5 things the Falcons need to fix over the bye week
Pro Bowler Roddy White has been working underneath a lot. Do the Falcons need to send him deep more often? (Brian Williams/AP)
IN THE AIR ON THE WAY TO HARTSFIELD-JACKSON — It seems like there is never a good time for the bye week.
But the fourth week of the season is too early.
The Falcons get to stew for two weeks before heading out to San Francisco to face the upstart 49ers.
Here are five things the Falcons need to fix over the bye week. (We’ll get the official list when Coach Mike Smith speaks later today. But for now, we can start with my list!)
1. Find the running game: Pro Bowl running back Michael Turner has rushed for 65, 105 and 56 yards. Miami
Pro Bowler Michael Turner has 65 carries for 220 yards (3.5 per carry). (Brian Williams/AP)
and Carolina targeted Turner, but New England did a good job of playing keep-away in the third quarter. When the Falcons did get the ball for a second time in the second half, they were down two scores and needed to pass. Don’t know if the holes are not there or if “The Burner” is not hitting the holes fast enough. But that’s something the Falcons need to sync up quickly.
2. Solidify the run defense: After the bye, the Falcons will see Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Felix Jones and Marion Barber over the next three games. They will need to get much stiffer against the run. Trey Lewis had a rough day in his first action since suffering a knee injury in 2007. On Fred Taylor’s 8-yard touchdown run, Lewis didn’t hold the point of attack and was pushed back several yards by New England center Dan Koppen and guard Stephen Neal.
3. Get the pass rush cranked back up: The defensive line has been shut out in the sack department over the last two games. They need to dial it back up. John Abraham and Kroy Biermann had two sacks in the opener. Linebacker Stephen Nicholas has the only other sack. If they find out the line can’t get home, then blitz more. Safeties Erik Coleman and Thomas DeCoud had good blitzes in each of the last two games. Nicholas can get home, too. Corners would be left in coverage more, but at least they’d be taking the fight to the opposition. .
Cornerback Brian Williams kept a Randy Moss TD off the board here. (Brian Williams/AP).
4. Find out if Tye Hill can help: By the time the Falcons play again, it will have been five weeks since the trade with St. Louis for Tye Hill. That’s plenty of time for him to get acclimated in the “system.” Doesn’t seem like it should be that hard. Although, Chris Houston, Brian Williams and Brent Grimes have been solid, it’s time to find out if Hill can help. If he can cover man-to-man, then the Falcons would be able to unleash more blitzes.
5. Get Roddy White the ball down the field: The Falcons have to take more shots down the field. White has been regulated to underneath possession receiver through three games. A few more shots will get folks out of the box, too. If White and Michael Jenkins are streaking up the sidelines and Tony Gonzalez roaring down the middle seam, one of them will be open. White has seen 26 passes come his way. He’s caught 15 for 119 yards (7.9 yards per catch). His longest catch of the year went for 17 yards.
Got any more fixes?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
243 comments Add your comment
D. Orlando Ledbetter
September 28th, 2009
1:20 pm
Good stuff today. Maybe I’m giving Houston and Grimes, too much credit. But they haven’t been horrid or anything.
THANKS FOR THE SHOUT OUT D3.
About to drive out to the Branch and see what Coach Smith has to say about all of the fixes here. I will have a long list of questions for him since the players are not going to be available to the media until Wednesday. Send some questions along. I should get there in time to review and put them on my list. You know, I’ll say “The readers what to know . . . why you’ll don’t run the Double-Reverse or whatever.”
I approve some Vick comments. Feel free to ignore them!
blord
September 28th, 2009
1:21 pm
I have heard and read where people are wondering why we didn’t do what the Jets did since it was effective. That is an easy question to answer. We can’t do that because we don’t currently have the personal to do it. The Jet’s D is really good and ours is average but will get better…I hope. There are some things I would have like to have seen different reguarding the coaching but I don’t think our coaching is the reason we lost the game. We lost….but we are still a good team. No need to panic.
