scouting the falcons

[JewDago]

i watched the falcons and the niners today, and here's what i saw:

the falcons didn't run the ball well at all, and matt ryan was extremely inconsistent. michael turner had a few good runs, but the niner D had him pretty well bottled up most of the day, a lot of which was because of patrick willis, the consummate beast. for anyone who questioned just how good he is, he made four solo tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage, and he sifted through traffic and avoided blockers to make them.

it'll be interesting to see whom the coaching staff chooses to match up against roddy white. he runs fantastic routes, but a strong corner, brown or haden, should be able to press him at the line and take him off his game, and eric wright's speed matches up well against harry douglas, which really only leaves the question of whom to put on tony gonzalez, which i think has to be sheldon brown, because he's got the size/strength combo to match up with gonzalez. the only problem in all of that is that it leaves a rookie isolated on the falcons' best receiver, which could be a recipe for massive disaster, but there simply isn't a LB on the roster who can stay with gonzalez.

the falcons' D got good pressure on smith, which was part of what threw off his game this week and seems to be a recurring theme. smith's protection is very inconsistent, and when guys get in on him, they do it quickly, though he did throw a completely inexcusable INT on a jump pass off his back foot late over the middle to frank gore that sailed high, went off gore's hand, and into a LB's hands. it was a pass he never should have thrown and one that pressure definitely didn't cause. though the falcons only got a single sack and three QB hits, they did a lot that doesn't show up. their pressure caused hurried, inaccurate throws, but i don't think they'll be able to throw anything at our O-line that they can't handle as long as we keep a back in to handle any right-side overload blitzes. their 4-3 isn't a huge concern like the ravens' or steelers' 3-4s are, nor does it present the potential for confusion that other defenses do. it's a pretty straightforward D.

when the browns are on offense, they're going to have to run the ball effectively, not for two yards per carry. that's what did the niners in today; frank gore couldn't get anything going, which put the game in alex smith's tiny hands. likewise, peyton hillis is going to have to get the browns into second and six on a consistent basis, which will then make play action a viable weapon and keep the offense out of third-and-long situations.

the receivers need to step up their respective games, but that kind of goes without saying. crabtree was able to get open and get catches, as was vernon davis. the falcons' D is vulnerable if the QB is willing to throw downfield. whoever our QB is just needs to believe in the guys he's throwing to enough to take chances.

our D should be able to get to ryan fairly well. the falcons' O-line surrendered three sacks to the niners, two to parys haralson and one to travis laboy, and matt roth and marcus benard are easily the equivalent of those two guys if not better than they are. if we're able to add shaun rogers into that mix along with the occasional creative blitz, harassing ryan into mistakes is a distinct possibility.

however, it's all going to start with shutting down the falcons' running game. michael turner is always a threat, and if the browns don't stop by shutting him down and forcing ryan into second and third and longs, the defense will wear down and become vulnerable to play action, and the falcons will be able to do whatever they want.

[Pedros Gaff]

I like your plan

[Jax Dawg]

Originally Posted by JewDago

our D should be able to get to ryan fairly well. the falcons' O-line surrendered three sacks to the niners, two to parys haralson and one to travis laboy, and matt roth and marcus benard are easily the equivalent of those two guys if not better than they are. if we're able to add shaun rogers into that mix along with the occasional creative blitz, harassing ryan into mistakes is a distinct possibility.

Good breakdown of the Falcons! As you pointed out we may have match-up problems covering their WRs/TE so getting pressure on Ryan may be the key to the game.

Jake Delhomme is most likely starting next week, would like to see the Browns run some play-action pass with everyone now focusing on stopping Hillis. Hitting Momass deep across the middle on PA early will open up the possibilities for the offense as the Falcon D will have to worry about more than just stopping Hillis.

[BernietheKid]

