HolyMoses Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 (Post SuperBowl edit: Please read 2/9/17 update 15 or so replies down) There's no problem with his kick coverage. He's actually outstanding. The problem is that we score so much, we are wearing the poor guy out and it hinders his pass coverage late in games! I am NOT kidding about this: I'm sure I wasn't the only one asking "WTF!?!?" after the Seahawks torched the Falcons deep on the first play after we went up 36-13. After re-watching the play, and the rest of the game from DVR, I think I understand. I was at the game, and it was pretty remarkable how Alford caught Devin Hester from behind on that Kick Off return. Dude was FLYING. The problem is, that was the SIXTH time Alford had covered a kick off. Plus the 45 or so plays on defense up to that point. And Kick off coverage is really HARD when there are actual returns. You have to sprint 50 plus yards down the field in your lane, fight off blocks, then sprint back to to the ball carrier and make a hit. Hester had been making things pretty rough for the Kick Off Team all day. I just put a stopwatch on the long return and it was a full 16 second long play of max sprinting. The incredible thing is that the following snap occurred only 30 seconds from the end of the play. So Alford was playing man coverage with a single safety deep, (which strikes me as strange given the circumstances.) it's late in the game. Alford's covered seven kick offs, tons of pass plays (because the Seahawks were behind the entire 2nd half) and he's had 30 seconds to recover from a 15 second totally anaerobic effort. No wonder he got flagged for holding and still got beat. He couldn't move his feet! This is a problem that can be solved: 1) Get Alford off the Kick off team, 2) Make SURE Bosher kicks it through the end zone, 3) Call time out if there is going to be a quick snap after a long return, or 4) SCORE LESS BTW, Neal is also on the Kick Off Team (He was also close to Hester, but on the Touchdown Pass he was playing tight coverage on the Tight End on the opposite side of the field so you can't blame him for the blown coverage.) The Falcons have given up a lot of garbage time points this season. Maybe it's because those guys are EXHAUSTED from covering so many kick offs . . . it happens when you average 38 points a game. #UnexpectedConsequences Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power I Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 (edited) Sherman and Chancellor played ST for the Seahawks. This is playoff football. Edited January 15, 2017 by Power I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg4876 Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 agreed with both, I blame bosher for not kicking it out the endzone he has been really suspect all yr, I miss that other punter we had for a game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShmevinShmarris Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 2 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said: agreed with both, I blame bosher for not kicking it out the endzone he has been really suspect all yr, I miss that other punter we had for a game To be fair most of Hesters returns were from deep AF in the endzone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolyMoses Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 17 minutes ago, Power I said: Sherman and Chancellor played ST for the Seahawks. This is playoff football. It's not a problem when your offense sucks! Seriously, At the time of that touchdown, the Falcons had kicked off SEVEN times, the Seahawks only four. Plus, we only returned one kick. The others were touch backs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg4876 Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 3 minutes ago, ShmevinShmarris said: To be fair most of Hesters returns were from deep AF in the endzone no excuse since the nfl moved the kickoff spot, an nfl Kicker should be able to punt it out the endzone 8 outta 10 times we didnt do it once Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LookAboutFalcon Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 7 minutes ago, ShmevinShmarris said: To be fair most of Hesters returns were from deep AF in the endzone Yep, Pete gave him the green light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShmevinShmarris Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 3 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said: no excuse since the nfl moved the kickoff spot, an nfl Kicker should be able to punt it out the endzone 8 outta 10 times we didnt do it once Three of the returns we tackled Hester short of the fifteen. I'm sure bosher is plenty capable of blasting it out of the endzone if he was told to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg4876 Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Just now, ShmevinShmarris said: Three of the returns we tackled Hester short of the fifteen. I'm sure bosher is plenty capable of blasting it out of the endzone if he was told to not this yr since injury and that one punt was god awful. something is not right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShmevinShmarris Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 6 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said: not this yr since injury and that one punt was god awful. something is not right. Are you high? His kick-off distance was great. He had one bad punt in how many games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdawg4876 Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 (edited) No it was not ps if you think bosher had a good game you are high Edited January 15, 2017 by jdawg4876 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolyMoses Posted January 