RECAP
Atlanta's first possession stalled at the ATL 45 yard line after a 3rd down sack by the new eagle Cullen Jenkins, but on the ensuing possession for Philly the defense steps up and shuts the Eagles down with a three and out sending all-pro kick returner Eric Weems back to field the punt at the Atlanta 43 yard line and returns it to the positive side of the field for the Falcons at the Philly 38 yard, a 19 yard return. Eight plays later Matt Ryan finds his go to receiver Roddy White for a 2 yard, toe tapping touchdown in the back of the end zone (7-0).
Philly comes roaring back picking up first down, after first down, march down the field to the Atlanta 8 yard line. The it finally looks like the defense has them stopped; its 3rd down, Vick rolls left and tosses the ball to his electrifying receiver #10 in the corner of the end zone AND..... He drops wide open pass. Its fourth down and the Georgia Dome erupts, but wait.... there is laundry on the field, last week’s defensive player of the game, John Abraham was lined up in the neutral zone when the ball was snapped, automatic first down. Two plays later, the secondary blows coverage, 5 yard touchdown pass to Maclin. (7-7)
On Atlanta's next to possessions they are forced to punt and the Eagles kick a field goal to go ahead by 3 with 6:46 left in the first half (7-10). Then the Eagles start to march again down the field to the Atlanta 14, and that’s when Vick breaks out the pocket and gives the Georgia Dome something they are accustomed to seeing from the Ex-Falcons. He scrambles up the sideline for 7 yards, two plays later; he gives the fans, one more taste of what they had been seeing for the 8 yard that Vick dressed up in the Red, Black, and White. First down and goal to go, 2009 first round draft pick defensive tackle Peria Jerry bust through the Eagles line, Vick Fumbles the ball and its scooped up by new comer Ray Edwards and he rumbles 64 yards before he is hauled in by the speedster DeSean Jackson. Four plays later Matty Ice hooked up with perennial pro-bowler Tony Gonzalez for an amazing one handed touchdown catch. It was such a spectacular catch that the replay official wanted to watch it over and over again. I’m joking, due to a new rule that all scoring plays have to be reviewed it took a while to confirm the score, but it was eventually upheld and the Falcons took a 14-10 lead into the locker room at the half.
Heading into the 4th quarter down by 10, a beaten and battered Matt Ryan delivers a 1 yard TOUCHDOWN pass to Ovie Mughelli to bring the Atlanta Falcons within three points of the Vick-less Eagles. The Falcons defense forced a punt, after a holding call on Joe Hawley, who is filling in for the still injured Todd McClure, its 1st and 17 from the Atlanta 13, and The Burner Turner takes the handoff up the middle and is full steam ahead down to the Philadelphia 26 yard line where he was knocked out of bounds by Rodgers-Cromartie after a 61 yard dash, which was a major turning point of the game. Five plays later the Falcons had taken the final lead 35-31 with 4:48 left in the game. The Falcons hold to win bringing their record to 1-1.
Offense
The offense was much better than last week but still only collected 318 yards from the air and ground combined, that’s 128 less than the Eagles. Matt Ryan passed for 180 yards but did toss a career high four touchdowns in this game. Turner ran for 114 yards which is the same total number the team averaged last week in Chicago. My major concern is that Matt Ryan is still getting hit, even though he was hit only 6 times in this game, those hits really got home and it was apparent that Matty Ice was starting to melt down in the unstable pocket. The offensive line performed just as bad as they did last week, which doesn’t surprise me because there is no possible way to get any worse. They allowed 4 sacks which is technically better than the 5 they gave up last week, but considering that they only gave up 23 all of last season which is about 1.4 a game. They have a boat load of work to do along the front five. Mostly on the left side where Sam Baker, the tackle that was taken in the first round of 2008, was blown up time after time by Trent Cole who had a monster game feasting on the 4th year pro. Offensive Notables and Player of the Week
For the second straight week Tony Gonzalez led the team in receptions with 7 for 83 yards. Turner, who is looking good this season receiving out of the backfield, had a reception for 32 yards which was second most and Roddy had 3 receptions for 23 yards and a score.
Player of the Week: Tony Gonzalez- 7 catches, 83 yards and 2 touchdowns
Defense
Last week I was a bit irate with the horrible tackling of the Atlanta Falcons and this week the defense took Samuel Jackson message to heart and they did in fact RISE UP! Although they did give up a few big plays all in all they didn’t give them much after the first contact. The defense did force three turnovers and got some good hits on the QB similar to last weekend. Even new players like Big Play Ray and Kelvin Hayden put their prints on some big plays for Atlanta. It was nice to see Jerry comeback and have his presence felt with Babs out taking care of that knee injury from last week.. I listened to DeSean Jackson (who received a vicious hit from Robinson last season) interview after the game and he said Dunta Robinson was they type of player who goes for kill shots, my response to that is... Its always something, a wide receiver who puts on a show for the fans on and off the field is a diva, and a defensive player who doesn’t shy away from contact is a dirty player. So does that make someone who complains about how the game is played on the field a DeSean Jackson? The hit on Jackson last year was not an illegal hit, Dunta Lead with his shoulder and made solid contact with Jackson’s chest... This year on Maclin there was a little head contact but all it does is prove that he can take a hit and Jackson....Well, should be used only on deep routes and kick returns. Defensive Notables and Player of the Week
The Falcons did not register a sack this game, but new defensive end Ray Edwards had a better game this week than he did last week, he had two tackles, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery that he returned for 64 yards, putting Atlanta in scoring position. Lofton and Spoon both had ten 10 tackles. Lofton who wanted to be a 3 down linebacker is showing that he is well on his way, on one play Lofton dropped back into coverage and was just about a half of a second late on intercepting a pass. Kelvin Hayden and James Sanders both received extensive playing time and according to NBC Sanders started the game over DeCoud.
Player of the Week: Stephen Nicholas- 4 tackles. I’m sure you’re wondering how a linebacker with 4 tackles is player of the game. That’s because he made open field tackles and none more important than the one he had on Jackson on the reverse and the other that had had on the punt return when it appeared Jackson had found a lane to the game winning touchdown.
Preview
Bring in the Division Rival, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last week the Bucs received a scare when the Vikings held the lead with the final minute on the clock, but managed to score with 34 seconds left to secure the victory and in prove to 1-1 like the Atlanta Falcons. This is Going to be the first divisional game played in the south this season and will put the winner in first place in the division. If the Falcons want to come out of the Pirate Ship with their second victory of the season they are going to have to run the ball and limit Tampa's chances to come back and win with The Come-Back Kid they have at QB. Atlanta won both games last year, in large part the play of All Pro Corner Brent Grimes who had clutch interceptions in both games to secure a victory for the Atlanta Falcons.
yeah buddy - so glad to see they pulled it out - the Dream Team's fourth quarter collapse was a thing of beauty - Matty Ice and the Burner took over
ReplyDelete