Falcons: Re-Focused: Falcons @ Saints, Week 16

[Anomaly]

Quote:Re-Focused: Falcons @ Saints, Week 16
December 28th, 2011 | Author: Neil Hornsby
While the score was flattering, the result was correct and that was really all that mattered, although I got the distinct impression, towards the end, Marino’s yardage record was almost as important. I can see why you’d do it though; the fans wanted it, beneath all the humble rhetoric so did the team and getting it out of the way now allows everyone to move onto Week 17 without anything hanging over them. A bye, of course, would be welcome but that’s unlikely with the 49ers only needing a win at the Rams to secure an extra week of rest.

For the Falcons this was always going to be difficult, having to win away at the Saints and then need more help to win the NFC South. At least they came away knowing their quarterback was in rhythm but they’ll need to up there play in many areas if they are going to avoid being one and done in two weeks time.

Atlanta – Performances of Note

Ice Nice

Drew Brees (+4.0) may have walked away with both the plaudits and the headlines, but Matt Ryan (+5.2) played a more balanced, clinical and assured game. While the Saints two interceptions could easily have been more, a few minor over and under throws were all that stood against him. He read the blitz well and usually made the right read but another drop by Roddy White (taking him to 13 on the year) and an important one by Reggie Kelly on third and one let him down.

After an unconvincing mid-season and an extremely poor game against the Lions he’s now back close to his best but even in this form he’s not the sort of player that can take over a game. He’ll need help from the defense and that unit has had a very in and out year.

Edwards ending on a low

After a rather lackluster start to the 2011 season we were prepared to cut Ray Edwards (-2.3) some slack on the basis of having to play a different role for the Falcons than that he had in Minnesota. With the Vikings the defensive end played almost exclusively on the left side but with Atlanta, to accommodate John Abraham’s penchant for rotating sides he has been forced to play 36% of snaps on the right side of the line of scrimmage. That’s may not sound like a big deal but it’s difficult for a guy whose body is used to moving in a certain way; muscle memory is ingrained and often deeply entrenched in the psyche too.

So when in Week 3 he started to look better (even if it was ostensibly as a run defender) and ramped it up from there you felt he was “getting it”. However, in the last five weeks, he’s picked up only two sacks, one hit and 3 hurries in 92 rushes; poor, if not exactly terrible but hardly what the Falcons envisioned for their marquee pick-up in free agency. Worse, in this game, he drew a complete blank as a pass rusher and that has to change if the Falcons are to have much chance of a playoff run.

Weakest Link

I’ve done this before, but I feel compelled to rip into Dunta Robinson (-1.3) again on the back of yet another sub-optimal display. I’m sure anyone who loves great football enjoyed his athletic interception of Brees (where he tipped the ball and then caught the rebound) but that aside he made mistake after mistake. It’s not that he’s without talent as the pick shows but he looks like a gambler to me without the relevant concern for risk and reward. On two occasions he bit up underneath, perhaps looking for another interception, but on each giving up huge yardage down the left sideline.

His final stats for the day; thrown at four times, three receptions allowed for 90 yards and one INT.

New Orleans – Three Performances of Note

Bragging on Strief

Khaled won’t thank me for it but I’m calling the decision in my favor right now. Early on this year I predicted that Zach Strief (+3.8) would hold up just fine as the Saints right tackle and despite much ridicule from my colleague (particularly after a dodgy start at Green Bay first up) I am now feeling justified. Another fine showing from the 2006 7th rounder has now seen him “in the green” six of his last seven games and this was as dominant as any.

He gave up a single late hurry to Kroy Biermann and a holding penalty on Lawrence Sidbury, but those plays aside he did nothing wrong. His work on Mike Peterson in the running game was solid and both Abraham and Edwards were shut out.

I apologize to Saints fans in advance as my bragging on anyone usually results in a let-down in the near future; let’s hope that happens next week and not during the playoffs.

Picking up the slack

One of the major benefits of having four first-rate receivers is that when one goes down you still have three left an if you add Jimmy Graham to that mix you wonder how anyone ever stops the Saints at all. With Lance Moore (+1.3) injured half-way through the second quarter after playing only seven snaps it was as if nothing had happened. Robert Meachem (+2.5) and Marques Colston (+1.4) delivered as they pretty much always do these days and all was rosy. In fact I’m not sure many Saints fans at the game probably even realized until they read a report later.

