalock, that those holes opened up for the running game because Turner probably ran through this side at least a dozen times.

[Flyin' In DC]

Good Post. I wish I could be at the games. I also think our D-Line needs some work. 1 week to Tampa and the real test.

[Fanboy3000]

Great post. I'll add that overall, I was very pleased with the defense. The second TD we gave up at the end of the first half I lay entirely at the feet of the coaching staff. Mike Smith will learn that if the first handoff to Norwood doesn't pick up big yards, just keep on handing off and eating clock.

But the D was big when we needed it most, in the first quarter when we were trying to build a lead, and in the 4th quarter when we were trying to protect a lead.

To the ugly list, I'll add both of Chris Houston's pass interference plays. Not because of the penalty itself, but because both could have been avoided if Houston just got his head turned around. This was a problem for him last year, and I'm hoping he corrects it soon. Got to find the ball.

[Fanboy3000]

To the good I'll also add poetx lurking in the thread. GET TO POSTING MAN!

[LADBABY]

I was glad to see Grady competing hard. I thought bringing

him back was a mistake but he looked pretty good in this game.

[WineBird]

Great post, glad to have you back Rich.

[ATLballer]

Its been a while rich......great to see you back.....

[pzummo]

I didn’t see a lot of pressure – If the last Super bowl taught everyone one thing, it was the value of an aggressive and relentless pass rush. Unfortunately we do not have that. While Abraham did record 3 sacks, with at least one in a critical situation, we were unable to consistently get pressure on him. Why Detroit didn’t pass more often and earlier in the game, I don’t know, but like I stated earlier… luck vs skill, I’ll take luck.

Good post. Just wanted to comment on this specifically because it seems everybody has a BIG misconception about how this game went. Everybody keeps talking about Detroit trying to run too much before starting to throw the ball. That's actually quite wrong. In their first 3 drives, by which time we were up 21-0, they had 9 passing plays and 5 rushing plays. Roughly 2 to 1 pass to rush ratio on their first 3 drives.

1st drive: 3 passes, 2 rushes

2nd drive: 2 passes, 1 rush

3rd drive: 4 passes, 2 rushes

On the first few drives we were applying pressure and forcing a lot of underneath throws. This caused their drives to stall out. After we were up 21-0, our defense changed. Instead of applying pressure and attacking, we dropped more in coverage and played more zone. We stopped blitzing. This is very common in the NFL. Any time you have this large of a lead, you want to protect it by not giving up the big play. I don't like this strategy against a team with this much talent at WR because guys like that can't be contained for long. But I understand the strategy, because at that point you are no longer playing against Detroit, you are playing against the clock.

On each of their first 3 drives, we stopped their 3rd down conversions that were all pass plays. I didn't like that we weren't getting pressure by just using our front 4. I did like that we were getting pressure and stopping their passing game on those first 3 drives. I think our pass defense will be better than a lot of people think.

Jumping out to big early leads will skew statistics. The offense gets more conservative, they run the ball a lot more to keep the clock rolling and also to protect the football. The defense will also play a lot more conservatively, concentrating moreso on not giving up the big play and not gambling on plays, rather than attacking with blitzes to generate a big defensive play.

[Nolefalcon69]

Great post. I'll add that overall, I was very pleased with the defense. The second TD we gave up at the end of the first half I lay entirely at the feet of the coaching staff. Mike Smith will learn that if the first handoff to Norwood doesn't pick up big yards, just keep on handing off and eating clock.

Agreed, my ONLY complaint was the call by Mike Mularkey before the end of first half. We run Norwood from our own 20 with 2 min on the clock and then we hurry up to the line to throw an imcomlete pass, followed by another incomplete pass, punt. Detrot gets the ball and scores a touchdown. What was he trying to do? We had a 14 point lead cut down to seven, I hope Mularkey learned something from this game.

[rugger8]

****, you're gay.

[rugger8]

Agreed, my ONLY complaint was the call by Mike Mularkey before the end of first half. We run Norwood from our own 20 with 2 min on the clock and then we hurry up to the line to throw an imcomlete pass, followed by another incomplete pass, punt. Detrot gets the ball and scores a touchdown. What was he trying to do? We had a 14 point lead cut down to seven, I hope Mularkey learned something from this game.

