TDW's Post Bucs Game Observations...

[TheDirtyWord]

1. Killer Instinct...we need one - I thought Mark Bradley's article made some good points although I don't necessarily agree with the overall theme of 'how good are the Falcons?'. But why was this game so close? The easy answer is special teams and they were terrible. But the Falcons had two drives after the Spurlock returned the kick-off for a TD. One of which began after a spectre of inches saved the Falcons bacon on what looked to be a great onside kick. The results?

Michael Turner; 3 carries for 0 yards. All 3 carries? Right end. No bludgeon up the middle on a tiring front line.
Matt Ryan; 1/4 13 yards

Oh, and the average starting field position on these two drives? The TB 44 yard line.

What caught my attention about TB was how they played with nothing to lose. The Falcons can't play that way...not should they. We got to play that way in 2008 with the houses money when we had exceeded everyones expected seasonal win output by the end pof September. TB is in that position now which makes them a dangerous team. So an unexpected onside kick? Why not...? Blitzing Sean Jones on the backside to catch Michael Turner. Sure - what the heck. The Bucs killer instinct is borne out of a newfound realization that they can not only compete, but they can win. A high of sorts which allows them to not need the downside of risk as much as a team which started off with greater expectations.

For the Falcons, that killer instinct has to come from some place different - there is no houses money for us. An ability to execute time after time, without regard for game stage - that's what has to define our killer instinct. Against, TB our ability to execute began to wane in the second half. Same thing occurred against CIN. Now the mark of a good team - a playoff team, is one, that can come back from adversity and get done what it needs to get done, whether that be offensively, defensively or on special teams. This week, the defense stepped up on a key 4th down play. Against SF, it was Roddy White and the offense in the last minute. The Falcons are most certainly a playoff team. But come playoff time, you are facing one of the best 12 teams in the land. CIN and TB are not in that discussion most likely and allowing the door to remain open to a playoff team will result in disappointment.

2. Roddy White - I don't like life without him. Not for a game, not for a quarter. Not for a play. That folks was our season right there if his injury turned out to be serious. I remember when Ray Buchanan was talking about Michael Vick in 2002 and he said that Vick was sprinkled with invisible juice (or something to that effect). Well, it appears Harry Douglas got himself some of that...

By the way, a couple of weeks back, an ESPN writer wrote an article about the 12 most indispensible players in the NFL. The Falcons entry was none other than...Matt Bryant? This spurred me to reach out to said writer...our exchange is below.

I don't write in to writers generally on their opinion pieces because everyone's entitled.

But Matt Bryant instead of Roddy White as the Falcons most indispensible player? Seriously?

We'd be .500 without Bryant?

How about White causing the fumble in the SF game that directly led to the Falcons second chance drive to get into FG position to win that game. By the way...White totals on that final drive...

4 receptions, 60 yards, one forced fumble.

Think they win the CIN game without White? 201 of their 299 yards through the air going to him, whether he's catching passes with one hand, either on the sideline or shoestring off the ground? Or diving, juggling in the end zone? In fact White accounts for 43.6% of the Falcons receiving yards. Know where that ranks him in the NFL? First...by a mile! Look it up, I think the second ranked WR is at 33%.

Quite frankly, White may be the most indispensible player in the NFL behind Peyton Manning. Certainly he's the most indispensible player on the Falcons. Stop trying to be cute with your insights.

On Oct 29, 2010, at 7:36 PM, "Fleming, Dave" <Dave.Fleming@espn.com> wrote:

Great points, which is why you may (or may not have) noticed that I prefaced the whole item by stating that White was the obvious choice.
Thanks for reading,
flem

...of which I responded

Oh...okay, so you mean the most indispensable players in the NFL beside the most indispensable players in the NFL.

Can't wait to read your column on the best teams in the NFL beside the best team. Reading about the Redskins and Dolphins.

No offense, but the subtitle on the article was 'players teams can't live without'. You had an opportunity to tout a WR not mentioned in the Andre/Fitz/Wayne category with some pretty overwhelming evidence and examples of dominance and clutch play.

...and you tout a kicker on his team.