Casey
September 28th, 2009
1:24 pm
Why did we punt the ball with 7 minutes left in the game at a 4th and 4? We did not get the ball back after that. The disappointing run defense, the lacking run offense, and the total neglect of our hall of fame TE are all things I can get over, but when we start giving up at the end then that’s what really cooks my grits.
SHOULD HAVE DRAFTED FLACCO
September 28th, 2009
1:34 pm
5. Get Roddy White the ball down the field: The Falcons have to take more shots down the field. White has been regulated to underneath possession receiver through three games.
Can’t stretch the field with a WEAK ARMED QB!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mountain_jim
September 28th, 2009
1:44 pm
Anyone who thinks we were not outcoached was not paying attention. We did nothing to counter their shutdown of Roddy, playcalling in 2nd was terrible (roll outs with only one option on 3rd down), Smith needed to grow a pair and go twice on 4th down, once from inside the 40 for criminy’s sake. And 4th and 7 and 7 or so minutes left and we punt?
WE PUNT? I was disgusted with that decision.
And no blitz packages and no balls on defense – if Brady was on they could have had 50 points with the time he had!
This was a pityfully coached game and that’s what they need to realize and change from play-not-to-lose to grow-a-pair-and-play-to-win for the rest of the season.
T.C
September 28th, 2009
1:45 pm
Man the falcons are just sorry. since 1966 people have been making excuses for this team.Get a real defensive coordinator someone who can be creative and not just play base D-fence,then maybe and thats just a maybe they can win.Good teams who win the big games have and play DEFENCE.
MATT WOULD WET HIS PANTS WITHOUT TURNER
September 28th, 2009
1:46 pm
2008 1,699 YARDS
This bum for a quarterback doesn’t have an NFL arm like the 2nd year qb for the Ravens. He already has 2 300 yard games and are 3-0 and he doesn’t have a pro bowl receiver, back or tight end.
mountain_jim
September 28th, 2009
1:47 pm
I meant shutdown of Gonzo
MATT WOULD WET HIS PANTS WITHOUT TURNER
September 28th, 2009
1:49 pm
The Saints have a better offense and defense, it’s going to be a massacre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve Jones
September 28th, 2009
1:51 pm
There seems to be a lot of blame on play calling and I must agree that the play calling has been dissapointing at times. When we have a 3rd and short I’ve seen too many rollouts to the right. Why not stretch the field w/ all the weapons we have? I feel Mularkey has performed at best, par level performance and needs to start calling more appropriate plays that fit this explosive offensive. Enough of the conservative play calling! Also, bench Jamal Anderson! He is a bust! What’s his trade value right now?
Falcfan
September 28th, 2009
1:53 pm
DOL- 3 questions for smitty
1 why the lack of blitz pressure on Brady when it was clearly effective the week before?
2 why are we not throwing downfield at all with Roddy? He was clearly at his best last year on intermediate to deep routes.
3 when are we going to see Tye Hill? And don’t let him give you the we are teaching him the defense response- it’s been 5 weeks so we should be seeing him on quite a few of the defensive snaps.
Falcfan
September 28th, 2009
1:58 pm
Blord- that’s a great question. I was wondering the same thing myself. The great thing is with DeCoud playing so well Moore can make sure his hammy completely heals before coming back. Hammy’s can cause issues over a career if they don’t heal properly. It will be interesting to see what they do with him though.
wxwax
September 28th, 2009
2:06 pm
MrHughes, I disagree that the defense played well. Brady was not really pressured. He missed a number of throws that he would normally expect to make. I think New England stopped themselves and I think the Falcons were spectators.
Mark, I wonder if in their effort to become a more diversified offense, the Falcons forgot their basic identity? Seems to me they’ve been trying to execute a balanced attack. And no-one complained about the absence of run-heavy play calling when they were winning.
But losses always force you to self-examine. And maybe the Falcons will decide they need to return to the tough-guy, bare-knuckle running game that is supposed to be their identity. Given his heavy workload last year, I was glad to see Turner get fewer carries this season. But the vacation may be over. Perhaps it’s time for Turner to strap on the harness and pull the offense again.
