NFL Week 15-Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks Review

This game is what most of us expected, a grind it out type of game. The Falcons were almost dead even on offensive plays mixing between 35 passing plays to 37 rushing. The Falcons were held to under 100 yards rushing as a team for the sixth time this season (Steelers, 49ers-98, Eagles, Ravens, Buccaneers). One popular belief of the national media is that if you stop the Falcons rush you shut us down, clearly not the case. That being said, when Atlanta rushes for 100 yards, and more importantly when Michael Turner eclipses the century mark the Falcons become a dangerous team, going 17-2 when it happens. Even without ever getting the going they won their third game road game and a league leading eighth overall.  

The defense looked shaky at best on the first drive of the game getting eaten up for yardage as the Seahawks offense went to work mixing between swing passes and runs up the gut. Van Gorder seemingly rallied his troops and took away the swing passes and receiver screens for the rest of the game. In the 3^rd quarter, when the defense has been susceptible to mistakes, they stepped up and forced 3 turnovers.

While we’re talking about the Atlanta defense that is constantly getting drug through the mud, I ask the question, who in the NFC is better on D? This same defense held the Seahawks to their third lowest yardage total on the season only allowing 235 yards. Two teams that some say are better than ATL on D are New Orleans, gave up 424 to Seattle, and the Chicago Bears who surrendered 353 yards both of these teams played their games against the Seahawks at home. I’m not saying that Atlanta has the best defense, but it is far from the liability it’s being called around the nation. They have only allowed over 25 points twice this season and it was to Cincinnati, who lit it up through the air after exhaling a little too early after heading to half up 24-3.Chicago has also only given up 25-plus points twice, elsewhere NFC teams New Orleans has done so five times, the Eagles seven times, Giants six times. The Packers have a great defense but right now they’re on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

Matt Ryan didn’t have a killer game, but he led the team in the most hostile environment in the league and communicated like a 10 year vet. His interception to lil’ Babs was about as bad as they come since he never saw him coming, but didn’t have many other poor throws. The Falcons’ signal caller now has 32 career wins as a starter in his first three seasons, the second-most wins of any quarterback to begin their career since the merger, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. His primary target, Roddy White had seven receptions to give him 106 for the season. White is the third Falcons player with 100 or more receptions in a season and is five shy of tying the single-season record set by Terrance Mathis in 1994.

With under 2 minutes to play in the first half Atlanta marched down the field and added seven points to the scoreboard and in true Falcons’ fashion did so using 13 total plays.

The special teams unit continued to play consistent football in all areas. One of the biggest plays of the game was Michael Koenenan’s 56-yard punt that pinned Seattle at their own 4-yard line and led to the Anderson strip of Hasselbeck that was recovered for a TD by big Babs. 

Week 15-Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks

Atlanta Falcons – Seattle Seahawks

The Falcons (11-2) could have a spot in the postseason locked up before they kickoff in Seattle at 4:15pm this Sunday, if the Giants lose to Philadelphia (1pm, FOX). Regardless of what happens around the rest of the league Atlanta can return to the playoffs by taking care of business against the Seahawks. Loses or ties by the Bears or the Packers will also punch the Birds’ ticket to extra football.

This game will be much tougher than the home team’s 6-7 record indicates. The Seahawks are still somehow fighting for a playoff spot thanks to the ineptitude of the NFC West and are coming off an embarrassing loss 40-21 in San Francisco so I expect them to come out focused and rather pissed off. The Flacons will also have to battle the “12^th Man” and avoid additional penalties after playing two straight divisional road games in non-sold-out venues. Qwest Field, known as being the loudest stadium in the league, does however have Fieldturf which will be a step up from the rather suspect fields at Raymond James and Bank of America stadiums.

The Seahawks have been up and down this year under first year coach Pete Carroll. Their team high came in week six when they traveled to Chicago and beat the Bears 23-20. Their other five wins have been much less impressive beating division rival Arizona twice and Carolina, San Diego, and the 49ers all at home. In their seven losses they have been outscores an embarrassing 241-91, and average of 34-14 be closest loss came in New Orleans by 15.

Long road trips are never easy as the saints proved earlier in the year with a loss in Arizona. The Falcons have shown focus on the road, in their last cross country road trips they traveled to San Francisco and handed the 2009 49ers a 45-10 defeat.

