Why Are All The People So Excited About The Nolan Hire Now So Worried About Losing Abe?

[falconidae]

Last year's pass rush, esp. against good teams, sucked. Abe would get swallowed up by double and triple teams and no one else stepped up.

If a 34 year old part time player is your only pass rush you're F'ed anyway.

Don't get it twisted, I loved what Abe brought to the table for so many years, and would love to have him back for a reasonable price. Think he still can be an effective pass rusher.

Also don't think he's gone just yet. Why anybody takes any public statement during contract talks at face value is beyond me. He may decide to play in Atlanta for a winning team than take more money to play for Cleveland say. [and yes, somebody may give him his last big payday, in which case I say " Thanks for so many good years, good luck unless you're playing the Falcons"]

Sure , talent on the defense was a problem last year, so was scheme. Scheme has been fixed, we'll see how the talent is. Falcons will surely add some pieces for the D, either in FA or draft.

BVG's scheme relied on pressure from the front four and he couldn't disguise a blitz if his life depended on it.

Nolan is different, he's shown he can work schemes to fit the talent he has. He'd love to get pressure with just the front four, any DC would, but he'll adapt. He also can put together blitzes that work.

Falcons were good on 1st & 2nd down last year, but 3rd and long killed them. If Nolan can get blitzes that work, blitzes from all over the field, blitzes that the other team can't see coming from when they break the huddle- then get the D off the field on half the 3rd downs that BVG's scheme missed on, this is a top ten D. With or without Abe.

[vabchbirdlover]

Just me, but the folks here have placed much of the balme on schemes, rather than assembled talent. Defense - Very good LB corps, questionable, at best(Particuliary with the possible departure of Grimes), secondary, suspect DL, where's the beef , (talent wise?) Folks have been making up excuses, I.E., coordinator, coaches, but imho, the talent is missing. Guess we'll see, we're running out of excuses.

[Guest Negatorris]

If Abe only showed up against bad teams, but had the most sacks, what does that say about the rest of the D Line?

[falconidae]

Just me, but the folks here have placed much of the balme on schemes, rather than assembled talent. Defense - Very good LB corps, questionable, at best(Particuliary with the possible departure of Grimes), secondary, suspect DL, where's the beef , (talent wise?) Folks have been making up excuses, I.E., coordinator, coaches, but imho, the talent is missing. Guess we'll see, we're running out of excuses.

Scheme is really important-Look at the difference scheme made in Houston- from a bottom rung D to a top ranked D in one season, while losing their best D player in the process.

Think it will turn out to be some of both- scheme and talent- Nolan will help alot- don't think it will take players years to learn Nolan's scheme.

[mrobinson3803]

Just me, but the folks here have placed much of the balme on schemes, rather than assembled talent. Defense - Very good LB corps, questionable, at best(Particuliary with the possible departure of Grimes), secondary, suspect DL, where's the beef , (talent wise?) Folks have been making up excuses, I.E., coordinator, coaches, but imho, the talent is missing. Guess we'll see, we're running out of excuses.

Not trying to be an a-hole but do you understand how to use a comma?

Seriously tho I worry about losing Abe because besides him who has gotten pressure for us in the last 4 years? Unless we can land Super Mario I feel like we would probably be better off with Abe than the other FA

[vabchbirdlover]

If Abe only showed up against bad teams, but had the most sacks, what does that say about the rest of the D Line?

Not much, really saying he was left on an island, without benefit of an supporting cast.

[Knight of God]

Nolan is a great DC, maybe the best. He's also not a miracle worker. He needs something to work with and we really lack in personnel. I'm not going to do cartwheels talking about how the Falcons are the best at this and that. Just like any team, if there are issues then they need work. I doubt we make any big moves, they will all be mediocre and we will probably have the same record next year.

[Atlfanstckndenver]

Not trying to be an a-hole but do you understand how to use a comma?

