12-11: Falcons Rally To Beat "Cam"olina

Hello again Falcons Fans, grades are posted, dorms are closed, and I'm back in the comfortable confines of my home. The Semester is completely over, which mean more time to write about these Atlanta Falcons. Before we get into the game I would like to tell some of you all to relax, Head Coach Mike Smith is fine after an overnight stay in a Charlotte hospital. After the game against the panthers Smitty was taken alerted the team’s medical staff that he was having chest pains and was take to the hospital for observation. This isn't the first time an Atlanta Coach has been taken to the hospital, I'm sure you all remember thirteen years ago, nearly to the date, Dan Reeves required quadruple-bypass surgery after a win against the New Orleans Saints in the 1998 season but unlike this time Mike Smith's test returned negative or positive (whichever way you want to look at it) and he was sent back to Atlanta. Now that everybody can rest easy, lest get into this recap.

Recap

Alright fans we're going to get things going with 10:55 left in the first quarter, on the second Atlanta possession of the game. Atlanta has the ball on their own 38 yard line, 1st and 10 Matt Ryan throw a pass left to Tony Gonzalez for a pickup of 18 yards taking the team into Carolina territory, down at the 44. Three plays later, 3rd and 7, Ryan hooks up with Roddy White for an 11 yard gain to keep the drive moving right along to the 30. 2nd and 11, the Ryan-White connection hooks up again for 8 yards. Apparently the game plan is, get the ball to Roddy, either that or he is just dominating the Panthers defense... Whatever you call it, I ain't complaining about it... 3rd and 3... Why not, He's Open... Ryan to Roddy again for 9 yards, inside the redone to the and the Falcons are threatening for 6!!! 1st and 10 at the 14, Turner up the middle for a 10 yards and the first down. Two plays later,  Ryan to Roddy again....... TOUCHDOWN ATLANTA!!!!! (0-7)

After punting on their first possession, down by 7 Carolina has the ball on their 26 yard line. On the Panthers first two plays of this drive they averaged almost 15 yards per play which pushed them rather quickly onto Atlanta's side of the 50. 2nd and 8 from the Atlanta 43, Carolina calls a direct snap to Wide Receiver Armanti Edwards, who lined up in the backfield. And takes it up the middle for 5 yards. 3rd and 3 Cam Newton shows why he is so dangerous, Shotgun.... Cam drops back, surveys the fields... and Takes off running to pick up the first down. With Newton, if you play man to man coverage and turn you back to him while he is in the pocket, he will use his legs and burn you for big chunks of yards and first downs. I think when you go against a player like Newton you have to play zone and force the quarterback, who struggles at times with accuracy, to put the ball in a tight spot.... I always getting side tracked, back to the game, two plays after the first down Cam finds Greg Olsen for the easy 9 yard pick up. 1st and 10 from the 23 Cam hits Brandon LaFell for 17 yards putting the panthers on the Atlanta 6 yard line, but not for long because on the next play Cam finds his other tight end Jeremy Shockey for the 6 yard touchdown to tie the game at 7 all. (7-7)

Heading into the second quarter, if your a Falcons fan, its time to look away because things started to get ugly. On Atlanta's second possession of the second quarter, after a panthers punt is downed at the 4, 1st and 10 Turner takes the hand off around the right side for a gain of 2 yards. 2nd and 8, Jason Snelling tries to ram his way up the middle but is stuffed after gaining another two yards, forcing the Falcons into a 3rd down situation backed up at the 8 yard line. 3rd and 6 Matt Ryan is in the shotgun.... Pressure up the middle.... SACK... Ryan is sacked in the end zone for the first safety of his four year career. (9-7). Following the free punt after the safety, Carolina takes a shot deeeeep down the left sideline for Steven Smith, which falls incomplete. 2nds and 10 from the 26, DeAngelo Williams takes the hand off around the right end. he has blockers... he is out in the open. he is going to score. 

74 yard touchdown run against the NFL's 3rd ranked rush defense. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Falcons down by 9 points on the road in Carolina. (16-7). By this time the mood in Atlanta absolutely shocked and would soon turn to disappointed. After the Carolina defense forces a 3 and out, The panthers have the ball on their 40, 1st play of the drive Cam finds Smith for a gain of 20 yards to the Atlanta 40. 1st and 10, Atlanta's defense gets even for their QB... SACK!!!! Sean Weatherspoon drops Newton at the 46 yard line. Two plays after the defense gets revenge, Cam Newton gets the last laugh, hooking up with Greg Olsen on a tight end screen that he takes 44 yards for the touchdown... The Panthers are putting on a clinic in Charlotte, taking a 16 point lead into the locker room at the half.  (23-7)