The forecast for this contest looks almost identical to last Sunday’s game in Charlotte, low 40s with a chance of rain. I look for a similar game plan on offense this week as we saw against the Panthers, the hopeful return of Jason Snelling should help Turner out with the carrying the rock, which he did 28 times in the game.

I expect Matty Ice to air it out early and often against the pass defense ranked 30^th allowing 266 yards passing per game. Last week this same pass defense made the otherwise incompetent Alex Smith look like an MVP candidate finishing the game with three touchdowns and a QB rating of 130.9 destroying his previous high of 92.8. Ryan should come out and distribute to everyone on the offense setting up Turner to gash the defense for a few long runs.

On the subject of quarterbacks Matt Hasselbeck is still lacing them up now in his 12^th year in the league. Hasselbeck has thrown EIGHT interceptions in his last 3 games giving him a total of 15 on the season. Conversely the other QB out of Boston College has thrown just 8 picks all year.

As prone as the Seahawks are to turning the ball over, the Falcons are just as good in creating turnovers. accumulating The defense should add to their total of 17 interceptions and at least  one in eleven games in 2010.

The Seahawks aren’t exactly blazing a path in the running game either. Their leading rusher is Justin Forsett who has 474 yards and only 2 touchdowns, though the numbers are a little low because they seem to enforce a run by committee style with Marshawn Lynch who has a whopping 5 scores with his new team.

The Falcons must stay focused on this road trip, needing to win two of the final three games to secure home field advantage through the playoffs. Otherwise they could be heading back out to Seattle in the first round of the playoffs, because someone has to win the NFC West.

Prediction: Falcons 29-13

Target Destroyed - Atlanta Falcons-Carolina Panther Review

Atlanta Falcons-Carolina Panther review

The Atlanta Falcons picked up yardage on the ground, through the air, created turnovers, and played an all around solid 60-minutes on their way to a 31-10 victory in the cold and rain. There aren’t many better ways to start a game than to force a fumble on the first play from scrimmage and cash it in for seven points three plays later. And I would be lying if my heart didn’t appreciate the week off from a stress inducing three hours climaxing in the final minute. There are some great things to take from the game and not much to complain about especially when the Falcons returned to Atlanta safely and with a league-best 11-2 record. The Falcons absolutely dominated the box score in the first half leading in total yardage; 202-33, first downs; 13-2, and time of possession 19 minutes to10.

During the game a couple of Falcons reached some milestones including John Abraham who recorded his career 100^th sack good for 26^th all-time it was also his 9^th in his last eight games. Atlanta became the first team in NFC to have a 3,000-yd passer, 1,000-yd receiver & 1,000-yd rusher this year, Houston is the only other team to have reached these numbers in 2010.

The second half run defense scared me a little bit and the lack of killer instinct on with the offensive and defensive play calling when the Falcons come out of halftime. Jonathan Stewart is an incredibly solid and explosive running back and with Goodson cleaning up, it’s not like we were run all over by Michael Robinson, Marshawn Lynch, and Justin Forsett (note is that happens this week, we have a problem). Before today, the rush defense has done a solid job this year only allowing 98.5 yards on average, good enough to be ranked 8^th in the league. Van Gorder’s group hasn’t exactly been going up against a “B” list squad of running backs either, they’ve faced Mendenhall (120 yards, only 70 before the long overtime 50 yard run), Hightower (115, 80 of which was on a busted coverage), Frank Gore (77), Peyton Hillis to (28), Cedric Benson (70), Steven Jackson (54) and Ray Rice to (59). They’ve allowed a few big runs this season to poor angles and did so today, but they’re playing the run solidly.

The defense, as predicted, got pressure early and often on Clausen and finished with 5 sacks and not just hurries like in weeks past, although Rogers, Freeman, and Bradford are more mobile than Ole Jimmy boy. Most of Clausen’s 107 passing yards came while the defense was in the prevent late in the game, almost exclusively to the rookie wideout LaFell.  

Harry Douglas looks to be closing in on or has finally arrived at 100% health, and said as much after the game. We so often see players returning from knee injuries in record time (Welker) that when a year passes and they’re not back to or better than before we tend to forget about the injury and assume there is something wrong with them. With a receiver of that skill set is built around blazing speed, it’s not a surprise that it has taken him a little longer to progress. Another thing to consider is that once an athlete is 100 percent back to ‘normal’ they have to regain confidence in their ability and their healed body. If HD is back to that level, it could add an extra kick to this offense that teams have to gameplan around.