MrHughes, that’s an interesting comment about Ryan not being accurate on deep throws. I’m not sure I agree. but I’ll certainly be watching with a more critical eye from now on.
jcatl
September 28th, 2009
2:06 pm
The officiating yesterday was horrible, especially in the first half.
In the second half, on the TD that was called back, the play before where Jenkins made a long catch he was mugged but . . . no call.
So, two plays in a row Jenkins is beating his man, but the Falcons never went back to that play. I got the feeling we were playing not to get hurt yesterday . . .
cutter
September 28th, 2009
2:10 pm
Chris Houston is not a football player he may be a very good athlete but he is too soft in the run game and has no awareness in pass coverage. On one play the RB was running to his side and he ducked down and held his head down until the player run by then he slapped the down like he was upset he didn’t make the tackle. He guesses to much in coverage, several times when the WR was about to make his move Houston would open his hips guessing which way the WR was going and was wrong every time. Look if someone were paying me what he is getting paid to play I would play until they chased me off the field. So I guess that’s what needs to happen. If Tye Hill is ready to go I see Houston getting benched and eventually traded or released. Definitely not re-signed, Smitty knows he’s garbage he’s just waiting for Hill to learn the defense. Brent Grimes….cute kid but to soft for this league. Jamal Anderson again just to soft. If we don’t improve the DT position with a proven veteran this will be a long season. Trey Lewis is garbage plain and simple he was getting thrown all over the field Sunday and Thomas Johnson …well I mean this guy just doesn’t have the talent to start in this league period. You can’t expect an undrafted guy who did not even play football last year and who only has about 20 tackles to his name to come in and be productive as a starter. The 2nd string DT’s need to be proven veteran guys not two guys who have not even played football the last couple of years and when they did play it was not at a high level. Everybody is not gonna be the diamond in the rough like Dahl and Clabo. I hesitate to call our corners too small because there are very good corners in the NFL that are about the size of Houston and Grimes. Grimes and Houston lack the physical and mental toughness needed to be productive in this league. For some reason no matter who coaches this team and no matter who owns the team the philosophy has always been using small guys and playing a finese game. When the Falcons change and start playing smash mouth football maybe things will change.
JT
September 28th, 2009
2:11 pm
I cincur with your assessment, and so should Coach Smith, it’s kind of a no brainer. New Englad showed so little respect for the Falsons defense, they went for a 4th and 1 and their OWN 24 YARD LINE! And converted it!!!!…..now that’s NO RESPECT or FEAR of the defense. We gotta step it up, we don’t tackle that well, it seems. Can you say GRADY JACKSON!!!!!!!!!!!
hatfieldgeoff
September 28th, 2009
2:12 pm
where is the NFL digging up these officials. I couldn’t beleive it when Ryan’s pass was batted down and even the people in the cheap seat in Foxboro could see it, but the officials let it go, called it a fumble and gave NE a TD. Falcons had to challenge the play to get it reversed. And then, after the usual 5 minutes of wasted time, the A**Clown Referee cut on his microphone and says the quarterback’s arm was moving forward and they were reversing the call, as if it was a close play that took a great deal of observation and study to determine. The ball traveled 4 yards in the air after it left his hand, talk about CYA. I hope the Falcons make a case to the NFL offices because their is no way 6 officials should miss that. They need to cull some of those idiots out of the ranks.
Wanda
September 28th, 2009
2:14 pm
They should be passing to Gonzales. I only heard his name 1 or 2 times yesterday. Whats the deal.
What about blitzing the QB. Brady had all the time in the world. Come on Falcon’s don’t let us down.
hatfieldgeoff
September 28th, 2009
2:18 pm
Hey, Mr. Hughes,
You are right the defense was on the field twice as much as the offense. That is because they could not get NE off the field. Patriots had 4 drives of more than 10 plays. If you noticed we didn’t punt much because we didn’t have the ball. NE ran on us passed on us and did whatever they wanted. If Brady had had an average day they would have scored 3 more touchdowns. Falcons defense is weak. Losing Jerry hurt but even with him they would not have been much better. Offense should have performed better but defense is going to be bad until they get another draft and 1 or 2 more free agents in the mix.
