birdz4i Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 By The Sports Xchange | Sept. 21, 2016 at 3:37 PM Florida safety Keanu Neal holds his jersey after being selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 17th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft on April 28. He's expected to return from an injury for Monday's game against the New Orleans Saints. File photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons are eager for the return of rookie safety Keanu Neal to bolster a defense that ranks 26th in yards allowed per game through the first two weeks of the season. Neal was selected with the 17th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He's recovering from arthroscopic right knee surgery on Aug. 25 and is set to see his first action against the New Orleans Saints (0-2) on Monday night. Neal was drafted to add a physical presence to the defense and help limit the explosive plays that have plagued the Falcons' (1-1) defense in recent years. He could breathe life in the defense that has given up eight touchdowns drives of 75 yards or more over 23 possessions to start the season. "We are optimistic but we will have to see how it goes Thursday, Friday and Saturday on the three big work days," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. Without Neal, the Falcons have only had four three-and-outs and have forced just nine punts. Of the eight long scoring drives, four of them were aided by penalties: Adrian Clayborn jumping offsides on third down; Robert Alford being called for unnecessary roughness; Alford on a pass interference; and miscommunication between Dashon Goldson and Justin Hardy that led to a 12 men on the field penalty. There have been some highlights such as Desmond Trufant's interception and the defense stopping the Oakland Raiders on a fourth-and-2. Two drives ended as time expired. There has been one made field goal and one missed field goal. It's going to be a long season if the defense continues to give up the long drives and committing penalties. In addition to getting Neal back, the Falcons are set to re-sign O'Brien Schofield, who had 28 tackles, four tackles for losses, 2.0 sacks and 13 quarterback hits last season with the Falcons. Neal may be able to help the Falcons' anemic pass rush as a blitzer, too. The Falcons had no quarterback sacks while losing to the Buccaneers in Week 1. They had one sack against Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, but Quinn said the overall pressure wasn't any better. "For us to play like we need to that part of our game has got to come through," Quinn said. The Falcons didn't sack Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston on 32 drop backs in Week 1 but were credited with six quarterback hits against the Raiders. Quinn and Falcons defenders said they affected Winston and noted his knack for delivering passes even while corralled by defenders. Vic Beasley recorded the only sack against Carr when he chased him out of bounds for no gain on a play that was designed for Carr to sprint out of the pocket. The Falcons were credited with just one quarterback hit, by defensive tackle Tyson Jackson against the Raiders. Quinn said the Falcons counted nine pressures and three hits against Carr, who passed 45 times. He said that still wasn't enough. "We are a work in progress there, for sure," Quinn said. "We've got work to do. We've got a long season ahead. We are going to get a lot better at it but we are not where I'd like to be yet in terms of the way we want to go after the quarterback." SERIES HISTORY: 94th regular-season meeting. Falcons lead series 48-45. The Saints have won four of the past five meetings in the Superdome, including last season's 31-21 victory on a Thursday night game. PLAYER SPOTLIGHT:--LB Sean Weatherspoon: Weatherspoon, who was in the starting lineup for the injured De'Vondre Campbell (ankle), made his first NFL start since the 2013 season last week. Weatherspoon, a former first-round pick, started seven games in 2013, including the one against Washington on Dec. 15, 2013. He suffered an Achilles injury and missed the 2014 season. He signed with Arizona in 2015, but was a reserve after being slowed by a hamstring pull. He re-signed with the Falcons and made the team as a reserve weak-side linebacker and special teamer. Weatherspoon finished with nine tackles against the Raiders in the 35-28 victory. GAME PLAN: The no-huddle could quiet Saints fans. After the Falcons had success running an up-tempo, no-huddle attack for the second time in two games, coach Dan Quinn said he still believes the strategy is most effective in small doses and in specific situations. The Falcons had success operating without a huddle in both halves of their 35-28 victory at the Raiders on Sunday. They also scored a touchdown using the strategy in the second half of their 31-24 defeat to the Buccaneers in Week 1. Quinn said the Falcons used the no-huddle attack on about 25 percent of their plays. He said it was the right approach to use against the Raiders to keep them off-balance and exploit what he considers to be his team's excellent conditioning. Quarterback Matt Ryan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have said that using the no-huddle makes it more difficult for the Falcons to execute their zone running game. Quinn said they were able to run the ball in the no-huddle against the Raiders because they still had Ryan under center. MATCHUPS TO WATCH: --Falcons WR Julio Jones, who had his first 100-yard game of the season last week, vs. Saints CBs Sterling Moore and P.J. Williams, who'll both see time on Jones: Jones has two touchdown catches of 21 and 25 yards. For some bizarre reason, Jones has not been used by the Falcons when they are inside the opposition's red zone. That may explain why the team is only 4 of 10 on their visits inside the opposition's 20-yard line. Williams suffered a concussion and was carted off the field last week. The Saints are optimistic that he'll be ready to play. --Falcons CB Desmond Trufant, who has one interception and two pass breakups, vs. Saints WR Brandin Cooks, who has a 98-yard touchdown reception and two touchdowns: The Falcons matched Trufant with Oakland's Amari Cooper last week and he held him to five catches for 71 yards. Most of them were wide receiver screens to the outside. The speedy Cooks is a dangerous deep threat who averages 16.2 yards per catch. He had seven catches on nine targets for 69 yards in Week 2 as the Saints used their three-receiver set on 45 of the 59 plays. http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2016/09/21/Atlanta-Falcons-vs-New-Orleans-Saints-preview-Keanu-Neal-returns/6871474483311/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtybird56 Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Seems like they're making a bit of an assumption here. Really hope Neal is back, along with Campbell and Reed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezekiel 25:17 Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 If Neal comes back this game this will Definitely be a baptism by fire type of rookie premier game, with the master of moving Safeties Brees at the helm of the Taints offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulitik Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Who ever wrote this should know that the "no-huddle" is just a fan delusion. There actually no such thing as the no-huddle, and all of those that suggest it should be flogged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethal Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Of the eight long scoring drives, four of them were aided by penalties: Adrian Clayborn jumping offsides on third down; Robert Alford being called for unnecessary roughness; Alford on a pass interference; and miscommunication between Dashon Goldson and Justin Hardy that led to a 12 men on the field penalty. Man, that irks me...at the same time if they can clean it up they are much better than their stats show. Brees and company don't need any help extending drives... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sarcomere Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Ish is playing well right now. No need to activate Neal unless he is 100 percent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackredfellow Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 4 hours ago, Ezekiel 25:17 said: If Neal comes back this game this will Definitely be a baptism by fire type of rookie premier game, with the master of moving Safeties Brees at the helm of the Taints offense. Exactly my concern. If he does play, and struggles early, hope they won't be reluctant to just take him out and let him know he just needs more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nbostp Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Also the last thing the team wants to have happen is to rush Neal back too early only to have his confidence destroyed in his first career game by Brees. I say hold off another week to make sure he is 100 percent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamFRESCO1 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Yall bunch of girls! Brees is a interception machine! Bet Neal have an amazing game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoFalconsFan56 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Keanu Neal is ab to play in his first game. This will be nothing more than a learning experience for him. I wish he was a pash rusher lol but I wish him well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezekiel 25:17 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 8 hours ago, blackredfellow said: Exactly my concern. If he does play, and struggles early, hope they won't be reluctant to just take him out and let him know he just needs more time. If he starts Monday I am sure he is going to struggle like most safeties do against this guy. What I am more concerned with is confidence. That in which he has and the coaches have in him, I hope they both are as strong Tuesday morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FentayeJones Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 13 hours ago, birdz4i said: MATCHUPS TO WATCH: --Falcons WR Julio Jones, who had his first 100-yard game of the season last week, vs. Saints CBs Sterling Moore and P.J. Williams, who'll both see time on Jones: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rounz Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Thanks for posting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandy Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) 25 minutes ago, FentayeJones said: Julio could have 200 yard Monday Night game against aints woeful cornerbacks. Edited September 22, 2016 by Vandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Dog Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 My concern with this game is the fact that this is a MUST WIN game for the Stains having lost 2 close ones. They are at home and will be putting 110% effort forward. We need smash mouth ball and stuff it up their poop shoots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarterback Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) Probably not the best game to start your NFL career, in New Orleans against Drew Brees. Brees loves his TE's and will most definitely take some shots down field so we will learn a whole lot about Mr. Neal Monday night if in fact he has substantial playing time, which I doubt his first game off an injury. I thought our secondary did a solid job last week as Carr was able to brew some coffee and scramble some eggs with the time he had to look for open receivers. That he only managed 300 yards is pretty amazing given this time to throw. Edited September 22, 2016 by Quarterback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarterback Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 10 minutes ago, big_dog said: My concern with this game is the fact that this is a MUST WIN game for the Stains having lost 2 close ones. They are at home and will be putting 110% effort forward. We need smash mouth ball and stuff it up their poop shoots. Yep, hard to be a desperate arch rival at home on a Monday night with their expected loud fans and at least 2-3 inevitable controversial calls that will go in the Saints' favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarterback Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 30 minutes ago, Vandy said: Julio could have 200 yard Monday Night game against aints woeful cornerbacks. If he can stay on the field. He was out of a lot of critical 3rd downs last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droopy1592 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 5 minutes ago, Quarterback said: Probably not the best game to start your NFL career, in New Orleans against Drew Brees. Brees loves his TE's and will most definitely take some shots down field so we will learn a whole lot about Mr. Neal Monday night if in fact he has substantial playing time, which I doubt his first game off an injury. I thought our secondary did a solid job last week as Carr was able to brew some coffee and scramble some eggs with the time he had to look for open receivers. That he only managed 300 yards is pretty amazing given this time to throw. Only 209 yards before we went to prevent/garbage-don't-dont-lose time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezekiel 25:17 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 1 hour ago, FentayeJones said: Don't know and don't care. He should have found a better team to play for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slamee101 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 10 hours ago, IamFRESCO1 said: Yall bunch of girls! Brees is a interception machine! Bet Neal have an amazing game! He is but we either take advantage or he smokes us. I feel like it's rare that we see any in between. I'd expect Neal to sit even with the extra day. Let him heal and give it at least one more week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethal Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I truly don't get the "let him heal and give it at least one more week" mentality. If he is 100% healed, he physically cannot heal anymore so keeping him out would do nothing other than push back his learning curve another week. It makes no sense to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas82487 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I want Neal to play and see what he's got. But I will say going against Brees your first NFL game is a **** of a way to kick it off for a safety. Kemal's game last week though gives us that option where we can make a choice. It's nice actually having depth on defense. We may not have that star power yet on defense but our depth is looking solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonnyjim Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Excellent post!! Well sourced. Thanks for the tidbits including: DeShon/Hardy miscommunication and DQ's rremarks on the no huddle run game with MR under center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtybird56 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Sounds like we'll very likely be without Campbell on Monday and potentially Neal as well. Could've used those two but it is what it is, offense gonna have to carry us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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