Into the 3rd Quarter we go, after a Carolina punt, Atlanta has the ball on the 43. 1st and 10 Turner goes up the middle for 4 yards, which throws the Falcons into their no huddle package. Two plays later, on 3rds and 3 from the 50, Ryan finds his tight end Tony Gonzalez for 20 yards and a Falcons.... FIRST DOWN!!! 2nd and 10 from the 30, Turner rumbles for 5 yards, then on 3rd down Ryan connects with Gonzalez again for 13 yards down to the Carolina 12 inching them closer and closer to the end zone. To bad the drive stalls after 3 straight incompletions and the Falcons send on Matt Bryant for the 30 yard field goal to close the Carolina gap. (23-10)

The Panthers ensuing possession began on the 22 yard line, 1st and 10 Carolina runs Williams off the left side in hopes that he could again take it the distance, however the Atlanta defense doesn't feel the same and he is dropped at the 26 yard line by William Moore (who entered the game to replace James Sanders). 2nd and 6 Newton connects with Naanee to the 40, for a gain of 14 yards and a first down. 1st and 10, Cam drops back.... HE'S UNDER PRESSURE... HE SCRAMBLES LEFT... FLIPS A PASS LEFT AND ITS ...... INTERCEPTED BY MIKE PETERSON!!! And unlike last week against the Texans, it actually counted. Falcons ball at the 35... 

1st and 10 Atlanta runs Jacquizz Rodgers around the left for a pickup of 4 yards. FINALLY Atlanta uses Rodgers, we have been waiting for that all season. 2nd and 6 Ryan drops back, scans the field... HE HAS A MAN DEEP.... IT'S CAUGHT!!! RODGERS IN THE END ZONE... TOUCHDOWN!!!!! 31 yard reception and the first TD of his career. This was a brilliant play call, because of the play before it (the four yard run). Atlanta brought in Quizz on first down because if they hadn't the play call would have been obvious and less likely to have worked. Let’s face it we all know Turner can't catch all though he is improving every year, and Snelling isn't shifty enough to run down the field and catch the ball over his shoulder, and if he is I sure have never seen it. Nice call by Atlanta.  (23-17)

After another Newton Interception turned into a missed field goal and a couple of punts, we pick things up in the Fourth Quarter with Atlanta marching into Carolina's territory.. 1st and 10 Turner finds success on the left and rips off 7 yards on the Panther defense. Two plays later Ryan finds Tony G to pick up the first down. It worked once so why not try it again? 1st and 10 The Ryan-Gonzalez connection continues, this time for a gain of 18 yards down to the Panther 17. Two plays later Ryan find JULIO JONE who makes the catch at the two and STRETCHES HIS 6 FOOT 3 INCH BODY OVER THE GOAL LINE... TOUCHDOWN FALCONS!!! Storming from 16 down at the half to take a 1 point lead early in the 4th. (23-24) 


Atlanta isn't done yet.. After a missed Carolina field goal, Atlanta takes over at the 26 yard line with 5:12 left in the game. 1st and 10 Turner tries the left and is tacked for lose but it keeps the clock running. 2nd and 11, Ryan drops back again and finds QUINTORRIS... I mean JULIO JONES, Who makes a man miss and is off to the races for the 75 Yard TOUCHDOWN!!! Julio's 5th of the season. Which effectively ended the game and secured the Falcons comeback. 23-31... Atlanta has beaten Carolina in its last three meeting by scoring 31 points.  ATLANTA WINS!!!!

Offense

For the first half of this game, the offense was HORRIBLE! The run game was nowhere to be found, and many fans were wishing the offensive line would get lost. After the touchdown to Roddy White in the first quarter, it seemed as if the Falcons offense had completely checked out of the game. Down by 16 points at halftime to the Carolina Panthers is completely unacceptable from a team coming into the season looked to repeat as Divisional Champions and were favored by some to win the Super Bowl. In the first half of this game the Falcons had 7 offensive possessions, 1 resulted in a Touchdown, 1 was a safety, and the other 5 were punts, not very promising from a team who is looking to make a run in the playoffs. Atlanta should be sending thank you cards to the family of the creators of the game who decided  to make it a 60 minute occasion.  

As bad as the first half of the game was for the Falcons the second half was just a good, I don't know what was said in the locker room, or what was slipped into the teams Gatorade (hopefully nothing from Sam Hurd's stash) but whatever it may have been it had Atlanta flying and clicking on all cylinders. In the second half of the game Atlanta also had 7 possessions but the difference is this 1 resulted in a Punt, 1 was a missed field goal 3 were Touchdowns and 1 ended the game. It's a tale of two half's thanks in large part to Matt Ryan, who came out after the break and threw 3 touchdowns, two to Julio Jones and the other to Jacquizz Rodgers. That's the type of football fans expected to see from the Falcons all year, an explosive high flying offense able to score from anywhere on the field hopefully they can continue this style of play deep into the playoffs.  

