Falcons game assessment ( Short)

I waited for a more balance thought process on the game.

Offense - Bevell called a much better game, I am more and more thinking he is handcuffed by Pete, the down side, he predictably tries to force the ball to Graham, great Graham is contributing in the Red Zone, but if your throwing to him 9 of ten pass plays success rates will drop. That is one issue with Bevell, the other is getting overly cute at times with trick plays that take a long time and need space to develop, we do stuff inside the twenty that we should be doing on our own thirty.

But an improvement.

Defense - I did not expect a lot, a reconfigured secondary where communication would be an issue with hand off's and calls was going to happen, it did early with Shaq going down and turn overs. Saying that, I think the D line was in a more contain and gap responsible defense respecting that the Falcons can run, I also think with the Falcon receivers and a rebuilt secondary we plays a lot of zone and deep zone to not let guys get deep. They did really well considering they held the Falcons under 300 yards.

Elephant in the room, bad calls at bad times against Coaches and or players that know you almost as well as you know yourself. Pete gets cute at the wrong times, when your [playing in a desperation mode teams are going to be looking for your trick plays, furthermore ex coaches and players know a lot of what you have in your play book based on your formations.

Kicking game, Walsh is messed up, he is trying to compensate now, the field goal at the end was on target but he gave up his power to be accurate, I have a feeling he is going to be trying to get right now the rest of the year and were going to see Jekyll and Hyde now.

Going forward, Let Bevell call his offense without Petes interference going forward and I think we will see a different team, still need to get O line fixed, Defense, we are in a transition, Lane and Maxwell can be place holders but we really need Shaq healthy and back and start grooming the left side replacement as well, it won't be Lane or Maxwell for talent and salary reasons. Safety depth is good and Coleman I hoe we sign long term as a slot guy. We need to allow the D line to pin their ears back also at times and bring more blitzes if were doing a deeper zone coverage.

Running game, Davis looked like he had a spark, won't be there for a while, no answer here unless Rawls regains form and we actually use him.

A few stray thoughts:

1) One of Wilson's strengths is that he doesn't turn the ball over. He had two turnovers that led to 14 points in the first quarter. That's just random chance, and bad luck.

2) Both teams were getting gashed on kick returns over and over again, but both teams kept on kicking short. Were there crazy swirling winds I didn't know about? IIRC about two-thirds of NFL kickoffs result in touchbacks, but both teams were just trading off on short kickoffs and gashing each other.

3) The Seahawks pass D held up MUCH BETTER than I thought it would, particularly given the lack of pressure. I know the Falcons were in slow-down mode for much of the game and Ryan was very efficient when he did throw, but if you told me that with their injuries and very little pass rush Matt Ryan would throw for under 200 yards in that game I'd be shocked.

4) I know Mike Davis looked good, but from his time on the 9ers I think he's fool's gold. He regularly gets hurt, and although he looks explosive, he doesn't make his own yards. He does a good job of quickly moving through big holes that are presented to him, but that's it. IIRC his rookie year he had the lowest YPC for qualifying RB (50 carries, I think) in NFL history. :lol: Then he looked all-world the next preseason, and then went back to being awful in the regular season before getting hurt again. He's fast and he can thump, but just really doesn't have a feel for the game.

To me he's a C-list Thomas Rawls, who is himself a C-list Thurman Thomas.

Popeyejones":1m3fgeme said:

A few stray thoughts:

2) Both teams were getting gashed on kick returns over and over again, but both teams kept on kicking short. Were there crazy swirling winds I didn't know about? IIRC about two-thirds of NFL kickoffs result in touchbacks, but both teams were just trading off on short kickoffs and gashing each other.

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One thing I've noticed at the last two home games is the ball sounds like a rock when they're kicking it. I think the heavy rain is having a big affect, even moreso than the wind. On Monday the Seahawks were lining up to run another play, probably trying for a quick out to get a few yards closer. I saw Wilson walk over to Pete and explicitly point at the goal post flags. They weren't moving at all, which I think convinced Pete to go for the FG and not chance running out the clock trying to get a few more yards.

When Walsh kicked the ball, heard that same heavy thud. Walsh may be a head case but Century Link probably is one of the most challenging stadiums to kick in.

mikeak":s9yoc32y said:

imnKOgnito":s9yoc32y said:

I think the heavy rain is having a big affect, even moreso than the wind.quote]

While the forecast was for rain there wasn't any. I was not under the roof and remained 100% dry except when someone spilled beer on me so yes I am certain

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Understood. It was actually perfect football weather DURING the game. It was torrential downpour for days leading up to it, though. The ball still sounded heavy when getting kicked, just like it did during the Washington game. Don't know if it was just soaking in the heavy air, or what, but just an observation. Also, wasn't just when Walsh was kicking. Every kick in the last couple of games sounds like a heavy THUNK!

imnKOgnito":ifuf95re said:

mikeak":ifuf95re said:

imnKOgnito":ifuf95re said:

I think the heavy rain is having a big affect, even moreso than the wind.quote]

While the forecast was for rain there wasn't any. I was not under the roof and remained 100% dry except when someone spilled beer on me so yes I am certain

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Understood. It was actually perfect football weather DURING the game. It was torrential downpour for days leading up to it, though. The ball still sounded heavy when getting kicked, just like it did during the Washington game. Don't know if it was just soaking in the heavy air, or what, but just an observation. Also, wasn't just when Walsh was kicking. Every kick in the last couple of games sounds like a heavy THUNK!

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I wonder if the Patriots' operatives are out here letting air out of the balls.