FHZ
September 28th, 2009
2:21 pm
If Trey Lewis cannot stuff the run at NT, then The Falcons will be in for a long season against the run.. He was their last hope there.. The other Defensive Tackles seem more like UTs…and pass rusher who can’t get to the opposing QB.
I also believe teams of this schedule.. these good teams.. have film/DVD on this defensive scheme now.
The only thing that they can do is start Hill abd Sidbury.
…Maybe “Rotation” is not a good thing more the D-Line. It might be good to let these guys warm-up a bit before yanking ‘em. The LBs can become used to their play upfront.
Running Game:
The O-Line cannot be tweaked until the offseason..
Snelling is ready.
Split Norwood out at WR.
He is their fastest WR and quick strike/ deep threat (and he is a RB)..
Put Norwood in the slot.. Send him in-motion (behind TE Gonzalez).
Force opposing CBs to tackle him.
David
September 28th, 2009
2:25 pm
Finally everyone sees MV7 get in the game for the Eagles. Same story. Hopefully no one will post that we should have kept that loser again. I think the Pats loss comes down to one thing… if we were able to get to Brady more quickly (or at all)… I think the game would have changed dramatically. He really had all day, and he will find a way to beat us when that happens. Sure Turner fumbled the ball on what looked to be a key drive for us… but we also had other opportunities.
One more thing. If “holdout” Roddy drops another ball, we should ship him to Philly with the loser.
FHZ
September 28th, 2009
2:29 pm
3rd and 4th Down:
Jamaal Anderson to DT next to Babineaux
Move Abraham around a bit..
More Sidbury.
Put him at OLB sometimes too next to DE Abraham.. Blitz him up the middle..
Some 5 D-Line fronts..
Drop DE/DT Jamaal Anderson into coverage form the DT position.. Stand him up..
At 6′7″, he should obstruct an opposing QB’s view some
bg
September 28th, 2009
2:29 pm
Third quarter, down 16-10, Falcons facing a fourth down and three to go INSIDE the 40 and punting lost the game. Assume we don’t make the first down: New England has a shorter field … but as it was they drove for another score anyway. Assume we DO make the first down and can get in the end zone on that drive: Falcons are up 17-16 instead of being down two scores. NOT going for it handed the game over to New England on a silver platter.
Stat Man
September 28th, 2009
2:29 pm
Mising Jerry already – but injuries are a part of the NFL.
My biggest concerns are:
(1) I just don’t have the confidence in Turner that most do. I’m certainly not saying he’s a problem, but take away games from the 3 worst teams in the NFL last year (Lions, Rams & Chiefs) and he only had a 3.8 YPC average. That’s NOT anything to brag about. He also was held to 70 or fewer yards in 6 games last year and 2 of 3 this year, so that means 8 of his last 18 games, he was basically a “non-factor”. The Birds are 3-5 in those 8 games. That’s a little more of a trend than I’d like.
(2) It’s scary that any team (Patriots included) can devise a game plan to take away BOTH of our top offensive weapons (Turner & Gonzo) – the coordinators need to use this week to get something accomplished so that other teams can’t pattern what the Pats did. You have to remember – the schedule makers did us no favors this year as we play FOUR teams coming off their bye week. That’s four games a team will have 2 weeks to prepare for us and if we get too predictible on offense – we are in big trouble.
Oh yea, and the sooner they just flat cut Anderson, the better. This stiff has 3 tackles in 3 games and single handedly gave the Pats 3 points yesterday with his stupid roughing penalty. One point allowed for every tackle made? This guy is making the Andre Bruce draft pick look great!
Keepin it 100
September 28th, 2009
2:34 pm
WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IS GET BIGGER CORNER BACKS!!! #20 IS LIKE 5′9 AND RANDY MOSS IS LIKE 6′5 HE BEAT HIM ALL DAY!!! THE SECONDARY NEEDS TO GET BETTER!!! & GET TONY G & RODDY WHITE DA BALL!!!