Falcons Wary of Cleveland
Mike Smith, Roddy White		By The Sports Xchange Posted Oct 4, 2010 | More Atlanta has had trouble running against 3-4 fronts, and have been geting some good fortune. Are they heading towards a trap in Cleveland?
The Falcons are living well. Against the Saints it was a missed field goal. Against the 49ers, it was a strip and fumble recovery after an apparent game-clinching interception. Now they are off to Cleveland to face the Browns, who are coming off their first victory of the season. "We all know that you have to play for 60 minutes," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "I think that it's always great to win that battle of wills. That's what that was. It was a battle of our will against their will." Smith is troubled the continued lapses of the special teams, which allowed a blocked punt, and the offense's inconsistency running the ball against 3-4 fronts. They'll face another 3-4 front in Cleveland. "We've got a lot of things that we have to correct, but I really like the fight and the resolve of our team," Smith said. The Falcons know they are fortunate to have a 3-1 record after the first quarter of the season. "We have lots of things that we have to correct," Smith said. "We will look at the film and move on to Cleveland, very, very quickly." The Falcons are counting on safety William Moore to continue to help anchor the defense. Moore retained the starting strong safety position even though Erik Coleman was active for the game. Moore turned in a couple of key plays. He had an interception in the third quarter to stop a promising San Francisco drive. "It was just a great call and scheme that we had," Moore said. "Overall, we were just baiting the quarterback." In the fourth quarter, he came on a delayed blitz and got a sack and forced quarterback Alex Smith into an intentional grounding penalty. "I just getting an opportunity to play a little faster and I'm trying to show them what I can do," Moore said. Moore finished with four tackles. But when the Falcons got the ball back after 49ers cornerback Nate Clements' fumble. Smith was already thinking about his next move. "It was very important for us to try to figure out how we were going to manage the clock based on the plays in-bounds," Smith said. "Whether if we were going to come up to the line and kill it. Or use time outs. That was my thoughts. Just trying to play gymnastics and the numbers in that situation. I know that we had three timeouts when we got the ball back. It gave us a lot of flexibility in what we could call." NOTES, QUOTES TRENDING: The Falcons had another breakdown on special teams against the San Francisco 49ers. Last week, they allowed a 72-yard punt return by New Orleans' Lance Moore that led to the Saints' first touchdown. Trailing 7-0, the 49ers blocked a Michael Koenen punt and recovered it for a touchdown to make it 14-0. The special teams units were the unsung heroes of the team's 11-5 campaign and wildcard berth in 2008. BY THE NUMBERS: With a 9-yard catch in the second quarter Tony Gonzalez became the first tight end in league history to surpass the 12,000 yards receiving mark. He's the 17th player overall to reach that plateau. Gonzalez had seven catches for 41 yards, giving him 12,012 on his career. "At this point, I'll take whatever (records) I can get," Gonzalez said. "But the victory is more important. The milestones and all that stuff is just icing on the cake." STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL PLAYER NOTES --DT Corey Peters left the game with a back injury. He was replaced by Vance Walker before returning to the game. --WR Harry Douglas caught the second touchdown reception of his career and first of the season in the second quarter. --QB Matt Ryan completed 26 of 43 passes for 273 yards and one touchdown. He improved his record to 15-1 at the Georgia Dome. --LB Curtis Lofton recorded his second sack of the season when he tackled Alex Smith is the second quarter. Lofton also had his first career interception. --WR Roddy White finished with seven catches for 104 yards against the 49ers. He has 32 catches and is on pace to catch 128 passes this season. Scout.com: Falcons Wary of Cleveland

[Enigmatic Evil]

The thing I'm most torn about is starting Michael Turner on my fantasy team next week... We've been pretty solid at stopping the run so far this year. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I think we've only allowed one 100 yard rusher against us so far this season. That's pretty good as far as I'm concerned considering how we have been traditionally miserable at stopping the rung.

As always, we will have to be careful and contain their passing attack. Atlanta's offense has a lot of potential for a big score, we will need to bring our A-game defensively to have a shot at this. I think Atlanta's D is weaker than the last couple team's we've faced (Baltimore and Cinci) so we may catch a break there and score some points on our end too.

[JewDago]

our shredded D-line is going to make running the ball all too easy for the falcons. robaire, rogers, and kenyon coleman are all hurt, which will at least limit their effectiveness. if you've got michael turner, play him this week. even if he doesn't break any long runs, which he probably will because elam's to slow to get to him and wright doesn't tackle.

[Shep]

Corey Peters? The guy we would've taken instead of McCoy? Wondered where he went.

[BernietheKid]

Originally Posted by Shep

Corey Peters? The guy we would've taken instead of McCoy? Wondered where he went.

Well considering he went two spots ahead of McCoy and we didn't have a pick until #85 it seems like we couldn't have drafted him. The pick we had at #71 we traded to the Eagles for Hardesty.

National Football League: NFL Draft Tracker 2010

[Enigmatic Evil]

The thing I'm most worried about is Tony Gonzales. I don't think we have anyone on our D currently who can cover him efficiently. I don't know if he will be the game breaker or not but two consecutive weeks in a row we've been burned in the passing game so I have good reason for my apprehension.

Our Run D has been solid and they've been struggling against 3-4 D's. I don't want to say it adds up but it certainly gives us a pre-game advantage at the very least. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to run it down our throats and try to get Turner to be a game changer early, and then use their dangerous pass attack from there.