Offensive Notables and Player of the Week

Carolina did a good job of keeping the clamps on the Falcons run game, only allowing 86 yards and zero touchdowns, with that said it makes Atlanta's comeback and offensive approach that much more exciting. Everybody expects that if you shut down the Falcons run game, then you can sit back and play the pass and almost certainly secure the win. If opponents know that, then the Falcons know that as well, down by 16 the Falcons could have abandoned the run and honestly who could have blamed them, but the didn't Atlanta ran the ball 28 times this game and I can assure you that they all didn't come in the first half with the bulk of the carries coming from Michael Turner who finished the day with 76 yards, Snelling with 6, Rodgers with 4 and Ryan with 0 on 3 attempts. Ryan also attempted 38 passes completing 22 of them Roddy and Tony both with 7, 3 to Julio, Quizz and Harry both with 2 and rounding out with Jason Snelling who had 1 that lost a yard. 

Player of the Week: Matt Ryan- 22 of 38 320 yards 4 TDs 0 Interceptions 120.5 NFL QB Rating

Defense 

Man, as bad as things were for the Offense in the first half, they were even WORSE for the defense. I haven't seen the defense play this bad in a game since the game against the Chicago bears, missed tackles, blown assignments, nonexistent coverage, you name it, the Falcons had it in the first half. Cam Newton absolutely obliterated the defense in the 1st 30 minutes of this ball game, and if Cam wasn't enough.... DeAngelo Williams go into the act with a 74 yard touchdown run, on which he went virtually untouched. Carolina scored 23 unanswered point, 2 of which are not the defenses fault. The problem with the Falcons all year has been letting teams not on their talent level make a game of it, most of the blame falls on the Offense because they are the unit that suppose to put up points but I think the defense is just as much of a culprit. There is no excuse as to why a team with a rookie QB and a 4-8 record should put up 21 points in a half against a veteran defense. 

I can imagine that was the feel in the locker room at half time, with the years of experience behind this team and the level of talent, teams like the Panthers should not be able to move the football. I’m not saying the Panthers are scrubs or anything but this defense is just that good. In the second half after allowing 21 points in the first half, Atlanta forced a 3 and out, a rookie mistake which resulted into an interception by Mike Peterson (resulted in Jacquizz Rodgers TD), another interception, two more punts and missed field goal, and a turnover on downs.. The defense booted Carolina of the field, stole possessions away and gave the offense the ball with time left on the clock to put points up on the board. What else can you ask of your defense other than to do it for a whole 60 minutes?  Veteran defense don't give up a lot of points to opposing teams but veterans do respond and dare I say it... RISE UP!!! When their backs are against the wall and that's exactly what they did.

Defensive Notables and Player of the Week

Not really much to note about the defense, Sean Weatherspoon (9 total 8 Solo) and Curtis Lofton (5 total 3 solo) led the team in tackles. The Falcons registered two sacks of Cam Newton, one by Spoon and the other by Ray Edwards. In addition to the sacks, Atlanta also added two second half interceptions from Mike Peterson and William Moore. Lastly didn't allow a second half point to the Panthers, which in my opinion is the best stat of the day in regards to the defense. 

Player of the Week: Mike Peterson 1 Tackle 1 solo tackle 1 Interception... No it's not flashy and no it's not eye popping stats BUT his interception was the starting point of the defense stopping Carolina in their tracks and poured fuel onto the flame that ignited into the Falcons comeback victory. 

Preview 

The Falcons are going PRIME TIME IN THE GEORGIA DOME against Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jacksonville Jaguars for NFL Networks Thursday Night Football! This game would have featured the first regular season matchup between Mike Smith and Jack Del Rio, Smith served as the Jags defensive coordinator before being hired as the Falcons Head Coach in 2008. Unfortunately the season hasn't gone to well for the Jags and Del Rio was fired just a few weeks ago, however this is the first time D.P.W, Mike Peterson will face his former team as a Falcon. This is another example of a game in which Atlanta should dominate the lesser opponent and cruise to a victory, but that will only be possible if they are able to somehow contain "Pocket Hercules" and apply pressure to rookie QB Blaine Gabbert. If Atlanta wins its will secure them their 4th straight winning season under Mike Smith and Matt Ryan after the franchise had never had two winning seasons in a row. 

12-4: Yates and Texans Carrol Streaking Falcons

Welcome back fans, friends and family!!! Finals are over down here in Savannah which means so is the Fall Semester and I couldn't be happier. Glad you all came back for another week of Dirty Bird blogging and more Falcons action here with the WeDatNation page. Last week’s game was a great battle between two teams looking to make a deep run into the playoffs, both bolstering top ten defenses and offenses that can put up a lot of points. Atlanta headed to Houston to face a team missing not only their first string quarterback Matt Schaub to a foot injury but their second string quarterback also in Matt Leinart to a fractured collarbone. The Falcons were set to rookie fifth round pick Taylor Jonathan Yates native of Atlanta and the first and only North Carolina quarterback to start an NFL game. Atlanta with an extremely injured secondary and the Texans on quarterback number 3 this was sure to be a great game. With that said time for a RECAP!!!!

