Falcons: Football Gameplan's 2012 NFL Team Preview - Falcons

[EmDiggy]

So, because the coaches & players say it means it HAS to be fact?

Players & Coaches are who they are...

A new coaching staff won't automatically make Ray Edwards a double-digit sack guy, Julio Jones avoid hamstring issues, Michael Turner discover agility, Matt Ryan overcome hesitance in the face of pressure...

I know you guys are fans, but take emotion out of it and honestly ask yourself.. How different are we from last year at key spot? CB you guys got a lot better. WR you guys are better because you retained Harry Douglas. OL, DL the jury is still out and those were key questions last season. You added new OC & DC..jury is still out..both are good coaches, but still a honest question.

As much as a Saints fan I am, I can honestly look at the Saints and say with a straight face that other than LB, the Saints defense has the SAME question marks as last year.. DL & Secondary. So, in the long run they could have the same result as last season.. A bunch of points being scored offensively, and Roman Harper & Co. doing their best Santa Claus impression in handing out gift touchdowns

[phocis850]

You have a lot of questions for a team that has been to the playoffs the last 3 out of 4 years.
Yet, you don't question the Panthers? The team that had 6 wins last year and 2 wins the year before?

You KNOW that even with no change at coaching spots, you can't justify the Falcons coming in 3rd. You simply cannot do it.

I don't believe anyone here sees the Saints with lower than 9 wins. Nor does anyone here see the Falcons with lower than 9 wins. The Panthers would be lucky to get 9 wins.

[EmDiggy]

(06-29-2012 09:43 AM)phocis850 Wrote:  You have a lot of questions for a team that has been to the playoffs the last 3 out of 4 years.
Yet, you don't question the Panthers? The team that had 6 wins last year and 2 wins the year before?

You KNOW that even with no change at coaching spots, you can't justify the Falcons coming in 3rd. You simply cannot do it.

I don't believe anyone here sees the Saints with lower than 9 wins. Nor does anyone here see the Falcons with lower than 9 wins. The Panthers would be lucky to get 9 wins.

I do have questions about the Panthers DL and Special Teams.. But when you look at the 10 losses...you see a team that played very well in spite of Horrible special teams and injuries.

I also said in video that I don't see the Falcons with a losing record, I just see the Panthers winning those close games that they lost last year (Chi, Min, NO, GB, AZ) those games are the examples

[Falcons all the way!]

(06-28-2012 09:14 AM)Beef Wrote:  So you've based your decision on prior styles of play alone and totally disregarded what everyone knows about Nolan's style and the fact that Koetter and Smith have already openly stated we will finally have a screen game and use Quizz and other RBs more and Turner less.

If you go to the Falcons site and watch the interview videos from offensive players, they ALL keep saying that the defense looks completely different, that they are constantly being fooled by amazing blitz packages they've never seen them do before and the pressure is ramped up almost 10-fold.

You mentioned depth as an issue, but it's not. It's not like after Abraham and Edwards we have nobody but junk. Biermann and Sidbury should thrive in Nolan's style. Matthews and Massaquoi are unknown commodities and can't just be prematurely labeled. And after Babs and Peters it's not like Jerry and Walker suck, they are both very good rotational players. And the new kid, Robertson is beastly strong and raw.

LB is actually a strong suit. Spoon is going to be a top 3 LB and a sure probowler this year. Dent lead the special teams in tackles as a rookie, and he's a LB. He's not even a gunner and he wracked up crazy tackle numbers. Tatupu has a ton to prove and he's in incredible shape right now. And Nicholas is a starter on 25 teams in this league at OLB because he's that solid. That's 4 LBs and we're going to be in the big nickel only playing 2 of them the majority of the time.

As for our secondary, with Robinson on the inside embracing that role, and 2 of the best cover corners in the league on the outside and one of the best cover safeties and hardest hitters in Moore, along with Nolan's pressure system forcing QBs to make hasty throws, there's no question we'll be significantly improved on defense as a whole.

Now take out Mularkey's predictable play calling, his horrible short hook and out routes on every passing down, no screen game, and Turner up the middle 35x a game, and you've improved our offense by default. Now add to that the emergence of Julio, Quizz, and receivers being thrown to in stride, and Matt working out being noticeably stronger and throwing harder.

The OL is really the only question mark. But other than LT, you can't question depth on the OL any longer. We have 3 centers and 6 guards now. We just have to figure out which ones can hold down the middle and RG best. Nobody is happy about LT, but if we're strong as hell at 21 other positions, 1 average to below average bad apple isn't a team killer. Svitek can do the job just fine if Baker can't. We already know this.

Getting our RBs involved in the short passing game with screens and dumps alone could solve all of our OL woes as it is.

Basing your decision on prior performance when you know it won't look or be the same makes your analysis inaccurate by default.

There's no question we're going to be an improved team over last year, and yet you have us missing the playoffs with Carolina leap-frogging us somehow. You media guys are so caught up on the Cam hype, as if this isn't a team sport and he can win it by himself with significantly more pockets of average talent around him compared to us.

Not one of you're better mental projections this round, Digs. You can't use the fact you don't know what will change so you have to go by last year as a basis for anything. That's lazy analysis. You have to dig deeper and make educated decisions. Saying maybe Nolan and Koetter will change things when it's an absolute certainty they already have and then ignoring the differences and just going off old data isn't how you make educated predictions on accurate basis.

Well said.

[mcsupersport]

Em,
Technical note: You start off talking about Turner being the main back, then show a run of #22 Rogers, a bit later you start talking about Jones #11 and show White on the clips, then you talk about White and show #11 on the clips. It comes across as sloppy either with editing or information, depending on the bias of the watcher, and by that I mean either it seems you don't care, or you don't know your players and what you are saying about them.

Personal note: I understand people love Brees and the Saints, but to say they will top the Falcons after the turd of an offseason they are having and the upheaval they currently are enduring is strange, since the Falcons have been very similar in production over the last two years and DON'T have the distractions of the Saints. As far as Cam goes, great athlete, but until he proves he can do it year in year out, for now he is a one hit wonder, and to vault a 6 win team over one that contended for the division last year just because he looked good his first year before tape and the league took it's toll is NOT good commentary.

I personally think the Falcons will be first or possibly second in the division depending on some football bounces and injuries. The only way I see third in the division is if EVERYONE MASSIVELY underestimates the talent level of this team.

[Templar]

(06-29-2012 09:21 AM)EmDiggy Wrote:  As much as a Saints fan I am,

This is the only statement that really needs to be read to understand that no "honest" evaluation is possible.

In fact, it makes it clear that this review was written, and shared on this site to be an annoyance to Falcons fans, an irritant, like a rash or a fungus. Perhaps a fungus similar to jock itch, which is also a close relative to most aint fans.

[phocis850]

(06-30-2012 10:42 AM)Templar Wrote:  This is the only statement that really needs to be read to understand that no "honest" evaluation is possible.

In fact, it makes it clear that this review was written, and shared on this site to be an annoyance to Falcons fans, an irritant, like a rash or a fungus. Perhaps a fungus similar to jock itch, which is also a close relative to most aint fans.

I have to disagree with this. Yes, he is a Saints fan, but he's been doing these videos for 2 years now every week for more than just the teams in the NFC South. Yes, he is biased towards his home team, but I agree with the majority of his video until the end.

[Jesus]

It is waaaaaaaaay too early to have an accurate season preview. There is so much that can happen between now and September.