so I am going to say it now that I have the chance, the Falcons are NOT an elite squad!

C'mon MAN

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GO HAWKS!!!

How we win this game:

1. Ball control, time of possession, power running, wear down their defense, outlast and out physical them.

2. Attack the A gap.

3. Stop Gonzalez on 3rd down and in the red zone.

Giants finished 9-7. Why are you spouting incorrect information ALL OVER this forum and the official Atlanta Falcons one this week? Dude, this is like the 5th time I've busted your BS this week. What gives? You need to stop.

oh geez calm down dood, OK they played one team one game over .500
does that do it for ya?

and no thats not like 5 times, I made one that was 29th worst defense, ended up being 24th, the difference is so huge I guess that makes the falcoons an ELITE squad... lol


so in their last 8 games the Falcons have played ONE team that is get this, ONE GAME over .500, wooo hooo world beaters incorporated... !!!!


everybody clap their hands now....

sides I'm not the only one posting diatribe on this website so....

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GO HAWKS!!!

also my data was correct on atalantanation, straight from NFL.com they have the 24th ranked defense, just click on the game like I instructed before...

League Rankings

DEFENSE

SEA 4th Atl 24th

it don't lie man! so YOU need to backoff man!

see where it says 24th next to defense? see where it says NFL.com in URL bar? yea thats what I said at atlnation....

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GO HAWKS!!!

I agree with the premise that a lack of pressure on Ryan might cause problems, but I think if you're focusing on the lack of pass rush from our base defense you're focusing on the wrong area. It's the lack of pressure from our nickel and dime defense which we will struggle with. Pete has already mentioned a few times as that area needing to improve and that was before losing Clemons and Jones (Yikes!)

Assuming Irvin doesn't crap the bed, our base defense is STILL the elite base defense we've had ALL year. The same defense that only a short while ago led the league in yards-to-go on 3rd down for opposing offenses (and maybe still does). The same base defense that is near top of the league stopping the run and is #1 in scoring. So, why are we calling out our base defense, yet again?

Here's the funny part. You know why we're going to WIN this game? Our base defense. With two of our main guys out in our sub-package defense, it will be up to our base defense to save our ass by playing such strong Run D that even Scruggs and a tired Irvin will have success on 3rd down.

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I got passion for my Hawks and I ain't afraid to show it

I'm pretty sure there was an implied "if" -- as in: If we lose, this will be why.

Personally, I'm not that worried about it, and I can sum up the reasons in one word.

ADJUSTMENT.

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you guys held on to beat a one legged quarterback, don't get it twisted, they'll be some down and out hawks fans on here sunday evening, but you guys had a great season, you can always build on that, just not this year.

Geez, it's like people are so blind to our problems.. We're not a perfect team and no matter how good our secondary is they cant cover JJ and White for six seconds until our anaemic pass rush eventually waddles upto Matt Ryan.

I agree with English on pretty much every point he's made. Having the best scoring defense in the league doesn't mean anything when it's a one and done game, it's an average. If we only let the Falcons score 15 points then I'm happy but the Falcons won't score 15 points unless we get a solid pass rush on them, that's just how the Falcons are, good offensive line, excellent passing game and mediocre running game. Keep in mind that our sack total is inflated by a freakish first half in one game and while sacks don't tell a full story for how a defense plays it's still a hugely important aspect and we can't keep riding our luck without QB pressure.

I honestly believe our pass rush will decide whether we win or lose this game. Four sacks and I'm happy, three and I'm nervous anything less and I'm hoping we can grind out the win with time of possesion

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I dont feel a loss in the pit of my stomach. Pretty amazing since it's usually is there. lol I feel we win a squeeker.

If not. I aint mad bro! Amazing and unexpected season!

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We held on to wear out a Defense that was playing good ball. We settled in and made the right adjustments.
We tired them out. And hopefully Lynch will do that to the Falcons.
Many Falcon wins came from less than stellar NFL performers too.

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Pressuring the QB IS important to Pete. I guarantee you this is causing him major anxiety.
Yes, the scheme doesn't call for many blitzes, but he didn't sign Jason Jones for any other reason than third down pressure. Pet's press scheme has never called for his secondary to be the part of the defense that carries the squad. They will address the D-line in the off season, I guarantee it.

They don't blitz more because Pete isn't trapped by the notion that sacks are an end all be all to winning. Making QBs make 2nd and third decisions per play is far more effective than the occasional tackle for loss. It's funny how fans get all tizzied up by sack numbers. Guy tackles the QB for a loss of two and his agent starts planning his holdout. Tackle a running back for a two yard loss and ho hum, next play.

People need to pay attention more to when and where sacks happen than how many of them there are. the sacks Wilson took vs Washington were not that big a deal, except for one that took us out of field goal range, because playing from behind, not making a single mistake down field was paramount.

In this particular game, playing contain on the edges when there is the risk of a screen call is a much bigger deal than Clemons getting around the corner. I don't like the Baker/Clemons matchup anyway. I do like Scruggs/Baker, Scruggs can walk him back. And I do think our DTs can get push against this front, which from what I see on Ryan, matters more than edge pressure.

Against the Niners or Packers, the loss of Clemons looms much larger.

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SEAHAWKS.NET. We All We Got, We All We Need

Would that be the same one legged QB that had us down 14-0 in the 1st quarter. And then we shut them out and scored 24 ourselves?

I LOVE our chances.

I definitely could've and should've worded it better. I'll hold my hands up on that one.

Whether he was one legged or not, he doesn't play defense. 24 unanswered points. 'nuff said.

i think his was point was...go down 14-0 to the Falcons and watch that comeback not happen

I'm honestly a little surprised that people are talking about this Falcon's offense as being a juggarnaut. Are they good? Yes but again, against a soft schedule they averaged roughly the same amount of points the seahawks did. They have a ton of weapons and I do expect them to have some success. But our defense is vastly superior, our offense couldn't match up any better against their defense with our running game and Atlanta's struggles against mobile qb's. I saw why people were a little worried in round one but on paper this is actually an easier matchup for Seattle. I expect a close game regardless until the end with Seattle winning by 10.

This is a deep thread so apologies if this point has been made already...

While our pass rush is our biggest weakness going into this game, and it plays against Atlantas biggest strength, we can gain encouragment from a strong LB corp and great secondary. As English stated we will have to bend not break

But where I feel this game will turn is in Atlantas greatest wakness and how it plays against our greatest strength. Their run d is atrocious. Something like 26th in the league (sorry didn't look it up)and were absolutely shredded by Cam Newton late on. I love that matchup against Lynch andW ilson. It finally took its toll on the Redskins.

The question is who holds on longer. Can our d keep us even long enough for our winning game and wilson to take over? I'm hoping so. I like us in this game even more than the Skins game.

Agreed Uncle SI. Surprised people aren't talking more about Atlanta struggling against Cam this year as well as against opposing running backs. I think we move the ball at will against Atlanta. All I hear on the board is their passing game. Well our running game is just as elite as their passing game and it has a better matchup as well. Shocking this isn't discussed more....

I am officially confident we will win given English has said we will lose. It's a tradition with him.