Ryan did a great job of spreading the ball around and did so early hitting 8 different receivers while he targeted nine. All in all Ryan completed 20 of 34 (58.8%) for 227 yards. When you take away the unselfish interception thrown right before halftime while trying to put up additional points Ryan had a QB rating of 91.35 (up from 76.5 including the INT and the extra incompletion) which is good for Matty Ice on the road in the cold.

Michael Turner knew the game plan ran through him and he not only accepted it, but seemed to love it. Gartrell is serviceable in pass protection, but he's not even close to the same league as Snelling in the running or pass catching ability. If we can get away with it (assuming he's healthy enough) I'd love to practice him 2-3 days this week but keep him on the sideline in Coffeetown. Ovie provided the biggest shockedr of the day by dropping a pass, but made up for it and has shown how important he is since Snellings sidelining. Turner churned out 112 with a 4 yard average and 3 Six-pointers. For as bad of a rap left tackle Sam Baker received earlier in the year, this statistic is interesting to say the least; “Michael Turner rushed in the direction of starting left tackle Sam Baker six times Sunday and scored on three of those. Entering Week 14, Mike Tolbert led the league with four touchdowns when rushing towards the left tackle”(ESPN, Stats & Information).

There's not too much to say about this game, it's what we thought would happen. It was great to see the way Falcons fans showed up and traveled to Charlotte as there seemed to be more Red and black than teal.

The Falcons did a good job of limiting the stupid penalties, handling another divisional road game, and got out of Charlotte without any new injuries. The Falcons only had one penalty all day, an illegal block for 10 yards on a Panther punt, on 4^th and 11 that didn’t hurt the Falcons. One the ensuing drive the Falcons started at their own 15 and proceeded to drive 64 yards meticulously melting 8:48 off the clock on eighteen play, but only got a 39-yard field goal by Matt Bryant. The drive was huge in eating clock, but against better teams the offense needs to finish these drives with a throat stomping score that a touchdown would have been.   

Coming up a long road trip to Seattle for another important conference game against a Seahawk team that lost today 40-21 in San Francisco. 

Week 14-Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers

The I-85 Rivalry 


The Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers have battled it out since the cats were enfranchised into the NFL in 1995, both competing in the old NFC West. The rivalry has had its share of blow outs, close games, and big plays. The first meeting led to an overtime win by the Falcons 30-23 in Atlanta. Although many Falcons consider the New Orleans Saints to be their primary rival, Atlanta has come to be the biggest rival for the Panthers. I have read articles stating that Carolina’s biggest rivalry is with the Pewter Pirates, but I just don’t believe that, they didn’t start playing regularly until the 2002 realignment. One of the biggest reasons why the rivalry hasn’t grown even more is the fact that one team is usually significantly better than the other. If one team is leading the division the other seemingly is always bringing up the rear. The series has also seen its share of streaks, from 1998 to 2002, Atlanta punished Carolina winning 9 out of 10 matchups, including a streak of 6 Falcon victories from 2000 through 2002. The Dirty Birds lead the overall series record 18-12.

Some of the biggest plays have happened when these two teams square off. One of these big plays was what I consider THE superman play by Michael Vick, a play that made your jaw drop because some how his knee never hit the ground on the dive towards the endzone for the score to send it into overtime. If you want to see the play it’s #2 on the following highlight: 

One of the biggest plays in recent years came two years ago in the Georgia Dome when Harry Douglas returned a punt for a 60-yard TD to blow the game wide open. One of the biggest player rivalries if you will grew between Julius Peppers and Michael Vick, which reappeared in Chicago three weeks ago.

This year’s first installment is a perfect of the one team up the other down philosophy to the series. Sunday’s matchup pits an 10-2 Falcons team on top of the NFC heading to Charlotte to face the 1-11 Panthers, who have faced their share of injuries this season. It’s possible that the largest margin of victory in the series could be challenged after being set in 2002 with a 41-0 victory for ATL. One reason for a possible blow out is the rushing defense currently ranked 27^th in the league. If the Falcons can commit pound the ball, wearing down the defense and sucking the safeties for added support, the deep ball should open up nicely. The Panthers’ offense has looked anemic at best throughout the season. I look for Matt Ryan to put together a solid game on the road gaining confidence heading to Seattle in a week, while Turner adds 150-plus yards on the ground. The defense should look to pressure rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen all day and dare him to beat them through the air. Clausen ranks last in completion percentage (50.5), passing yards (1,056), TDs (1), and rating (55.3) among quarterbacks with at least 200 passing attempts.