Seriously tho I worry about losing Abe because besides him who has gotten pressure for us in the last 4 years? Unless we can land Super Mario I feel like we would probably be better off with Abe than the other FA

More voluntary hall monitors this time on grammar!!! go get em kujo!!!

[mrobinson3803]

More voluntary hall monitors this time on grammar!!! go get em kujo!!!

I usually don't care but reading that post confused me with all the commas

[vabchbirdlover]

Not trying to be an a-hole but do you understand how to use a comma?

Seriously tho I worry about losing Abe because besides him who has gotten pressure for us in the last 4 years? Unless we can land Super Mario I feel like we would probably be better off with Abe than the other FA

Make me smart sir, where did I fail/ or use incorrectly a comma? Educate me? Possilble grammitical error(s)aside, the only point i'm trying make is the same as you, Abe need to stay.

[falconidae]

Nolan is a great DC, maybe the best. He's also not a miracle worker. He needs something to work with and we really lack in personnel. I'm not going to do cartwheels talking about how the Falcons are the best at this and that. Just like any team, if there are issues then they need work. I doubt we make any big moves, they will all be mediocre and we will probably have the same record next year.

If 10-6 gets us in the playoffs and Nolan's schemes help us win a playoff game, I'd be more than OK with that.

[vabchbirdlover]

Nolan is a great DC, maybe the best. He's also not a miracle worker. He needs something to work with and we really lack in personnel. I'm not going to do cartwheels talking about how the Falcons are the best at this and that. Just like any team, if there are issues then they need work. I doubt we make any big moves, they will all be mediocre and we will probably have the same record next year.

More optomistic than me, unless we fix the trenches, we will stuggle to see 8/8.

[Knight of God]

If 10-6 gets us in the playoffs and Nolan's schemes help us win a playoff game, I'd be more than OK with that.

That's fine and you'll always be my boy. I am really tired of the direction.

More optomistic than me, unless we fix the trenches, we will stuggle to see 8/8.

I said 6-10 on another thread. Smith fired, Nolan the head.

[X-Man21]

Scheme is really important-Look at the difference scheme made in Houston- from a bottom rung D to a top ranked D in one season, while losing their best D player in the process.

Think it will turn out to be some of both- scheme and talent- Nolan will help alot- don't think it will take players years to learn Nolan's scheme.

I said something similar to this and got blasted by the most of ya, and I stand by this regardless. We can have a no name defense with out all the hype and the whole Defense as a whole can be better than previous years.

[raysnill1]

because people think you have to have superstars to have success. all you need is a few play-makers to be effective on defense and we have that in spades. a coach like Nolan will get the most of the play-makers we do have and his scheme will put the others in a position to make plays, he's done it for years.

[vabchbirdlover]

because people think you have to have superstars to have success. all you need is a few play-makers to be effective on defense and we have that in spades. a coach like Nolan will get the most of the play-makers we do have and his scheme will put the others in a position to make plays, he's done it for years.

See, that's nothing that the Falcons can even claim defensivily, Superstars. All I see is an above avg LB corps, and nothing more defensively. We'll see how Nolan can work his magic to propel this team to relevancy on defense

[freebird310]

Scheme is really important-Look at the difference scheme made in Houston- from a bottom rung D to a top ranked D in one season, while losing their best D player in the process.

Think it will turn out to be some of both- scheme and talent- Nolan will help alot- don't think it will take players years to learn Nolan's scheme.

Indeed ..I mean hard to get alot of sacks when you are rushing 3 and dropping 8 half the fkng game .......

[delaigle]

If Abe only showed up against bad teams, but had the most sacks, what does that say about the rest of the D Line?

I've always laughed at this ---it implies that ABE is the ONLY DE in the league that gets a lot of sacks against bad teams. Which also implies that every other DE in the league goes to sleep against bad teams and gets no sacks How does it make any sense.

Yes ABE gets sacks against bad teams but so does every other DE in the league ABE is not alone.

