TDW's 1Q2010 Falcons Observations...

[TheDirtyWord]

4 down - 12 to go. Does football season just race on by or does it race on by?! Anyway, I don't think we cdould be any more pleased with the first 4 games (well we could, but that's asking a lot). That said, here what I've seen and determined through 4 weeks in addition to what I think we still need to do to reach our goal of SB or bust.

1. Prior to Sunday, I would not have said this. But now I will. Roddy is a Top 5 WR in the NFL. This isn't a designation given due to his unbelievable hustle that saved the SF game, although such character and nver say die attitude is probably a huge reason for his professional success. But in crunch time, even though he had been largely ignored all game, he made every. single. play. All of them had some degree of difficulty and clutch factor. His production has been there for the last 3+ years, but I felt that in order to be at the elite of elite levels, you had to be big time when it absolutely counted. Roddy now is.

2. As nice as having a healthy situational gamebreaker can be as far as change of pace (Norwood)...it's clear to me that Jason Snelling fits what this team wants and likes to do much better. The fact that the Falcons can bring in a fresh battering ram to continue to pound away at defenses and gain tough yards whie giving Turner a blow is going to be absolutely devastating later in the season when teams are worn down.

3. Matt Ryan. His biggest asset is his character. He was not very good last week until it counted but he has that ability to compartmentalize a bad stretch of play, put it aside and be either a closer or a thief at the end of games on a consistent basis. Once he's able to take what he does at the end of games and apply it 60 minutes/game, 16 games/year...he'll be unstoppable.

4. I'm predicting 7-1 by the seasons midway point. It won't be easy, but it's entirely doable. The toughest game of the next 4 might actually be the next one. We seem to be giving an extra yard to ball carriers upon first contact and Hillis is a bulldozer.

5. Most unbelievale stat through seasons first 4 games. Falcons are running an average of 21.5 more plays (39.1%)/game on offense that their opponent (76.5 - 55). As great as that is, I don't feel it is sustainable, so we're going to have to be more efficient on offense.

6. The hallmark of a good team is depth. The ability to bring in a Stephen Nicholas for an injured Sean Weatherspoon and have him rack up 13 tackles. To see Erik Coleman go down and have a young buc like Will Moore come in and produce plays and big hits...now Coleman is the versatile depth we possess at both safety positions. But in previous seasons, it always seemed that when we successful, a significant reason was that we avoided the injury bug. While I still hope we do, I don't think we're screwed if we don't - unless the injury happens to Roddy. Then we're screwed.

7. I see alot of people appearing to be down on Turner (perhaps on other Falcon sites). Consider - Turners YPC through 4 games: 2009 = 3.71, 2010 = 3.79. He'll be fine. Actually starting to like his diversity in the passing game. His 6 receptions thus far already matches a career high set in 2008.

8. Jamaal Anderson? Thumbs up. I've really noticed him. The stats aren't there but his impact has been measurable. Listen, the guy will never justify his draft slot. But right now, he is a solid contributor on the D-Line rotation and is causing as much havoc as Biermann.

9. I thought last week we wouldn't let down and I'm not sure we did even though the score and narrow outcome indicated we did. Fact is, I think the 49ers are a talented bunch. But the organization seems to be in a constant state of flux which breeds inconsistency and lapses. Sometimes that inconsistency shows from play-to-play, other times it may simply be week-to-week. I think we got SF's best game on Sunday, the level of game many thought they'd be capable of more frequently. It's entirely possible, they wet the bed the next time they play. And that's the difference I think between an organization like the Patriots & Colts vs an organization like the Niners. You know for the most part what team and what kind of team is coming out of that tunnel with the Pats & Colts. The Niners? No eff'in clue. What I see in the Falcons is an organization that from Day 1 has stressed consistency and it's starting to pay off.

10. Brent Grimes may be our best cover corner. Dunta has brought a physical presence outside no doubt and has made some plays in the passing game. But Grimes is simply always on his guy. He'll have some passes completed against him, but he always seems to be in a position to make a play on the ball and his overall awareness is defnitely improving. I think our defensive backfield might not only be our most improved unit now...it may be our best.

[TomBradyMVP12]

Great post....Again.



Dude. I wish I can post half as good as this.

[bF™]

Matt Ryan is CLUTCH. No ifs ands or buts about it. He may not have the best arm, he may not run a 4.5 40, he may not be 6'6 240, but he's clutch when it counts.

[Peyton]

Agree on all counts. Outstanding Post!!!!

On second thought, I don't see anything remotely negative in there.

I am downgrading my evaluation to excellent. Don't be such a homer next time.

[Beef]

"5. Most unbelievale stat through seasons first 4 games. Falcons are running an average of 21.5 more plays (39.1%)/game on offense that their opponent (76.5 - 55). As great as that is, I don't feel it is sustainable, so we're going to have to be more efficient on offense."

I can't & won't stop harping on this point. We are going to wear ourselves out & cause injuries if Mularkey can't learn to enable our offense better. 25-30 one yard runs, only 0-1 screen plays, 35 passes under 8 yards & only 1 over 20, rollouts that don't work EVER, 2-3 IDENTICAL plays that are UNSUCCESSFUL in a row MULTIPLE times per game, & complete ineptitude once we reach the red zone EVERY GAME is going to cost us a ballgame or 2 that we should have won.

He simply has to stop being so vanilla & predictable. He has to get HD in the slot with some 4 receiver sets & insert some crossing routes & deep patterns early in the game to set the tone that LB's can't stack the box & safeties can't cheat up 10-15 yards. Then mix in some screen plays & play action runs on those same formations to keep the DC constantly guessing as to pass or run. Then in formations that we've been running mostly out of (like 1-2 receiver, 1-2 TE, 2 RB "i" formation), he needs to mix in a deep pass & some HB dumps/screens rather than running it in those formations 100% of the time. The guy just has to start mixing it up, spreading the defense out, & making things look different/more complex from week to week.

[Radical]

6th in yards and 9th in scoring, and our record is 3-1.

[evo]

Great post.

But there's one thing i'd like to add to it...

Time of possession, We have been outstanding controlling the ball. In the win against the Cardinals and Saints, we have been controlling the tempo of the game, and were able to keep our Defense on the bench so they can perform at a very high level when we needed them.

[BC Fan]

I actually think the best evolving weapon you have is the Turner/Snelling combo. At first I thought the loss of Norwood would hurt because of the diversity he brings. But two downhill runners like Turner/Snelling is punishing over the course of a game. Those guys soften up linebackers, not just the line, and nobody in any pro secondary actually wants to tackle them. I'll bet defending the Falcons is very painful.