This is a game we can win, and I would love for us to go 2-3 headed into Pittsburgh.

[BernietheKid]

Don's Game Preview
WR Roddy White		By Don Delco OBR Reporter Posted Oct 8, 2010 | More Roddy White prepares to give the Browns another challenge in the aftermath of their first victory. Don Delco takes a look at what the Browns need to do to make it two in a row.
Did the Browns learn how to win? Entering last Sunday’s game against Cincinnati, the general consensus was of a Browns team that needed to learn how to win. It made sense considering the Browns led in the fourth quarter of their first three games before being unable to close out and end up on the losing side of the ledger. Last Sunday, the Browns hung on for victory over the Bengals 23-20. “These guys are resilient and we’re going to get into a ton of tough games throughout the course of the year,” coach Eric Mangini said after last Sunday’s win. “Understanding what we have to do to win those games and finish the games is so important. I thought we got a lot closer to that or we have been getting close to that and we finally did here (last Sunday).” Mangini reiterated those comments during a conference call with the Atlanta media on Wednesday. “You go through steps with every team,” Mangini said. ”One of them is being competitive and the other one is learning how to win. That’s an important step.” Just how big of a step the Browns made will be determined Sunday at home against the Atlanta Falcons. Some think the Browns were lucky to hang on to win last Sunday. Luck has been hand-in-hand with Atlanta the last two weeks. After losing their opener to Pittsburgh 15-9, the Falcons have won three consecutive games over Arizona (41-7 on Sept. 19), New Orleans (27-24 in overtime on Sept. 26) and San Francisco (16-14 on Oct. 3). Atlanta has been fortunate to win its last two. Two weeks ago, Saints kicker Garrett Hartley missed a 29-yard field goal in overtime before the Falcons won with a 46-yarder from Matt Bryant. Last week, 49ers defensive back Nate Clements appeared to have sealed the win with an interception before fumbling during his return. That led to another Bryant game-winner, this time from 42 yards with two seconds left in regulation. Suddenly, this looks to be another winnable game for Cleveland. As well as the Browns have run the ball and defended the run they are still 1-3. Sunday’s game will come down to which team can get more production from its wide receiving corps. Roddy White is the Falcons No. 1 wide receiver. The Browns have had issues covering those wide receivers in their last two games … if you haven’t heard. In the last two weeks, Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin and Cincinnati’s Terrell Owens combined for 18 catches for 364 yards and four touchdowns. It doesn’t get easier this week. White is sixth in the NFL with 362 yards receiving. “(White) does a nice job at the line of scrimmage of getting the defensive back to move, which creates some opportunities on deep balls like fades,” Mangini said. “There have been some balls, that really were going to be contested balls down the field, that he goes up and gets.” The Browns were able to disrupt the Bengals passing game with pressure on Carson Palmer with a season-high four sacks. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan cannot be allowed to sit in the pocket with all day to throw. Baltimore’s Joe Flacco had all day and he and Boldin picked apart the Browns defense. The Browns wide receivers, a preseason question mark, continue to be an underachieving position group. Entering Sunday’s game, the Browns players with most receptions are tight end Ben Watson and running back Peyton Hillis. It may change this week with the return of Jake Delhomme at quarterback. Unlike Seneca Wallace, Delhomme is believed to involve his wide receivers more often. In the season opener against Tampa Bay, Delhomme connected with Brian Robiskie, Josh Cribbs, Mohamed Massaquoi and Chansi Stuckey nine times for 93 yards and a touchdown. In the three games since, the aforementioned four have a combined 19 catches for 249 yards and one touchdown. In all, Browns wide receivers have 342 yards and two touchdowns on 28 catches, which are comparable numbers to Roddy White. Not good. The Browns have options at tight end with Watson and Evan Moore, but the wide receivers need to play a bigger role in today’s NFL, which is designed to give them the advantage. Delhomme, not Wallace, appears to be the better option to get them involved. Even more so after seeing the success Delhomme has had against Atlanta. In 12 games, Delhomme is 6-6 with a 90.1 passer rating and completed 220 of 358 passes for 2,683 yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Scout.com: Don's Game Preview

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

I was going to say ...Roddy White is obviously the guy to worry about. He's one of the top WRs in the league ...let's hope E. Wright is not covering him. I think it's time to let Mr. Haden lock down a very good receiver.

[Sez.EJ]

I think Ryan, Tuner, White, and Gonzalez prove to be too much for us tomorrow. I am starting turner in my fantasy league.. I want to start Hillis..but he's hurt..so I have to go with the uninjured player. Our injuries on the DL are a big factor in my concern for Turner running all over us. We will need a couple of big breaks to beat this team.