But then again how could any good DE not get sacks in a game against a bad team.. Worry about the DEs that don't not those that do!

[falconidae]

I've always laughed at this ---it implies that ABE is the ONLY DE in the league that gets a lot of sacks against bad teams. Which also implies that every other DE in the league goes to sleep against bad teams and gets no sacks How does it make any sense.

Yes ABE gets sacks against bad teams but so does every other DE in the league ABE is not alone.

But then again how could any good DE not get sacks in a game against a bad team.. Worry about the DEs that don't not those that do!

That wasn't his point- his point, as I understand it, is that if Abe is the only one getting sacks, what does it mean about the others DLine players?

Hopefully, what it means is- one, they were all injured last year- all the Dline starters missed games last year and two- the talent that was there was misused.

Good health and better schemes should help the Dline, even without Abe, get a FA or draft pick or two and hopefully, you've got a pass rush.

[falconidae]

See, that's nothing that the Falcons can even claim defensivily, Superstars. All I see is an above avg LB corps, and nothing more defensively. We'll see how Nolan can work his magic to propel this team to relevancy on defense

He's not claiming the falcons have superstars-His point was that you don't need superstars.

[crucifixz]

I said something similar to this and got blasted by the most of ya, and I stand by this regardless. We can have a no name defense with out all the hype and the whole Defense as a whole can be better than previous years.

Actually if our defense is any good with out any stars then they will be saying ..."Tom Brady and the Patriots Vs. Mike Nolen and the Atlanta Falcons"....lol

[Trouble]

DE`s are not a dime a dozen. We know what Abe brings to the table and he knows what we have without him.

1 of our best FA signings ever. Im excited about Nolan. But I enjoy Abe as a falcon as well.

He is smart, can take off and has a explosive first step. He can catch small things that can give away snap counts. He can run at angles and adjust while flying. He doesn't give up on a lot of blown plays and have made turn overs out of them.

We haven't found a good answer to play opposite of him, and we may not find a answer to play for him. That just might hurt Nolans scheme more as he is 1 of our weapons.

[kiwifalcon]

I said something similar to this and got blasted by the most of ya, and I stand by this regardless. We can have a no name defense with out all the hype and the whole Defense as a whole can be better than previous years.

Man I got blasted on another thread for going so hard for MW because everyone thought the o-line was the biggest problem and while there are issues man I keep pointing back to the NO and Giants losses our defensive front just plainly got worn down and beat up badly.

You need at least 2 new starters on that D-line and significantly better than what we have an injection of size would really help.

[Trouble]

Man I got blasted on another thread for going so hard for MW because everyone thought the o-line was the biggest problem and while there are issues man I keep pointing back to the NO and Giants losses our defensive front just plainly got worn down and beat up badly.

You need at least 2 new starters on that D-line and significantly better than what we have an injection of size would really help.

Our D was taking it to the Giants. They tried. Go back and listen to soundFX and even the giants bench was saying "they are whipping our ***** out there". They wanted it and where going for it. Scheme, Grimes hurt etc. Who knows But the D gave it a good effort until the spirit got broke.

I get what your saying and we could be. But we could also end up with the next Anderson and Baker busts. So while we may improve, we may also get worse because of lack of talent.

[PokerSteve]

Just me, but the folks here have placed much of the balme on schemes, rather than assembled talent. Defense - Very good LB corps, questionable, at best(Particuliary with the possible departure of Grimes), secondary, suspect DL, where's the beef , (talent wise?) Folks have been making up excuses, I.E., coordinator, coaches, but imho, the talent is missing. Guess we'll see, we're running out of excuses.

Yes, the defensive schemes under BVG were very weak sauce, but it was also abundantly clear that some of the players on defense were simply not good enough to get the job done. The schemes are going to be better and we have to trust that TD and McKay will be able to replace some of the problems on the roster with better players. You're right, though, definitely going to be put-up or shut-up time around here in 2012 and 2013.