Meachem caught 3-of-5 targets for 75 yards and a touchdown with Colston 7-of-11 for 81 and a score too.

While the Green Bay Packers may be able to (just) compete with that level of passing offense, their current offensive line is not anywhere near as solid and their halfbacks certainly pale in comparison. The Saints look to be peaking just at the right time but issues on defense may still be their undoing.

Defensive Deficiency

While the New Orleans Offense overall is probably the pick of the NFL their defense is one of the worst. They try and mask massive problems at linebacker and lack of pass rush ability from their front four with a variety of schemes and blitzes but the bottom line is it’s all smoke and mirrors; illusions that could easily end up being their downfall in one-off games.

Their most productive pass rusher this year is Junior Galette (+0.6) and the fact it took him 32 attempts to register two hits and a hurry in this game is probably instructive as to just how poor they are.

Another indicator of their issues (and the obsession of the media with highlight plays) is that Roman Harper (-1.5) and his seven sacks are seen by many as sign of his prowess as a strong safety. What this view neglects is the necessity of bringing a safety on 123 blitzes this year, the fact he’s given up almost as many touchdowns in coverage (six) or his league leading (for safeties) nine penalties.

Game Notes

- On Monday Night Football they announced Roddy White led the league with 12 dropped passes before this game in which he missed another. We have him Behind Greg Little of Cleveland who has 14 and Brandon Marshall of Miami with 13. Maybe they give more leeway than we do.

- Atlanta continues to be second only to Chicago in terms of keeping their defense vanilla. In this game, once again, they used only two packages; base and dime although their slight nod to novelty is allowing John Abraham and Lawrence Sidbury to rush from a two point stance which they did on 11 occasions.

- Despite the amount of players they use New Orleans like to give them all a taste of action early. Of all the 18 players they used on Offense all but Korey Hall had played a snap within three offensive snaps of the game starting.

PFF Game Ball

As much as he played well, Drew Brees wasn’t at his very best and as he was keen to share the honor so will I. Zach Strief was again a major reason that Brees had time to find his targets .

http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/201...s-week-16/

[atljbo]

- Atlanta continues to be second only to Chicago in terms of keeping their defense vanilla. In this game, once again, they used only two packages; base and dime although their slight nod to novelty is allowing John Abraham and Lawrence Sidbury to rush from a two point stance which they did on 11 occasions.


That says it all

[Anomaly]

That stood out to me as well. Plus with Gruden saying how "predictable" our defense was, it just shows that we need a change of some kind.

One thing that made me laugh though was this: "Another indicator of their issues (and the obsession of the media with highlight plays) is that Roman Harper (-1.5) and his seven sacks are seen by many as sign of his prowess as a strong safety. What this view neglects is the necessity of bringing a safety on 123 blitzes this year, the fact he’s given up almost as many touchdowns in coverage (six) or his league leading (for safeties) nine penalties."

There was a certain Taint fan on here saying that Roman Harper was awesome but in actuality he's average at best.

[AsylumGuido]

(12-28-2011 07:58 PM)Va Falcon 88 Wrote:  That stood out to me as well. Plus with Gruden saying how "predictable" our defense was, it just shows that we need a change of some kind.

One thing that made me laugh though was this: "Another indicator of their issues (and the obsession of the media with highlight plays) is that Roman Harper (-1.5) and his seven sacks are seen by many as sign of his prowess as a strong safety. What this view neglects is the necessity of bringing a safety on 123 blitzes this year, the fact he’s given up almost as many touchdowns in coverage (six) or his league leading (for safeties) nine penalties."

There was a certain Taint fan on here saying that Roman Harper was awesome but in actuality he's average at best.

He is well worth what he is getting paid and is recognized as quite a bit better than average by teams across the league. But, believe what you wish.

[The Don™]

(12-28-2011 07:50 PM)atljbo Wrote:  - Atlanta continues to be second only to Chicago in terms of keeping their defense vanilla. In this game, once again, they used only two packages; base and dime although their slight nod to novelty is allowing John Abraham and Lawrence Sidbury to rush from a two point stance which they did on 11 occasions.


That says it all

You can probably say something similar about the offense too. Diversity and creativity is lacking on both sides of the ball. The NFL has changed. You must change and adapt accordingly or great teams will rip you apart.