I agree with that complaint. Considering it's week 1, and there could have been all kinds of other problems, that's pretty darn small.

[REV.2000]

****, you're gay.

YES YOU ARE FROM THE LOW COUNTRY!

[Richard-cNILE]

My only big concern was the D line and how vanilla our defensive playcalling was, hopefully b/c we were protecting a lead. But with our D line, we are going to have to send LB's on a blitz.

One thing I'd add to the good, is that Loften can freaking lay the wood. If we add some beef to the D line next year, he could be a stud.

I agree Lofton did look good out there.

[Richard-cNILE]

Good post. Just wanted to comment on this specifically because it seems everybody has a BIG misconception about how this game went. Everybody keeps talking about Detroit trying to run too much before starting to throw the ball. That's actually quite wrong. In their first 3 drives, by which time we were up 21-0, they had 9 passing plays and 5 rushing plays. Roughly 2 to 1 pass to rush ratio on their first 3 drives.

1st drive: 3 passes, 2 rushes

2nd drive: 2 passes, 1 rush

3rd drive: 4 passes, 2 rushes

On the first few drives we were applying pressure and forcing a lot of underneath throws. This caused their drives to stall out. After we were up 21-0, our defense changed. Instead of applying pressure and attacking, we dropped more in coverage and played more zone. We stopped blitzing. This is very common in the NFL. Any time you have this large of a lead, you want to protect it by not giving up the big play. I don't like this strategy against a team with this much talent at WR because guys like that can't be contained for long. But I understand the strategy, because at that point you are no longer playing against Detroit, you are playing against the clock.

On each of their first 3 drives, we stopped their 3rd down conversions that were all pass plays. I didn't like that we weren't getting pressure by just using our front 4. I did like that we were getting pressure and stopping their passing game on those first 3 drives. I think our pass defense will be better than a lot of people think.

Jumping out to big early leads will skew statistics. The offense gets more conservative, they run the ball a lot more to keep the clock rolling and also to protect the football. The defense will also play a lot more conservatively, concentrating moreso on not giving up the big play and not gambling on plays, rather than attacking with blitzes to generate a big defensive play.

Wow. Very good point. Thanks for pointing that out. I was at the game, rewatched the first half on tivo and still didn't catch that. I guess you are correct, becasue we were up 21 zip before the first quarter expired, it pretty much made the rest of the game a new game plan for both teams.

Thanks again for the input.

[Richard-cNILE]

The Nasty:

-The Falcons' OL -

The right side was a fortress in pass protection. I do specifically remember seeing Harvey Dahl pancaking a guy in the 2nd Qtr and pancake is putting it lightly. Almost looked more like a WWE 'Batista Bomb'... Guy's a real beast!

The left side was okay in pass protection, Blalock had a couple of problems there but did pretty good overall. Sam Baker is nothing but a BEAST and T-Rex was an awesome road paver for Turner/Norwood yesterday. He also provided good protection for Ryan as well. He was the main reason, along with Blalock, that those holes opened up for the running game because Turner probably ran through this side at least a dozen times.

Ya, I agree. It was nice to see our rookies show so well in their first game.

[Richard-cNILE]

Good Post. I wish I could be at the games. I also think our D-Line needs some work. 1 week to Tampa and the real test.

Thanks for the feedback.

Ya, next week should be interesting.

[Richard-cNILE]

I was glad to see Grady competing hard. I thought bringing

him back was a mistake but he looked pretty good in this game.

Ya, he did look good. It amazes me how he can get held so much and it's never called.

[Richard-cNILE]

Great post, glad to have you back Rich.

Thanks! Good to be back.

[Richard-cNILE]

Its been a while rich......great to see you back.....

Thanks man. Looking forward to watching this team develop and writing a story or two along the way.

[Porkins]

Enjoyable as always!

If I were to nitpick I would have to add our Punt Return game to either the bad or ugly. It was awfully reminiscent of last years woeful effort. I'm not sure if it's the coverage team or the returner, but it wasn't impressive.

Despite that one area the team was more than impressive in the win!