For shame...;-)

Thought you'd enjoy...

3. Jamaal Anderson - He's not putting up the numbers I think everyone would like, but he is clearly a much impoved player from the one we'd seen the previous 3 seasons. In fact sometime I look at the stat sheet and can't believe he hasn't accumulated more tackles. Thought he showed up big.

4. The Bucs - I don't want to discount what they've been able to do this season. Josh Freeman's ability to execute on 3rd down was uncanny and LaGarrette Blount was a significant find. Quite honestly, I don't know why they are wasting their time with Cadillac. Aqib Talib is just south of Darrelle Revis IMO. They will be a force...but they have some maturing to do.

5. Duanta Robinson - $57M, huh? What I do like about him is his physical presence. He's not afraid to come up, defend the run and deliver a blow. I think actually he'll make a good safety one day when he gets older and sometimes you see CB's make the switch. But he was made to look the fool by Mike Williams and his coverage skills remind me of DHall's in that he is content to allow the underneath stuff. I'll have to take a closer look at him because admittedly I'm not focusing on him except when I see a play get made on him. But he's our big money secondary player and yet Brent Grimes is our best CB...and it's not even close.

One other thing...I dind't like Robinson's recollection of the play either blaming the TD on a slip. His feet were caught cheating on the outside go route, Williams slanted in and Robinson in trying to recover took a horrific angle. His slip didn't occur until Williams was pretty much already by him and I doubt Robinson catches him if he keeps his feet. Need to see more out of you dude...you'll get your chance Thursday.

6. Ed Reed - In 2 games since he's returned from the PUP list, Reed has 3 INT's and 3 PD's. This Baltimore defense will be a tough nut to crack.

7. Baltimore - This will be a game between two teams that like to control the pace of the game and the ball...and are quite good at it. On average, the Ravens run 8.4 more plays/game than their opponents. The Falcons run 11.1 more plays/game than their opponent.

The Falcons are 6th in the NFL in rush defense, the Ravens are 13th...but only 8.9 YPG separate them. In rush offense, the Falcons are also 6th while the Ravens are 11th with 17.7 YPG separating them.

That's where the game has to be won for the Falcons. The Ravens IMO have more weapons on offense to take advantage of, but I'd prefer to put this game in Joe Flacco's hands than Ray Rice's. That's not a bad thing for the Ravens, Flacco's capable, but the Falcons will need to run the ball 35-40 times to win. If they do that, that will put pressure on him. That means we'll need significant contributions from Jason Snelling as well. He'll need 10 touches to give Turner enough of a breather, while at the same time continuing the methodic pressure on that defense. As for our defense, I think this comes down to how well we play Anquan Boldin. As good as Grimes has been, he'll be manhandled by Boldin so the secondary (and I'm talking to you Dunta) is going to need to challenge Boldin on the short to intermediate routes they taget him with and Robinson is going to need to be in Boldin's kitchen when he's got that responsibility.

[TonyGraziani]

Excellent read man.

[phocis850]

Yes, Dunta clearly slipped on purpose. However, I do believe that his presence has elevated the secondary. He has made some incredible plays but it seems like he also lets a td go each game. I don't like seeing him 15 yards of the line alot, but he always seems quick to react to an open field tackle. Honestly, he appears to be a STUD when it comes to tackling in the open field. Guy makes some HUGE plays like that. I remember him tacking someone from about 10 yards away. Just a HUGE leap to get the legs.

[caver50]

As always, good read. Not much to disagree about.

[g-dawg]

Dunta Robinson was better than what we had and is a good player to have on the roster - having said that, he's nothing special and is highly overpaid for his skills.....its Arthur's money so I don't really care - we are better.

[hitwriter]

Great read TDW

[kane#7]

The only thing iI will say about the Cadillac Williams and why they are sticking with them,

He improved their pass protection immensely I saw multiple times him picking up the un-blocked man sometimes even going to the opposite side he started on.

Which reminds me of a quote I heard, "doesn't matter how important the RB believes he is, he is never more important than the guy he is blocking for"

[Goal Line D]

Fantastic read once again!

Roddy clearly was the player that should have been reported on.