Recap

Down in Texas, The Falcons win and elect to receive the kick off. Early in the week Atlanta made it obvious that they were going to give all they could to the league’s top ranked defense. First and 10 Atlanta came out swinging, Matt Ryan drops back and flings a pass deep down the side line to Roddy White who has the defender beat but the ball is over thrown and falls incomplete. Second and 10, Turner tries the middle and gets absolutely nothing except an introduction to the heart of the Texans defense, Brian Cushing. On 3rd and 10 Ryan comes out in the shotgun, scans the field and tosses another pass deep, this time down the middle of the field to a wide open Julio Jones and again it’s over thrown and the Falcons send on Matt Bosher to punt the ball away to the Texans, who also went 3 and out.

On Atlanta's next possession, they get the ball on the 24 yard line looking to hopefully put up points. 1st and 10 Mike Mularkey, who is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in football and nicknamed Inspector Gadget in reference to his ability to catch the opposing defense off guard using innovative plays to expose a defense and keep them guessing. 1st and Ten Mularkey goes into his bag of tricks and pulls out a Flea Flicker, for those who are not as familiar with the game, a flea flicker is a type of play action play (fake hand off) to get the defense to attack the run. The difference is on a flea flicker the quarterback (Matt Ryan) actually hands the ball the running back (Michael Turner), who fakes as if he is about to run the ball but instead turns around and pitches it back to the quarterback who then throws the ball to the receiver (Roddy White) who has slipped behind the coverage for a supposedly a big gain. Everything has to be perfect and on time, the blocking, the hand off, the pitch, and the throw down the field... However that is where the problem was presented on the pitch back to Matt Ryan, Turner throws it high and Ryan has to jump up to get it, which throws off the timing of pass and gives the defender (Kareem Jackson) time to catch up and make the play on the ball.. INTERCEPTION!!!!!

After the turnover Yates and the Texans have the ball at their own 35. First and ten Ben Tate runs off the left side for a gain of 6 yards, two plays later Yates hits Johnson for a gain of 5 yards and a first down. Two plays after the first down Yates hits Owen Daniels for a 17 yard pick up and then 20 yards on the next play to Andre Johnson down to the 15 yard line and the Texans are rolling. 3 and 8 from the 15 T.J Yates rolls out of the pocket left and is hit by Vance Walker, who knocks the ball out of his hand. With everyone in Reliant Stadium thinking it’s an incomplete pass, James Sanders recognizes he didn't hear a whistle and scoops the ball up and runs 90 yards to the end zone TOUCHDOWN FALCONS!!! WAIT WAIT WAIT Stop everything the there are flags on field. With the confusion of thinking it’s an incomplete pass, players and coaches from both teams are marching onto the field which is considered as an illegal substitution penalty. Both fouls offset each other, the touchdown is NULLIFIED and Atlanta is rewarded possession at the spot of recovery, which is the 35 yard line of the Falcons. However this turnover means nothing because 3 plays later Julio Jones, rookie sensation out of Alabama, apparently runs the wrong route and Matt Ryan throws his second INTERCEPTION of game which turns into a field goal for the Texans (3-0).

Talk about a lot of action in the first 15 minutes of a football game. A few drives later now into the 2nd quarter, the Texans have the ball on the 20 yard line. 3rd and 12 T.J. Yates finds Arian Foster for a 28 yard catch and run and first down. 1st and 10 from the 46 yard line Yates finds Andre Johnson, who was being covered by Dominique Franks who is starting in place for injured Brent Grimes, for a 50 yard completion. Taking nothing away from Franks but Yates threw a beautiful pass, Franks had perfect coverage but Johnson has strong hands and was able to hold off the fighting corner back until he was eventually tackled at the 4 yard line. Two plays later on 3rd and 3 Yates finds Joel Dreessen for the 3 yard Touchdown to take the lead to 10 over the visiting Atlanta Falcons. On the Falcons following drive they go 10 plays but the drive stalls and Atlanta kicks the field goal (10-3). HALFTIME!!!!

Late in the 3rd Quarter after the Texans missed a 54 yard field goal, Atlanta has good position at the Texans 44 yard line down by 7. First and 10 Ryan looks for Roddy White deep down the left side... INCOMPLETE!!! 2nd and 10, Turner tries the middle again, and it’s completely stuffed but he makes something out of nothing and gets two yards. 3rd and 8, there is a Gonzalez sighting in Reliant! Ryan hit Tony for a 18 yard completion down to the 36 yard line. 3 plays later there is a Ryan to Jones connection down to the 4 yard line and a gain of 26 and FINALLY, Atlanta seems to be heating up and looking to get on a roll. 1st and goal from the 4, Ryan throws it to a WIDE OPEN Roddy White in the right side of the end zone for the game tying score and we have a ball game ladies and gentlemen!!! TOUCHDOWN FALCONS (10-10)

