My takeaways

[since68andcounting]

I watched this game at the dome and I have re-watched it at home. Usually I get a very different perspective. Not this time. My takeaway:

1) These were two, tough physical teams. The Vikes tried to intimidate us physically early.

2) We answered their physicality, but horrendous calls on VERY GOOD blocks negated some solid early runs, costing us points.

3) Dropped passes that were slightly off target (***AS F'ING USUAL***) cost us early points. If that slant on the 1st play had been complete Julio would STILL BE RUNNING. This is the #1 correctable problem of the 2017 Falcons.

4) We were in this game to the end. We ran the ball effectively almost the entire game. Devonte hasn't lost a step. We stayed physical. We leaned on them on both sides of the ball. Ultimately they made SLIGHTLY more plays than we did.

5) Matt was off-target early, hit stride mid-game, and unfortunately, got out of rhythm late. He's gotta play better when it matters for us to take it all the way. He's gotta hit a roll like Flaco in 2012, or Rogers in 2010, or himself last year. 

6) But in tandem with Matt's consistency, our repeatedly proclaimed "best receiver in the league" MUST consistently catch passes that hit him in both hands. Even if they are a little high and hard.

7) It was a loss, but overall I'm not terribly disappointed in our performance. Especially on defense. Even on offense it was 3-4 bad plays or bad officiating calls that was the difference between 9 and 21 points. We just came out on the short end, mostly in the red zone. 

8) That being said, this is December in a tight playoff race. And teams that lose games like we did yesterday typically sit at home in January.

[Macknsweetjones]

Agreed with everything you said