5 things we learned from the Dallas game
Tony Romo ducks out of sack attempt by Jonathan Babineaux. (Louis Deluca/Dallas Morning News)
DIRTY BIRDLAND – Let’s get right to the point.
Five things we learned from the Dallas game.
1. STAY ON THE SCRIPT: The opening drive was a masterpiece. The Falcons script their first 15 plays.
When the offense went “off script,” it grinded to a halt.
“Second drive, we went out and had two drops and the penalty,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
Wonder why you can’t “stay on script” if the script is working?
“They came back and made some adjustments,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “They played well up front and in the secondary. It’s frustrating because we feel like we can play better. But that’s a good defense that we played.”
Miles Austin shown here, pulling away from Brent Grimes. (Louis Deluca/Dallas Morning News).
2. WHERE WAS THE NO-HUDDLE?: The Falcons didn’t go to their vaunted no-huddle attack. The one that served them so well against the Chicago Bears. The one they scored two touchdowns, just last week.
If somebody finds the Falcons’ no-huddle offense, return it to them by next Monday night.
3. ROMO PULLS A HOUDINI: Free safety Thomas DeCoud had the best line after the game.
“He was Houdini today,” DeCoud said. “He made a lot of great escapes. It’s a credit to his talent as a quarterback.”
Defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux had the first shot at Romo on that touchdown pass right before halftime.
“The play was out there to make and I just missed my assignment on tackling him,” Babineaux said. “He made a good play off of our mistake.”
But you had him?
“He ducked out of it,” Babineaux said. “I couldn’t grab him with my right hand. He got loose and made a good play off of it. We just left too many plays out there.”
4. OFFENSIVE LINE GOT TOSSED AROUND: Right tackle Tyson Clabo and the rest of his line mates had a rough day
DeMarcus Ware had two sacks and made things rough for Ryan. (Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News).
against the Cowboys.
“We knew we had a challenge on our hands,” Clabo said. “The problem . . . is that they have five good pass rushers. We were a lot of times just one-one-one with those guys. You can’t put a back on those guys.”
Clabo was clear about what happened in Dallas.
“They kind of whipped us,” Clabo said. “It wasn’t a surprise to me. We knew they were good pass rushers. We’ve got to do a better job. It’s really inexcusable.”
5. RYAN UNDER FIRE: The Cowboys made things rough on Ryan. He was under heavy pressure and was sacked four times.
His 66.1 passer rating was his lowest of the season and his second-straight sub-70 game.
“Pressure affects the passing game,” Ryan said.
They Falcons have to get a lot of things in order before the head down to New Orleans for next week’s Monday Night showdown in the NFC South.
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259 comments Add your comment
rockie
October 27th, 2009
8:03 pm
Honesty is a great virtue: The Falcons disappointed me Sunday. However, my head is no longer in the clouds. where do i start? First, the Falcons were overrated (obviously). The O line is what everyone bagged on them about 2 years ago, last year was an anomially. Michael Turner is a “backup” after all. Michael Jenkins is a non catching, heartless beeyatch. the D-Line is too small and can’t tackle a lick (w/the exception of Bierman and Abe some times). the DB’s have been horrific since Ray Buchanon left. they draft corners and safeties and none of them pans out. which leads me to my next critique: specifically, Grimes shouldn’t be in the NFL. Houston is a backup at best. Jackson was just a poor draft choice. Moore was a non factor draft. DeCoud is no better than the aged Malloy we got rid of. Who the hell is VanGorder??? Emmit Thomas, appreciate your contribution to he NFL, but please resign or retire. Mularky, no wonder you were fired in Buffalo. Smitty you should take the blame for the staff you hired not the play of your pathetic players though. Get Romeo Crennel to run your defense, Herm Edwards to head up the DB coaching and find a 21rst century thinking offensive coordinator to really make “the process” worthwhile.
Quote Of The Day
October 27th, 2009
9:19 pm
rockie
So basically what you are saying is when the team wins it’s because of Ryan but if they lose it’s because of everybody else.
You are retarded
Quote Of The Day
October 27th, 2009
9:31 pm
D-LED:
Do me a huge favor. This is in response to your fellow moderator and since I was banned from his site, please let him know if he wants to have a larger blog pool, like yours, Mark’s and Jeff’s, he needs to stop being so biased and borderline racist.
Anytime someone voices their opinion about Ryan – they get banned.
Anytime someone disagrees with his “favorite blogger list” – he bans them.
Basically, he only encourages “pro-D3″ opinions and that’s why he only gets the same 7 bloggers on each thread.
Thanks D-LED and keep up the good work.
Dawson Devitt (D3)
October 27th, 2009
8:32 pm
Just a question for my Cage brethren………………….
Any wonder why some people post on the Falcons, but don’t post in here? Just wanted to get you alls thoughts, because there’s always bunches of Falcon fans that are on other AJC Blogs (Schultz, DLed, Sports Talk) that never come in here.
Any theories
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Falcon 8211
October 27th, 2009
10:12 pm
i hope we sign a cb like mcallister or mckenzie both could cover better than what we got now. tye hill must be terrible because he should already have been houston and grimes out already. yes matt had a bad day sunday. he is not going to be perfect every game
Falcon 8211
October 27th, 2009
10:15 pm
i just hope the aints do not break 50 on us on national tv . i still believe in the falcons just do not play that bad again this year
Deborah
October 28th, 2009
8:44 am
To gdg73: Always check your facts before writing on paper, when I was paying tuition it was and still is Division II unless it was changed last night. I will be calling Coach Mac to see if they changed since Saturday. Have a very nice Day
Jmallorca
October 29th, 2009
6:22 pm
The Falcon Defensive line was inept at creating constant pressure, and our secondary is our biggest weakness due to injuries and lack of a dominant presence up front. We drafted Peria Jerry to fill this need, we lack depth on both our lines that will come in time. Last year was great but we pplayed a much easier schedule, our run game suffers from our inconsistent offensive line play and lack of desire and timidity that is Michael Turner. His big games have all come from playing weaker teams, he goes down behind the line of scrimmage too easily and too often. Any chance the Falcons have of making the playoffs this year will be determined Monday night, can the second year quarterback Matt Ryan hold pace with Drew Brees and company? Yes the Falcons have a shot at bringing the Saints back down to earth, look at the schedules who beat who. The Saints who dey?
Sautee
October 29th, 2009
8:14 pm
“Anytime someone voices their opinion about Ryan – they get banned.”
Awww, poor baby. Sounds like whining to me. As does all the Ryan B.S.
Whining because Vick let you down. He let ME down too but I don’t have to whine about it or attack anybody else because of it. Of course, I’m an adult.
hey sd unlucky
October 31st, 2009
9:20 am
you sure are talking big for a cowpatty team that has blew it,s chances because of romeo and the cowpattyets playoff chances and now you got the falcons dead weight in keith cry babybrooking (c on man)