How do the Texans respond you wonder? 1st and 10 Foster runs off the right side and is met by Mike Peterson, who is getting the start for the injured Stephen Nicholas, for a two yard loss. 2nd and 12 Yates drops back, scans the field, coverage down field is tight so what do you do? Check it down to the underneath guy of course, except when you have MIKE PETERSON in coverage!!! Then you end up throwing an INTERCEPTION!!! Peterson breaks on the ball and catches it clean and is off running toward the end zone. TOUCHDOWN ATLANTA HAS THE LEAD!!! (10-17) Hold Up, is that a Flag? It is.... Prior to the pass.... Holding.... 23 of the Defense... 5 yard penalty. NO PLAY. Another Touchdown nullified score for Atlanta. 14 plays later Foster plows in for the 1 yard score. (17-10)

Last drive of the game: 59 seconds left, Atlanta has the ball at the 33 yard line. First and 10 Matt Ryan pass to Jacquizz Rodgers is completed for a gain of fine and he is pushed out of bounds at the 38. 2nd and 5 Ryan finds Harry Douglas for a gain of 17 yards and first down at the 45. 2nd and 10, after a spike, Ryan finds Julio Jones deep for a gain of 20 and he is tackled in bounds at the 25. Ryan spikes the ball on first down and on second he looks for Jones again, who stepped out before he caught the ball and was flagged for illegal touching. No play loss of 5 yards. 2 and 15 Ryan fires a pass for Roddy in the end zone which ends up sailing out of the end zone but somebody loves the Falcons because there is one second left on the clock. This is it. 3rd and 15.... : 01 left on the clock... Ryan in the Shotgun.... He passes left... Jones is there..... INCOMPLETE!!!!! HE DROPPED IT.... JONES DROPPED IT IN THE END ZONE. . . TEXANS WIN.. (Dramatic finish right?)

Offense

I don't know what to say, Atlanta has been on a roll and just when you think they are ready to go head to head with one of the leagues high powered teams, they Falcons do not show up, this time it was the offense. Atlanta, who has predicated itself on being a run first team only ran the ball 18 times, and came out throwing the ball way more than it should have. Although they did have some chances to hit the big play down the field, the attempts fell incomplete whether it be an overthrown ball, an wrong route or a plan out dropped pass... Throwing the ball is not what the Falcons were built for, and unless they are planning on become a pass first team I strongly suggest that they stick to the formula that has put them in the position they are in which is beat the defense down with the running game and let Matt Ryan throw about 35 passes per game.

I'm not sure if it’s because of the lockout, Atlanta is having problems staying in a groove this season but we are all hoping it was just a poorly executed game plan and this isn't a sign of things to come. I do understand that Atlanta was down at one point by 10 but that was early in the game and no excuse to get away from the game plan, which is run the ball and pass to keep the defense honest. A balance is what the Falcons use and a 46-18 pass to run ratio isn't exactly balance. I would hate to sound like a conspirator but Mularkey's name has been floated around as a possible head coach candidate for the Jaguars who recently cut ties with Jack Del Rio and the thought crossed my mind that he, Mularkey, may have attempted to use this game as an audition opportunity. I hope not but I figured I would throw it out there.

Offensive Notables and Player of the Week

Matt Ryan completed 20 of his 46 pass attempts for 267 yards and 1 touchdown and 1.5 interceptions. I can't be completely mad at Ryan for either of the turnovers because he can’t control Julio running the route behind the defender instead of in front, but I do give him half the credit on the flea flicker interception because although Turner tossed a horrible pitch, Turner is not a quarterback and does not get paid to throw the ball. The part where Ryan is blamed is because he had the opportunity to not throw the ball to Roddy after the timing of the play was thrown off by the bad pitch. Turner rushed for 44 yards on 14 carries which is a 3.1 per carry average. Tony Gonzalez posted a 100 yard reception day, his first of the season. Roddy posted 4 catches for 51 yards and a score and Julio Jones also had 4 catches for 68 yards.  

Player of the Week: Tony Gonzalez- 7 Receptions 100 yards 14.3 per catch 10 Targets.

Defense 

Before this game I made a statement on my twitter account @MrShields2 to a friend of mine who happens to be a Saints fan @bravesoul79 that whichever team brings the best defense on the field will win this game, turns out, I was wrong now let me explain why I say that. Atlanta's defense had two touchdowns nullified and 1 turnover taken away. The first was in the first quarter when James Sanders scoops up a fumble and bobs and weaves through a sea of players and coaches on his way to a 90 yard touchdown before it a penalty not only takes the points of the board but brings the ball back to the 35 yard line. The Second was when Dunta Robinson, former Texan, was flagged with a hold before Mike Peterson took advantage of T.J. Yates only rookie mistake of the game, which again took the score of the board but gave the ball back to the Texans who took it down the field and scored essentially the game ending touchdown. That’s 14 points off the board for the Falcons. I'm no math major nor do I claim to be but add those points and it’s a different ball game.

