Falcons have dome-field advantage for playoff run
Ryan passed for one touchdown and ran for another in the team's 23-16 victory. (Associated Press)
BYE WEEK VILLE – Just wanted to pass along this bye/vacation week nugget for you all before I get back to working on my golf swing.
The Falcons, the defending NFC South champs, may have already played the toughest part of their schedule. When they return to practice on Monday, they will have a clear “dome-field advantage” over their final nine games.
Since 2008, quarterback Matt Ryan owns an NFL-best 26-6 record (81.2 percent) in games played in domed stadiums.
The Falcons play seven of their last nine games in domes. They could play eight, because Houston’s stadium is retractable.
Here’s the schedule:
Nov. 6 — @Indianapolis — Lucas Oil Field (Dome)
Nov. 13 — New Orleans – (Georgia Dome)
Nov. 20 — Tennessee – (Georgia Dome)
Nov. 28 — Minnesota – (Georgia Dome)
Dec. 4 — @Houston – Reliant Stadium (Retractable)
Dec. 1 2– @Carolina – Bank of America Stadium (outdoors)
Dec. 15 — Jacksonville – (Georgia Dome)
Dec. 26 — @New Orelans (Mercedes-Benz Superdome)
Jan. 1 — Tampa Bay (Georgia Dome)
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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152 comments Add your comment
SeenThisBFalcon
October 27th, 2011
1:18 pm
FALCONS GO 11-5 MAKE PLAYOFFS THEN GO UP TO THE FROZEN TUNDRA AND BEAT AARON RODGERS AND THE PACKERS IN THE BIGGEST REVENGE UPSET OF THE YEAR!!! FALCONS VS SAINTS FOR NFC CHAMPIONSHIP ON NEW ORLEANS GOES DOWN TOOO!!!!!
Threadkiller
October 27th, 2011
1:50 pm
I think we go 10-6..Hope it’s good enough
BigLou
October 27th, 2011
1:52 pm
If the defense continues to keep teams under 20 points, we should easily hit 12-4. I still cannot believe we held two high end offenses down like that. This could be the defense we have been waiting for. Also, we held Greenbay to 24 points, which we could have won if the offense stepped up. Go Falcons!
Falcon Chris
October 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
Thank God we get to let it all run its course….
Go Falcons !!!
Falcon Chris
October 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
Thank God we get to let it all run its course….
Go Falcons !!!
SeenThisBFalcon
October 27th, 2011
1:56 pm
Defense lookks great Weatherspoon and lofton are in the top 5 in tackling and Brent grimes has been solid, Edwards and Pters are starting to come around the only weak link is Decoud being out of place in coverage i think this Defense only gets better and if the Offense can get on track the skys the limit…
rudy
October 27th, 2011
3:07 pm
dear falcons fans, no game is a giving the rest of the way, you have to factory in some injuries along the way and maybe some hiccups in the red zones….fingers and eyes crossed
DePort
October 27th, 2011
3:20 pm
Great!!!! You all already predicted the rest of the season!!! … I dont need to watch anymore! I am so glad I get to read all your post that set the games in stone! … Shoot … lets not even play those games anymore and skip to the off season!
hiramsaint
October 27th, 2011
4:43 pm
you’re in 3rd place and you’re fantasizing about a playoff run? truly laughable
WHODAT7556
October 27th, 2011
5:06 pm
@D. Orlando..
Let me get this right…So you think Falcons are unbeatable just because you guys play at home.
You lost twice at home last year to the pack.
And the Saints have beat you in the GA dome before.
You guys really are dilusional!
WHODAT7556
October 27th, 2011
5:17 pm
THIS IS THE SAINTS SCHEDULE AFTER THE BYE..SO WHATS YOUR POINT???
Saints have 6games after the bye, 4 of em or at home!
Week 11 BYE
Week 12 New York Giants
Mon, 11/28 at 7:30 PM CST
Home: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Week 13 Detroit Lions
Sun, 12/04 at 12:00 PM CST
Home: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Week 14 @ Tennessee Titans
Sun, 12/11 at 12:00 PM CST
Week 15 @ Minnesota Vikings
Sun, 12/18 at 12:00 PM CST
Away: Mall of America Field
Week 16 Atlanta Falcons
Mon, 12/26 at 7:30 PM CST
Home: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Week 17 Carolina Panthers
Sun, 01/01 at 12:00 PM CST
Home: Mercedes-Benz Superdome
drmaryb .(*_*).
October 27th, 2011
5:55 pm
You Pick ‘Em!
“Great!!!! You all already predicted the rest of the season!!! ” -DePort-
***
Relax young fella! Were just a couple ole fans, looking at the competition on the schedule, being prognosticators, having healthy conversations, keeping our rent money and having fun! No harm there. LOL
WHODAT7556
October 27th, 2011
5:58 pm
typo: are at home
SeenThisB4
October 27th, 2011
7:24 pm
Don’t worry falcan’ts fans, your team won’t be in the playoffs, they’ll be 8 and 8 at the end of the season. At least, there should be some nice defensive players still available in the middle of the first round,….., oh wait, that’s right! Sorry, I forgot!!! LOL!