[juraitwaluzka]

Quote:Atlanta continues to be second only to Chicago in terms of keeping their defense vanilla. In this game, once again, they used only two packages; base and dime although their slight nod to novelty is allowing John Abraham and Lawrence Sidbury to rush from a two point stance which they did on 11 occasions.

That's innovation right there, will be setting the standard for all of the NFL to copy for years to come, how could the other team even begin to prepare for 2 formations in a week's time, especially when you add to that the Abraham and Sidbury can rush from a TWO POINT STANCE!!! We are brilliants!

Sarcasm aside, it seems like only two things are possible. 1) The staff are a bunch of morons for thinking a game plan like that had a chance in hell of working 2) The staff are smarter than we think, didn't want to give anything away anticipating a second meeting and we'll see a real game plan in the next matchup.

Honestly I'm not sure which. The defensive game plan and execution in the 2nd Saints matchup last year was outstanding. The most recent game had no resemblance whatsoever.

[phocis850]

(12-28-2011 11:56 PM)juraitwaluzka Wrote:  Sarcasm aside, it seems like only two things are possible. 1) The staff are a bunch of morons for thinking a game plan like that had a chance in hell of working 2) The staff are smarter than we think, didn't want to give anything away anticipating a second meeting and we'll see a real game plan in the next matchup.

Now I'm just confused. They can't be dumb enough to play just 2 different sets the entire game. That's just not possible. We couldn't stop the offense at all. However, we did it in the first game.

I'm starting to think that the plain jane defense was planned, and if we lost it was not as big a deal as everyone claims. Our number 1 goal since GB CHI game is to win a playoff game. You don't win playoff games when you are playing your best hand in a game that doesn't really matter.

Man, this is a new dimension on this whole thing.

Our offense wasn't balanced, but we passed the hell out of the ball and gave Turner room in space for some catches. Man... maybe this was all a setup and test to see what we need to do for the final game in the playoffs.

[JDaveG]

(12-29-2011 12:19 AM)phocis850 Wrote:  Now I'm just confused. They can't be dumb enough to play just 2 different sets the entire game. That's just not possible. We couldn't stop the offense at all. However, we did it in the first game.

I'm starting to think that the plain jane defense was planned, and if we lost it was not as big a deal as everyone claims. Our number 1 goal since GB CHI game is to win a playoff game. You don't win playoff games when you are playing your best hand in a game that doesn't really matter.

Man, this is a new dimension on this whole thing.

Our offense wasn't balanced, but we passed the hell out of the ball and gave Turner room in space for some catches. Man... maybe this was all a setup and test to see what we need to do for the final game in the playoffs.

If that's what happened, the whole coaching staff needs to be fired. If they are playing to "save some for the playoffs" and don't care about winning, it's no wonder the players look like they could give half a crap about any given game.

If this is what happened, Mike Smith needs to be the first to go. That's just sorry.

[juraitwaluzka]

(12-29-2011 12:19 AM)phocis850 Wrote:  Our offense wasn't balanced, but we passed the hell out of the ball and gave Turner room in space for some catches. Man... maybe this was all a setup and test to see what we need to do for the final game in the playoffs.

We certainly found some things that don't work, better now than later though.

[AsylumGuido]

(12-29-2011 12:19 AM)phocis850 Wrote:  Now I'm just confused. They can't be dumb enough to play just 2 different sets the entire game. That's just not possible. We couldn't stop the offense at all. However, we did it in the first game.

I'm starting to think that the plain jane defense was planned, and if we lost it was not as big a deal as everyone claims. Our number 1 goal since GB CHI game is to win a playoff game. You don't win playoff games when you are playing your best hand in a game that doesn't really matter.

Man, this is a new dimension on this whole thing.

Our offense wasn't balanced, but we passed the hell out of the ball and gave Turner room in space for some catches. Man... maybe this was all a setup and test to see what we need to do for the final game in the playoffs.

It is called making adjustments. Sean Payton and his staff are amongst the best in the league at making adjustments from half to half and game to game. Has Smith and his staff shown the same ability? I have heard from several respected members over my time here that this may be a weakness of the Falcons staff. The lack of creativity. I think this is much more likely than giving the game and a shot at the division title away by playing "plain jane".

It also appears to be a problem if your team's number one goal is to simply win a playoff game. If you aim low you are likely to hit low.