I don't know if the defense under estimated Yates coming into this game, but this is something that is very familiar for the Falcons. They let teams in a less than favorable condition play with them and this time, they lost. I understand it was against the first ranked defense in the NFL, a team with Andre Johnson and Arian Foster but it was still a 3rd string quarterback, a 3rd string rookie quarterback to be exact and veteran teams like Atlanta should feast on teams in that position.

Defensive Notables and Player of the Week

Atlanta allowed Houston to convert 50% of their third down attempts which is too high for a team that looking to be a factor down the road in the playoffs. Also Yates had a good game to for it to his first start in the NFL. He completed 12 of his 25 attempts for 188 and 1 touchdown, not mind blowing numbers but efficient and efficient quarterback is the quarterback who wins. The defense didn't do enough to confuse him, I don't know if the blame is on the coach or on the players but it needs to be fixed and fast! On a statistical note, guess who lead the team in tackles, .... Curtis Lofton! You can’t run from the police! Lofton posted 11 tackles all of which were solo, next was James Sanders with 10 and Mike Peterson with 10 also.

Player of the Week: Curtis Lofton- 11 Tackles 11 Solo Tackles 1 Sack 1 Tackle for Loss and 1 QB hit. All I got to say about this man SEND HIM TO THE PRO BOWL, This man deserves to in Hawaii come February.

Preview

This week’s matchup is a divisional game and a much needed win if Atlanta wants to hold on to their Wild Card Seed. Last week the Falcons caught a break with all the other NFC Wild Card contenders losing and shouldn't expect to catch another break. Hopefully the Falcons understand where they are and don't let the hot Panther send them home with an "L". Cam Newton is fresh off breaking the record for most rushing TDs in a season by a QB, and he is looking to pass Ryan for 3rd on the list of most passing yards by a rookie QB. Atlanta is going to have to come in, play focused, beat them up with Turner and leave Bank of American Stadium with a win as they approach a pivotal stretch in their scheduled as 3 of their final 4 games are against divisional opponents.

11-27: Atlanta Sends Minnesota Pondering

Back at School, getting ready for my finals and then headed back to Atlanta for the rest of the year. I don't agree with how the school gives us time off for Thanksgiving and then we have to come back to for finals then traverse back to our homes. Why not just give us finals before Thanksgiving and let us stay home for an extra week. Granted we don't have to go home for Thanksgiving so I guess its not really the schools fault. Any way with that being said. HEY YALL, thanks for coming back for another week of the Dirty Bird Blogging on the one and only WeDatNation. I’m going to try to keep this short because I have to get back to this Biology study guide. Last week the Vikings came into the Georgia Dome looking to upset the Atlanta Falcons, who have gotten on a roll winning 5 of the last 6 games. Can the Vikings play spoiler for the Falcons and their post season hopes. Let’s get into that RECAP!!!!

Recap

We are going to pick things up on Atlanta's second possession of the game. After both teams go 3 and out and exchange punts Atlanta gets the ball on on their own 20 looking to drive down the field. 1st and 10 Michael Turner finds running room behind the left guard and takes the ball for about 10 yards and a FIRST DOWN! Next play its Turner again for 1 yard but add on 15 for the face make on the NFLs very own "Rhinestone Cowboy" Jared Allen. AYE ALLEN THIS IS THE NFL NOT THE RODEO! WATCH THOSE HANDS WHEN YOU TRYING TO WRANGLE UP MY RUNNING BACK! 3 plays later it’s Turner off the left side again for 10 more yards and Atlanta is marching down deep into Vikings territory. 3 plays later Atlanta is pushed out of the Red Zone after Joe Hawley is flagged for holding. 1st and 20 from the 28, Jason Snelling tries the left side and picks up 1 yard to the 27. 2nd and 19, Ryan finds Harry Douglas on a short drag route... He stiff arms one guy.... makes another miss... next thing you know he is High Stepping at the 10... The 5... TOUCHDOWN HARRY HD DOUGLAS!!!! (7-0)

Moving right along into the 2nd Quarter of action, Atlanta has the ball on the 32 yard line. From watching this game, apparently Atlanta saw something during the week on the film that  they absolutely loved about the left side of the Vikings defense because they ran at the right side the entire game. First and 10, Turner picks up 3 yards off the left side. 2nd 7 its Jacquizz Rodgers off the left side for a gain of 8 and a First down, down to the 43 yard line. 1st and 10, everybody is doing it so, Why not it’s Jason Snelling off the left side for 3 yards. Two plays later The Burner, again takes the ball for 2 yards off the left side and it kicks Atlanta into its no huddle attack. Matt Ryan drops back and hit all pro tight end Tony Gonzalez for a 9 yard gain. 3rd and 4 Matt Ryan completes a pass to Harry Douglas for 18 yards down to the Minnesota 22. Two plays later Ryan and Gonzalez picks up another 18 yards. On the Next play Ryan Fires a pass to Roddy White into the end zone and Roddy does an amazing job tapping his feet in the back of the end zone for the 6 yard TOUCHDOWN!!! Atlanta also adds a 37 yard field goal to make the score (17-0) at the half.