Keepin it 100
September 28th, 2009
2:34 pm
WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IS GET BIGGER CORNER BACKS!!! #20 IS LIKE 5′9 AND RANDY MOSS IS LIKE 6′5 HE BEAT HIM ALL DAY!!! THE SECONDARY NEEDS TO GET BETTER!!! & GET TONY G & RODDY WHITE DA BALL!!! YA FEEL ME
MV77777
September 28th, 2009
2:35 pm
Enter your comments here
Bull butter
September 28th, 2009
2:37 pm
I still think its coaching.The team lacked fire and motivation,and thats the coach’es job.The game plan sucked and that falls on the coach’es.Can’t explain the refs calls or the inability of the coach’es to adjust to whats was going on.The saints may well runaway with the division.
gxseymeru
September 28th, 2009
2:37 pm
boooooop!
loel
September 28th, 2009
2:39 pm
are you all nuts?. A few calls the other way and the Falcons win the game,,,yes even against the New England.
Cheryl S
September 28th, 2009
2:40 pm
Was it because we, the fans, expected nothing of the Falcons last year that they did so well? No pressure? This year we expect a lot and they are playing like we expected them to play last year. What happened? Why isn’t Ryan throwing many long passes anymore? It seems like they’re all little 3 to 5 yard passes. We need something big to happen on first downs, instead of small 1, 2, and 3 yard gains.
Come on, Birds, you can do it!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
September 28th, 2009
2:44 pm
STAT MAN: Nice job the Turner breakdown.
Stat Man
September 28th, 2009
2:45 pm
Not a problem – thanks for the call out!
**Frederick(Bailey)Douglass**
September 28th, 2009
2:47 pm
Questions for somebody in Flowery Branch that is getting paid for this stuff:
(1) What determines our decision to throw the deep ball? Does Ryan have a shoulder problem that prevents up from stretching the D?
(2) Why don’t we use Snelling more? He has shown that he can run, catch and block. Why did he get only one carry?
(3) Where is William Moore in terms of availability? What about Chevis Jackson?
(4) Third down are money downs. Why would we EVER limit the field by calling a planned rollout?
D. Orlando Ledbetter
September 28th, 2009
2:47 pm
bg: It was fourth and 5 on New England’s 38.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
September 28th, 2009
2:53 pm
FalcFan: Got your questions.
E43
September 28th, 2009
2:57 pm
to the anti falcons DB clan… the front office knows what their doing. development of the players comes only with time. theyre actually playing well they were very much in position in all 3 games, everything else will develop just be patient. Michael Turner needs to turn it up and i bet he will soon. the falcons havent clicked as a team yet but they will sooner or later and you can count on it.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
September 28th, 2009
2:58 pm
FDB: Got your questions. 1. Nothing wrong with Ryan’s shoulder. Where did you get that from? 2. Moore Snelling? 3. Moore. Chevis got beat out by Brian Williams. 4) The roll out was a blitz read, to roll away from the fire zone. At least that was the read.
FemaleFalconsFan
September 28th, 2009
3:03 pm
Michael Turner is a one-trick pony & his act is old!
FalcFan
September 28th, 2009
3:04 pm
DOL- thanks! I’m interested to hear what Smitty has to say about the game. And I don’t know if you get to talk to Brian Van Gorder, but if you get the chance, ask him about the adjustments he made to stop the Pats- it was obvious they (the Pats) came with a different gameplan than what we expected, but I didn’t see any adjustments made to try to counteract what they were doing. Just throwing that out there.
supa
September 28th, 2009
3:09 pm
Good post. I agree with your fixes as well. Pass rush is key. They need to try some new blitzes. Brady had way too much time yesterday. He missed a lot of passes; otherwise, NE could have easily put up 35+ points.
Great Falconi
September 28th, 2009
3:13 pm
I’d like to see more vertical passing, but I do think we’re missing Norwood a lot. If you think about our players on offense, he’s the only guy with big-time speed. With Norwood out of the lineup, the offense definitely loses some of its explosiveness. Nevertheless, I wanted us to throw to Snelling a few more times yesterday. Spread the D out and hit the RB with a few passes for some easy gains. Even better, throw the ball to Turner once or twice a game. Mix it up. Don’t make it so easy for the defense.
