-Dana

But this post is not just about my family who is my number one priority, it’s about football yesterday and specifically, this is about my thoughts on how the Falcons did yesterday at Heinz Field.  Overall, I wasn’t terribly upset with their performance as players. As a whole team, there were disappointments and there were high points.

Let’s first talk about the biggest surprises – Michael Turner averaged 2.2 yards per carry. There were two other parts to that surprise. The next part is that his longest carry was only 7 yards. The last part of that surprise is that Mike Mularkey seemed to be calling the same play every time which I will generically call “run up the middle”.  So, I think the world of Michael Turner but if it’s not working then it’s not working.  The Steelers clearly game planned for those runs, especially if you consider that we were almost equally effective with Matt Ryan just running up the middle on a QB sneak. In fact, he averaged 2.0 yards per carry. What’s the obvious solution? Call a different play with a different player … there is a reason Jerious Norwood is on the team and that is HE IS FAST and runs a 4.4 40 yd dash. We should have moved to a two back offense and traded carries to keep the Steelers on their feet. While I don’t know how hard it actually is to make that adjustment, I do know that Mularkey gets an F from me for not changing enough at the half.

The second biggest surprise to me was that our defense actually did pretty well.  Three sacks for the team coming from three of my favorites – John Abraham, Kroy Biermann, and Curtis Lofton. That’s a pretty good performance in my opinion. The defensive line played pretty well and I expect big things from them against Arizona. Ken Whisenhunt even said that he looks for his offensive line to improve. I think he picked the wrong week to say that. His alma mater is coming to town and looking tough on D. Sacks on the Cardinals this past week came from a DT and a DE. Ours will come from all over. I expect Van Gorder to call more blitzes and for Spoon to get his first sack agains the Cards.

The third surprise to me was that Matt Ryan had no ice. I wont harp on this so just two things: 1) We didnt go deep enough and 2) Matt Ryan was staring at his receivers the whole time. Anyone could have interecepted some of his passes. I wasn’t very impressed but I know that he will improve. Matt is too reliant on Gonzalez and White. Once Matt realizes that Finneran and Douglass are outstanding, the Falcons will be dangerous again. Matt Ryan has explosive weapons and now it is time to explode!

Second to last thing…I checked my rule book and read this: “Hand(s) or arm(s) that encircle a defender are to be considered illegal and officials are to call a foul for holding.” Watch Ward’s hands on the last play of the game.

And finally … the last thing … If the Falcons treat this as a 1 games season, they will win on the 19th. If they treat it as game 1 of 16, we are doomed. Get the urgency back!

-Dana

Sure, I realize it is a huge gamble and that many of the picks will be busts.  The guessing and the hoping is a lot of the fun! More than anything, Draft Day reminds me that it wont be long before the games start again!  After an 11-5 regular season, I am hopeful that we do a couple of things:

1.  Back to back winning seasons – yep, I’ll take 9-7.
2. We make it to the playoffs
3. We win a playoff game for the fans, the team, and for Tony Gonzalez
4. We play like a team and there are no individuals that try to make themselves bigger than the team

Those four things are on my wish list. Of course, more is better in this situation but I’ll be content with 4.

As far as today goes, we need three things – defensive linemen (Ziggy), offensive tackle (right side), and a new CB or two.  Here is my message to Thomas Dmitroff:

Draft Day Message to Thomas Dmitroff

Building this took about 30 minutes, 9 popsicle sticks, a pair of scissors (or utility knife), a roll of tape, a rubber band, a pen and a ruler.

I’ll post the steps to build a little later as they are intricate.  Here was Brennan’s video of the second firing of it:

-Dana

At the beginning of the season, Atlanta was coming from the previous season considered to be one of the worst in the league and had a 4-12 record the year prior. It didn’t take the experts long after the 34-21 opener to see that Smith’s new system was going to yield results. He had several advantages – Michael Turner had fresh legs, the offensive line was working as a team, and Matt Ryan played in a pro-like system at Boston College. The preseason showed mixed results but Matt Ryan lit up the defense on his very first throw – a 62 yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins.

Ryan was also very successful at gaining the support of veteran players. Several referenced some of the greats like Farve, Manning, et al throughout the season as he showed his potential week after week.

After being selected 3rd in the 2008 draft, Ryan has become the 3rd quarterback in three years to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Vince Young (2006) had won prior to Ryan with no other quarterback having won that award prior to Big Ben.

In his years prior to being with Atlanta, he earned the nickname “Matty Ice”. John Abraham has come up with a new nickname for him – “ROY”. Ryan said he was flattered to even be mentioned with the other candidates.

Dana