15, 2017 Author Share Posted January 15, 2017 8 hours ago, jdawg4876 said: No it was not ps if you think bosher had a good game you are high I guess I might be high. I think the one "bad punt" was an attempt to prevent Hester from getting a return. It actually worked as I recall. I think Keith Armstrong had a horrible game. The circumstances of the illegal formation penalty were an abomination. I put that completely on Armstrong. And the coach needs to know what his players are capable of. If Avis her cant clear the end zone, they should squib or just accept that Hester is going to get his return opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalconFanForLife Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 The only thing marring that outstanding game was the truly sh*tty play of the STs on punt and kickoff coverage. We cannot play like that again and expect a win. Keith Armstrong probably did not sleep last night over that horrible display. I know it bothered me tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful Falcon Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 9 hours ago, jdawg4876 said: agreed with both, I blame bosher for not kicking it out the endzone he has been really suspect all yr, I miss that other punter we had for a game Yeah, me too. The guy that we signed for a week when Bosher was out was booming punts, and was not out kicking his coverage. He also put every kickoff out the back of the endzone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octoslash Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 8 hours ago, jdawg4876 said: not this yr since injury and that one punt was god awful. something is not right. That's my thinking. He's much better than this when healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octoslash Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 1 minute ago, Faithful Falcon said: Yeah, me too. The guy that we signed for a week when Bosher was out was booming punts, and was not out kicking his coverage. He also put every kickoff out the back of the endzone. MATT WILE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful Falcon Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Just now, octoslash said: MATT WILE! Yeah, that's him. All he did did was prove to me that he should be starting for somebody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolyMoses Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Post SuperBowl Mortem: I'm sort of apoplectic about this. @NYCFan posted SB snap counts yesterday in another thread (see below) . . . How does this happen? It breaks my heart. You have to give your guys a chance. You have to adjust. You can't just send them out to fail. Holy crap. I just looked at the Box Score (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201702050atl.htm) Here are the snaps for the Secondary: Neal: 99 Defensive; 10 Special Team: 109 Total (gotta be an SB record or something) Alford: 98 D; 10 ST, 108 T Allen: 98, 5, 103 Collins: 95, 1, 96 Poole: 90, 7, 97 Linebackers: Jones: 99, 3, 102 Beasley: 71, 1, 72 Campbell: 60, 1, 61 NEP TOP: 40:31; ATL TOP: 23:27 NEP Total Yards: 546; ATL Total Yards 344 You know your team better than I do, so I'll just say that Quinn wasn't exaggerating when NFL Films caught him on the sideline saying the D was "gassed" even before the Patriots tied the game. I'm a hack fan and I recognized this as a problem three weeks ago. Yet in the most critical game, our key linebacker, corner, and safety were on the field for 100 snaps. Would taking them off special teams have made a difference? Sure, you need proficiency on special teams, but the chances of success would have been infinitely better if we had given up a kick off return for a touchdown after our touchdown that put us up 28-3 instead of the 13 play touchdown drive that our already exhausted defense gave up. And we never stopped them again. We held the GOAT QB to 12 points through 70+ plays. (The Saints led the NFL in plays per game with 69). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtybird3 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 On 1/14/2017 at 10:58 PM, Power I said: Sherman and Chancellor played ST for the Seahawks. This is playoff football. Fully healthy squad, we shouldnt have starters playing kick coverage, I don't give a **** what Seattle does and doesnt do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghkghk Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 It probably wouldn't have made a difference but I stil can't get how you have an exhausted defense and you don't use your 3 TOs in OT since with a FG you have 11 minutes for your TD drive and there are no challenges. Every two snaps, TO. At least you give them (some) breath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisFalcon Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 If Alford makes the second pick, he is SBLI MVP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardog357 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 17 minutes ago, WisFalcon said: If Alford makes the second pick, he is SBLI MVP I must have missed that play. I was getting sick to my stomach so It's very possible. Was that in OT or RT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleFalcon01 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 1 hour ago, Wardog357 said: I must have missed that play. I was getting sick to my stomach so It's very possible. Was that in OT or RT? It was the Edelman circus catch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardog357 Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 2 hours ago, NashvilleFalcon01 said: It was the Edelman circus catch. Gotcha...Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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