On defense, I think the Falcons just brought the wrong game plan with them to Foxborough. You can’t sit back in coverage and simply dare Tom Brady to pick you apart. Remember that one incompletion Brady had in the end zone? You know, the one where someone got just a little pressure on him and he literally stumbled and fell as he was throwing the ball? Brady doesn’t want anyone near him. He’s gun-shy. I saw him do the same thing against the Jets. We didn’t exploit his fear. Everyone respects what Tom Brady has done in the league, but no one should respect him quite as much as we did.
It is always better to go down with guns blazing than to holster the guns and live to fight another day. We don’t play the Pats again. We won’t get another shot. We should have taken our best shot yesterday.
E43
September 28th, 2009
3:17 pm
MV7 i dont know which games your watching but matt ryan has a bout a 100 qb rating and 65% completed passes.
Fredrick(bailey)douglas-
1)we dont have blazing fast receivers. its risky to put the ball down field in a close game, he does it occasionally but our wrs dont seperate long enough. roddy is fast but not deep ball threat fast just NFL fast
2)snelling will be used if we can depending on if were playing form behind or not and the score if we have a 3td lead i bet youll c him.
3)william moore wont start this year unless decoud gets hurt itll mess up the flow at Safety. chevis is will probably see time in quarter formations and special teams. coz with grimes coming to the outside and bwill going to the slot on 3rd down it gives him no options
4) its just play action, teams still prepare for the falcons based on tape from last year. the rollouts make the other D play honest.
CUTTER chris houston is not going to be replaced by tye hill. trust me its a downgrade. tye hill may repace grimes in the slot or chevis jackson in the quarter formation.
Billy whiteshoes- im also getting impatient with J Anderson. but if the coaches see something then im all for them.
Sautee
September 28th, 2009
3:28 pm
Get Norwood healthy and run the wheel route 5 -6 times per game. No linebacker, and VERY few safeties or nickel backs can possibly keep up. We had it and missed it against the Panthers. Milk that mismatch.
Oh and by the way, last year Ole Noodle Arm had completions of 70, 69, 67, 62, 59, 55, 47, 46, 38, 37 (twice), 32, and 30 (twice). How in the WORLD did he do it with such a weak arm? Must have gotten lucky.
14 times.
Oh yeah, and he would have had another 40 yarder or so in the Denver game but Roddy dropped a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone and cost us the game.
And yes, I know that they are trying to take what the D gives with these 5 yarders, but Mularkey is holding Ryan back. Stretch the dadgum field!
BigTimeTECHFan
September 28th, 2009
3:28 pm
Bench Lofton, He’s not cutting it, he’s always behind on the plays. We need a LB in the middle that can read the plays and be where the ball is all the time.
O-line need to open up more holes.
Moss was open a lot, brady missed him but DB’s did pretty good, most of the time we should have been at the QB by the time Moss got open. Need penetration up the middle, Brady just step up in the pocket, Abs’s was 5 years behind him most of the time, but if tackles would have had push that wouldn’t happen.
Dukester9
September 28th, 2009
3:39 pm
The falcons are an average team average to me is 6-10 to 9-7. They beat poor week 1 and and average team week 2. They got beat by a elite team yesterday. There are only 4 playmakers on this team 55,88,33 and 32. The falcons need to figure out away to make them work. O and the guys who think Matt Ryan is the reason for the recent falcons success. Look at our record when Turner rushes less than 25 times for less than a 100 yards.
MV77777
September 28th, 2009
3:41 pm
ITS FUNNY !!!! WHERE WAS THIS MODERATION THING WHEN YOU GUYS ON YOUR PITTBULL (DOG)TRIP???????????? LOL
Tony Gonsalves
September 28th, 2009
3:41 pm
Enter your comments here Hey Mr. Ledbetter, if your so smart and it was that easy why aren’t you a head coach in the NFL somewhere. I am a New England Patriots fan who happen to like the Falcons.
MV77777
September 28th, 2009
3:41 pm
WHATSUP AJC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Walt
September 28th, 2009
3:43 pm
Grimes and Houston are awful…..As is VanGorder..How many more weeks will it take for Smith to realize it?