On Minnesota's second possession of the half, the Vikings get things rolling. 1st and 10, Christian Ponder Finds Adrian, Toby Gerhart for the 8 yard completion, 2nd and 8 Gerhart rips off a 12 yard gain right up the middle of the league’s second ranked rush defense. Two plays later, there is a Shiancoe sighting in the GA Dome, good news for the Vikings, bad news for the Falcons. its a 14 yard gain down at the 46 yard line and the Vikings are marching!!! A few plays later Lawrence Sidbury has enough and SACKS Ponder for a loss of 13 yards at the ATL 34 yard line. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Percy Harvin plays for the Vikings and he picks up 13 yards on second and 23. 3rd and 10 Harvin and Ponder makes another connection this time for 20 yards down to the 1 yard line and from there Toby Gerhart finds the end zone on the 1 yard TD run. Touchdown Vikings. A 14 play, 93 yard drive that chewed almost 8 minutes off the clock. I'm not a homer, I must say that was a well orchestrated drive by a Rookie QB down by 17 on the road missing one of the best running backs in the NFL. (17-7)

The Vikings forces an Atlanta punt and they get the on the 20. Atlanta Forces a 3 and out but then strange things start to happen in the GA dome. Ok well not that strange, While Punt Returner Eric Weems is motioning to the team to stay away from the ball, in an effort of trying to get out of the way Dominique Franks gets a little too close and is accidentally touched by the football and it is recovered by the Vikings. LUCKY BREAK!!! 1st and 10 Ponder misfires a pass toward ex-Falcon Michael Jenkins. 2nd and 15 Percy Harvin takes the handoff up the middle for 2 yards. 3rd and 13 finds Gerhart on the screen, for 6 yards. BUT WAIT it’s a Flag on the play.... A CHALLENGE FLAG, on first glance Gerhart made an amazing catch but after the review the he caught it of a bounce INCOMPLETE!!! 4th and 14 Just when you think The Falcons have made a great defensive stand... Ponder Goes DEEEEEEP for Percy Harvin who is covered by Curtis Lofton and Harvin just out runs the middle line backer for the 39 yard touchdown on 4th down... (17-14)

A couple punts later, Atlanta has the ball on 27. Turner takes the ball off the.... You guessed it left side for 5 yards. Second and 5 Ryan, finds Gonzalez for 6 yards to keep the ball marching down the field. Next play Ryan finds Roddy White, who turned in a wonderful game, for 26 yards. Two plays later it’s Roddy again for 23 yards more yards to the Minnesota 7 yard line. Two plays later Matt Ryan finds tight end MICHAEL PALMER... Who? I said MICHAEL PALMER for the 3 yard TOUCHDOWN. (24-14) On the ensuing kickoff Percy Harvin fields the kick off and Finds a HOLE... AND HE IS OFF TO THE RACES HE COULD GO ALL THE WAY...... BUT HE DOESN'T, Harvin is tackled form behind at the 3 yard line by Chris Owens. One of the best plays of his career in my opinion chasing down some one as fast as Harvin is a big deal. It was either a great angle by Owens or he is a lot faster than I thought. The 104 yard return is the longest play in NFL history that did not go for a touchdown, but the defense has their backs up against the wall.

1st and 10 from the 3 Christian Ponder is SACKED by Chris Owens. 2nd and 5, Percy Harvin tries the right side and gains 3 yards before being tackled by Thomas Decoud ... 3rd and 2, Harvin shoots up the middle for a gain of 1.... Here it is 4th and 1 a stop ends it and Touchdown puts the Vikings back into the ball game... Christian Ponder turns and hands the ball to Toby Gerhart up the middle. but like someone shot Sean Weatherspoon out of a rocket launcher SPOON is in to backfield and Gerhart is on the ground 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. ... BALL GAME ATLANTA WINS 24-14!!!

Offense

Well what can I say? The offense did what it had to do to win the game. Not really much more I can say about that, except I did have a problem with the way they ran the ball or lack thereof. I noted in the recap that they ran left a lot in this game and now I’m sitting looking at the rush yards they accumulated and while the number of yards they got aren't all that great. Atlanta, a run first offense, only racked up 89 yards on the ground. You read right I said ATLANTA not Michael Turner, The team rushed the ball for just 89 yards and 0 touchdowns, however the good news is the team averaged 3.1 yards per carry on 29 carries which isn't great but its not bad. Over the years I guess I have just been spoiled buy the big yards racked up by our all pro running back.