OldTimer
October 27th, 2011
7:46 pm
The only game that anyone needs to worry about is the next one. That’s what winners do.
OldTimer
October 27th, 2011
7:48 pm
Let’s talk about the Colts.
SeenThisB4
October 27th, 2011
7:53 pm
Colts will be playing at Tennessee this week, then going home for the first time in a while. Maybe they’ll be inspired to win one at home.
whodat70816
October 27th, 2011
9:16 pm
Yeah, lets talk about the Colts….
What better way for a Coach to show he shouldn’t be fired than beating a division champion team?
Michael M.
October 27th, 2011
9:34 pm
Taking my own bye week to get away from these dumb Trolls……………………lmao ! ! !
DIRTY BURGH
October 27th, 2011
10:52 pm
11-5, we’ll get Nawlins at home. hope to play SFO in the first round so we can beat the brakes off em.
CuseFalcon
October 28th, 2011
2:23 am
Haha……that aint cool man…….I hope you get yours from the karma train
Ellabell 1
October 28th, 2011
6:29 am
Steve O – You love to hate the Falcons because you know we probably are the most capable team to beat you. Probably twice this year!
Stepchild
October 28th, 2011
10:03 am
The key to getting in the playoffs for the Falcons is to beat a few teams with winning records. Up to this point in the season they haven’t beaten any decent teams except Detroit. Every other team Philly, Sea, Car are struggling to find themselves more than the Falcons are. Hold on…the rest of the season will be a rocky ride.
Stepchild
October 28th, 2011
10:12 am
The 2011 All-Underachieving Team from season’s first half.
Don Banks over at Sports Illustrated wrote this and included 2 references about Atlanta Falcons.
“Offensive line — Atlanta Falcons: Rather than single out five players at five positions, I’m taking the easy way out and naming one underachieving offensive line as a unit, since they say cohesion and teamwork is more vital on the O-line than anywhere else in football. You’re not going to get much of an argument from anyone in Atlanta regarding the struggles of the Falcons up front this season. Atlanta’s line started the season by giving up 13 sacks in the first three games, and it had difficulty in run blocking at times as well.
There has been improvement shown of late on both fronts (18 sacks allowed in seven games, and two strong rushing games in a row by Michael Turner), but the Falcons line clearly hasn’t lived up to its billing this season. Left tackle Sam Baker, a former first-round pick, has been mediocre at best and steadily gave up sacks early on, and right tackle Tyson Clabo has graded out average. Right guard Garrett Reynolds has been an obvious weak link in replacing departed free agent Harvey Dahl, and the continuity factor took another hit when center Todd McClure missed the first two games after arthroscopic knee surgery and had to be subbed for by reserve Joe Hawley.”
“Defensive end — Ray Edwards, Atlanta: The Falcons were hoping they filled their need for another pass rusher to complement John Abraham when they signed Edwards away from Minnesota in free agency, giving him a five-year, $30 million contract that included $11.5 million guaranteed. So far, those hopes have been dashed.
Edwards went sackless in the first month of the season, and through seven games he has just two sacks and 18 tackles, which puts him on a pace that won’t equal his eight-sack season of 2010, or his 8.5 sacks in 2009. As one NFL personnel evaluator said to me this week: “(Falcons backup defensive end) Kroy Biermann is a better pass rusher than Edwards, who was never more than just a solid player in Minnesota. He just got paid like a top pass rusher.”
Joel
October 28th, 2011
11:05 am
A statistic can be made from any set of empirical data. It’s going to take more than the dome field advantage for us to get over the top. Not trying to be a pessimist only a realist. We’re just not a complete team yet… We haven’t put together 4 good solid quarters of football yet and it’s week 8. Just concerns me…
SeaAtl
October 28th, 2011
12:23 pm
Let’s go get Bodden for our secondary – Patriots just released him.
Poor atl fans
October 28th, 2011
1:07 pm
Poor falcants fans, off the bandwagon, back on the bandwagon. The next loss, and watch how many jump off. To say your team has never won a super bowl, you guys talk a lot of smack. Win one, then talk. We all know, atl is known as loserville, trust me, the only way the failcants make it to the super bowl is as a spectator.
Chainman
October 28th, 2011
1:18 pm
Carolina game is on the 11th.
WHODAT7556
October 28th, 2011
3:53 pm
@Poor atl fans
October 28th, 2011
1:07 pm
Poor falcants fans, off the bandwagon, back on the bandwagon. The next loss, and watch how many jump off. To say your team has never won a super bowl, you guys talk a lot of smack. Win one, then talk. We all know, atl is known as loserville, trust me, the only way the failcants make it to the super bowl is as a spectator.
I COULDN’VE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF!!!!! Bandwagon is right!!!