Coach Smtih and the rest of the team are saying all the right things about staying focused, not looking ahead, and taking this road swing and season one step at a time. Even with the Panthers sitting at the bottom of the heap, the Falcons cannot overlook them.

Believe the team when they say they’re focused…Falcons win this divisional road game 32-13(Robert), 34-17(Dekalb).  

NFL Week 12-Atlanta Falcons vs. Green Bay Packers

It’s week 12 in the NFL which matches arguably the best two teams in NFC, the Atlanta Falcons (8-2) and the Green Bay Packers(7-3). This is a huge game for the Falcons as a win would keep at least a one game lead on division foes, New Orleans Saints (7-3) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers(7-3), and would give the Birds the tie-breaker if it comes down to ATL and the Pack for home field advantage and first round bye. It’s been well documented how strong the Falcons have been at home with Mike Smith and Matt Ryan, as the duo is 18-1(.947) in the Dome and if you’ll remember that one loss was in 2008 against the Denver Broncos in a game the Falcons had no business losing (Falcons gave up the game winning score with five minutes to play and on 3^rd and 18 from around the 50 with little over a minute to go the now sure handed Roddy White dropped a wide open TD pass in the endzone). The Dome should be rocking, especially after head coach Mike Smith has implored the fans to come out early and be loud as well as the great pregame concession deals they’ve created this year.

It was just six weeks before their only home loss that the Falcons proved to me that they were on the way back. On October 5^th, 2008 the new look birds traveled to Lambeau and came home with a 27-24 victory. The last meeting between these two teams helped Atlanta take a huge step forward in their 2008 playoffs run and their overall rejuvenation as a franchise. I remember keeping up with the game on my phone (I was working) and checking the score in the first quarter with the Falcons up 10 and lighting up with disbelief and telling another Falcons fan in amazement that we were leading the mighty Packers in Green Bay with that rookie quarterback, Matt Ryan. I got to my car after work just in time to hear Wes Durham count down the seconds to a huge win, a win that would propel the Falcons to an 11-5 record and a playoff birth.

Green Bay has always been somewhat of a measuring stick for Atlanta when they have met. In the 2003 playoffs the Falcons rolled into Wisconsin as the sixth seed to take on the Pack who were 13-0 all-time in home playoff games, including 11-0 at the house that Lombardi built. If that wasn’t enough the Packers (12-4) were the three seed and just one week before lost home field and a first round bye with a loss to the Jets. The Falcons not only ended the home playoff winning streak, but in convincing fashion, 27-7.

Now fast forward to 2010 where the two teams meet again, in what could be an even bigger for the Falcons as they take a step towards their next overall goal, a date in Dallas. Also, a win would guarantee a third straight winning season.

The Packers have been battling injuries all season long but are currently been playing some of the best football in the NFL. Most recently the Packers, like the Falcons, have won four straight games beating the Vikings at home 28-24, the Jets 9-0 at the New Meadowlands, before putting the last straw in both Cowboys’ coach Wade Phillip’s (45-7) and Vikings coach Brad Childress’ (31-3) firing hats. Obviously the Cheeseheads’ passing game with Aaron Rogers and Greg Jennings will be the focal point for Brian Van Gorder and the Atlanta defense. The home team could gain a big jolt if John Abraham can go this week (he missed the St. Louis game with a groin injury). Having the Predator and rookie linebacker Sean Weatherspoon on the field together for the first time since Cleveland would be a major upgrade to an already stout D. On the offensive side of the ball there has been a lot of talk about the explosiveness of the Packers, but the Falcons rank higher in 4 out of five key offensive categories including points, total offense, rushing yards/game, and TOS, while only five yards behind them in passing yards/game.

The overall record between these two opponents is 12-13 with the Packers holding a one game lead in the series.  Here’s hoping the Falcons tie up the series and take that next step in the Dimitroff/Smith Playbook.

What are your predictions for the Falcons-Packers game?