However, again Matt Ryan turned in a great game throwing for 262 yards and only misfiring on 7 of his 34 passes. I love being right and I’m going to bang my drum as long as I’m right. I have gone on record saying that Ryan is a 25-35 throw per game QB and in each of the last two games he has not thrown more than 35 passes. Don't think his number of attempts are doing anything but helping the Falcons, Matt threw for 3 Touchdowns to three different receivers none of them named Julio Jones, who was held without a catch in this game. 

Offensive Notables and Player of The Week

Jacquizz Rodgers is keeping his productive rookie season going with 3 carries and 19 yards, which doesn't seem like much but for a 5th round sleeper sharing time with Turner and Snelling he is making the best out of his chances, but like many Falcons fans I'm waiting on him to get into end zone for the first time this season. Roddy White appears to be getting on a roll late this season turning in his second 100+ yard performance in as many weeks, bringing his season totals to 64 receptions 830 yards and 4 touchdowns. Roddy is 6 receptions away from a career milestone 500 receptions. Tony G is being just as consistent as he has ever been with 9 catches for 69 yards. Harry Douglas, who has found a groove after his breakout game of the season against New Orleans, had just two catches but for 45 yards and the first TD of the game.

Player of the Week: Matt Ryan 27 of 34 for 262 and 3 Touchdowns and a rating of 128.2. One thing you want from you QB is for him to be efficient and not make mistakes and he is doing just that.

Defense 

I do, however, have a problem with the defense and letting the Vikings back into the game after the offense had seemingly all but blown the lead wide open. For the second straight week the defense has let a Rookie QB come into the game and make them look really bad. After the offense had managed a 17 point lead the defense suddenly couldn't keep the Vikings out of the end zone and that is not something you want to do when your team is trying to make a post season push. The Falcons defense also allowed a fourth down conversion of 13 yards when they left Curtis Lofton of all people covering one of the fastest players in NFL. Taking nothing away from  Lofton who worked really hard to become an every down LB, but that's not who you want deep covering Percy Harvin , so from my professional experience I don't think that's how the defense was drawn up.

On a good note the Falcons did hold the Vikings to a poor 3rd down efficiency 4 of 13 to be exact and they did come through in the clutch when the game as potentially on the line Spoon did make a key tackle to turn Minnesota away at the 1 yard line on fourth down. Believe it or not that wasn't even the best tackle of the day. The tackle was made on special teams when it appeared Harvin was taking a kick off back to the house and he is chased down and brought down at the 3 yard line by Chris Owens. I said this earlier but that was the longest play in NFL history that didn't go for a touchdown and then on the next play of the game Chris Owens adds to his day by Sacking Ponder and pushing them back which essentially set up the play for Spoon to make the tackle on 4th down.

Defensive Notables and Player of the Week

Again for the one millionth time this season Sean Weatherspoon and Curtis Lofton led the team in tackles, Spoon with 10 tackles and 1 sack and Curtis Lofton had 9 tackles and 1 pass deflection. Also an unsung hero on the defense this in this game is Lawrence Sidbury who registered his first multi-sack game of his career. Early in the game Brent Grimes left the game with a bad knee, the same knee that slowed him in practice last week and how required surgery which he had on Thursday. James Sanders had 8 tackles this game which I believe is his highest total in his short time with the Falcons. The Defense, held the Vikings to 64 combined yards rushing the football and have yet to allow a team to have a single rusher post a 100 yard rushing game all season, but on the other hand Christian Ponder, a rookie, did have a 103.1 NFL rating after this game and completed 17 or 25 passes and in my eyes that is unacceptable from the NFLs 9th ranked defense. Hopefully next week against Houston they can put together a better effort against the 3rd string rookie quarterback.

Player of the Week: Chris Owens-5 tackles 4 solo 1 tackle and 1 sack... I was really stuck between Owens and Sidbury so SURPRISE!!!

Player of the Week: Lawrence Sidbury- 2 tackles 2 sacks 1 tackle for loss and 2 QB hits. Sidbury had his best game of his career and is not tied with the team lead in sacks with 4 on the season. No way I was going to let him go with his moment in the lime light, and If Owens didn't make that huge tackle on the Kickoff return Sid would have been the player of the Week all by himself.

Preview

Time for the Falcons to leave the comfort of the GA Dome for the first time since going to Indianapolis three weeks ago. This time they are headed to Houston to face the Texans without their first or second string QB. Lucky break for Atlanta right? WRONG the Falcons are going to face the 3rd best rushing offense in the NFL with Foster leading the way, even with the 2nd best rushing defense in the NFL the Falcons will still have a lot on their plate. Speaking of defense the Texans boast the 2nd ranked pass defense and the 4th best against the run, so In my opinion, if the Falcons want to escape Texas with a win the defense is going to have to come and play lights out against the 3rd string Rookie QB. T.J. Yates (a GA native) and one of the new premier backs in the NFL.