Falcons have dome-field advantage for playoff run | NFL Online News
October 28th, 2011
5:55 pm
[...] Atlanta Falcons This entry was posted in Atlanta Falcons and tagged advantage, domefield, Falcons, playoff. Bookmark the permalink. ← Bucs put faith in safety Jackson with one-year extension [...]
jc_dawgs
October 28th, 2011
10:20 pm
This season could be eerily similar to that of the 1980 season. The 1980 falcons were 3-3 and then won 9 straight games…finishing 12-4 that year. The schedule certainly looks favorable. I for one don’t think the Saints will beat us again at home this year and that game comes up in a couple weeks.
The best thing that could have happened to Atlanta this year was J Jones being out for a few weeks. It has enabled the offense to reclain there identity and to remove the pressure off of our rookie star. When Julio comes back though….I believe that this time…the Falcons will be even better.
IluvP
October 28th, 2011
11:33 pm
Falcons will not win a super bowl with Matt Ryan. I’ve seen a lot of his games and he just doesn’t have it. The only way an average QB like Ryan can win a super bowl is with an above average defense. example: 2000 Baltimore Raven with Trent Dilfer and Tony Banks
FALCON YEAH!
October 29th, 2011
9:19 am
Especially if we implement the FALCON YEAH slash mob like we did in Detroit. I’ve never seen so many terrified motor city heads. Welcome to FALCON YEAH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgWA_n6M-DQ
painter
October 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
I love it when Saints fans post on our Atlanta Falcons blog. It shows how classless and lacking in intelligence they are. Love the bye week, rest up boys and let’s get ‘em.
Bird Dawg Country
October 29th, 2011
1:27 pm
Football was meant to be played outside!
The only concession should be to get a retractable dome for open air use for most of the beautiful fall season.
Superdome isn’t really much of an advantage for visitors. Although Falcons have had much success there.
Go Matty Ice….record doesn’t lie
Greg Moundine
October 30th, 2011
12:28 am
We must protect our House!
YourPoliticalAnimal
October 30th, 2011
9:07 am
This was what killed the Falcons last year as they secured the best record and “Dome Field” advantage. They began to talk about how they would be able to sleep in their own beds because they would be playing at home when all of a sudden, a green and yellow hurricane known as the GBPackers came blowing through ATL like General WTSherman!!! Hey Falcons, looks like you might have to go to Philly or more likely to the “Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field” for the playoffs, so cut the “we play better at the Dome” campaign speech, ok???
ln29576
October 30th, 2011
11:09 am
McNasty, why are you so nasty, your jealous name fits that’s for sure.
ln29576
October 30th, 2011
11:14 am
love it when Falcon fans post on our New Orleans Saints blog. It shows how classless and lacking in intelligence they are. Love the bye week, rest up boys and let’s get ‘em
Not a Falcon fan
October 30th, 2011
12:59 pm
If the Falcons make the playoffs, they will choke like last year.
Michael M.
October 30th, 2011
3:28 pm
Its the last Sunday in October and watching the Rams demolish the Saints…whoops the Aints…oh my the Cants! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! what about dem Aints are they not the best ? Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! ………………….The Birds will Crushhhhhhhhhhhh the Aints they call the Saints that are the Caints ! LMAO
bobby c
October 30th, 2011
4:39 pm
I can see the Falcons running the table if JJ can come back healthy and produce. Along with that if he isn’t any chances of taking a chance on T.O?
Pauls Johnson
October 30th, 2011
4:50 pm
I see the Aints lost to that jugernaught St Louis Rams today. And that my friends is why I dont bet on football. And to all you Aints fans out there. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,,,,, that is all
GregKennesaw
October 30th, 2011
4:54 pm
Aints lose to the Rams with Feely starting at QB, LMAO – where you at, aints fans?
Carolina loses again with SuperMan at QB! Great day for football!
katherine
October 30th, 2011
5:04 pm
hiramsaint
October 27th, 2011
4:43 pm
you’re in 3rd place and you’re fantasizing about a playoff run? truly laughable
this post is laughable…..wanna rethink that? the falcons aren’t in 3rd either…they were tied for 2nd….but the rams? really? ahahahahahahahha
Great Moments in Aints History
October 30th, 2011
5:25 pm
SeenThis,, HiramSaint, WhoDat,, and all the rest of you loser trolls. where ya at fellas,,, Hahaha,,
Great Moments in Aints History
October 30th, 2011
5:26 pm
Mike Franklin
October 30th, 2011
5:33 pm
The Falcs need to take the chains off the offense and confess that they can’t stop the short pass. After that, you focus on your strengths, reinforce the weaknesses and play every contest like it was a dome game.
Mora less Petrino
October 30th, 2011
5:51 pm
When the Rams go marching in…. Average Gain per Rushing Play was 5.9 for St, Louis! Gives the “Big Easy” a new meaning!
Michael M.
October 30th, 2011
6:27 pm
Its all over the News, in fact its the big news……………..” Aints get tail kickin by the St. Louis Mighty Mites ! ” Whats the matter boys ? Mama need to get you some grease rags to wipe the Tears again ?
You guys are a big Joke when you come on here and talk the crap about our Team and cutting them down when in fact they are going to hand you your next butt whooping !