Atlanta Falcons: Birds Beat Broncos on Big Stage
Falcons Notch Big Win on Monday Night Football
Moore = Beast! (AJC)
The Atlanta Falcons finally won on the biggest of stages after falling flat the last few times, and every time in the Mike Smith Era. The Birds welcomed one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time full of hype after beating the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers. It was an entertaining and very long game that was filled with plenty of turnovers (for the Broncos) and a bunch of stoppage times from the replacement refs. We can talk all day long about how the Falcons almost let a big slip away, but the fact remains that they didn’t. In fact, this was a big win for no other reason than help the Falcons themselves, the organization, and their fans psyche in believing they can win the big ones. A look at the huge win……….
William Moore’s Breakout
No Caption Needed (AJC)
There were plenty of great performances to go around, but it one player had to be chosen it was safety William Moore. The former Missouri product has become a quick fan favorite for his hard-hitting and many have been waiting for his breakout season. If last is any indication, we might be seeing it in 2012. Moore started the Manning pick party by making a great play on the ball, bobbling it, intercepting, and taking it all the way to the one yard line. Moore had his hands on several more and was all over the place, making huge hits, batting balls, and making key stops.
With Falcon fans shaking in their boots seeing Manning start to heat up, Moore made one of the biggest plays of the game by sacking Manning on 3rd and 6 in Falcons territory. He blitzed off the edge and dropped Manning like a cold stone. Some though guys like Kroy Biermann, Lawrence Sidbury, or Sean Weatherspoon would benefit the most from Mike Nolan’s aggressive defense, but Moore might be the guy after all.
This was a Big Win
Some of the NFL Media elite have tried to downplay the significance of the win after the fact, saying it was more Manning making mistakes than it was the Falcons getting the huge win. Wrong. Matt Ryan and Mike Smith had never won on Monday Night Football and everyone loves to talk about the times the Falcons have come up short. In fact, someone should create a Mike Smith-Matt Ryan-playoffs-0 and 3 drinking game with the sheer redundancy all media parrot the tired description. Peyton Manning was back. He beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and couldn’t be stopped in the talking heads beliefs. More than anything, the Falcons proved they could win a tough, tight, and big game against a very good defense and an elite quarterback.
The Falcons Defense FORCED Those Picks
Nick Had a Huge Game (AJC)
The headlines were quite succinct after the Falcons big win: “Manning throws 3 picks,”Manning can’t overcome turnovers,” and “Manning fails in late comeback.” Was there another team playing? One reason many Falcons fans have tuned out and turned off the “NFL Media Elite” is because of this very reason. All we heard in the post-game was how Manning made the mistakes and that’s why they lost. Dead wrong. Mike Nolan and the Falcons defense played lights out and FORCED those interceptions from one of the greatest to play the game. Nolan had a fantastic scheme, coached his players up, and they executed to perfection. The vaunted Steelers defense didn’t force an interception. The Falcons forced three in the first quarter. I’m sure they were all luck, right? To be fair, there were a few pundits who gave Mike Nolan and the Falcons defense due credit, but not many. The Falcons played hard, tough, and aggressive and deserve every bit of that victory.
Best Defense in a Long Time
It’s only the second game of a long season and this isn’t meant to denigrate past defenses, but the defense against the Broncos facing one of the best QB’s of all time was one of the best in a long, long time. They were aggressive, tough, hit hard, and opportunistic in their defensive effort. They had picked off Peyton Manning 3 times in the first quarter and didn’t relent until they finally started getting a little tired after the offense had 3 weak series in a row. The Falcons have now forced 7 turnovers in the first two games. The blitz schemes and disguises were superb and confused one of the best of all-time. As mentioned earlier, there’s still a long way to go, but the sky’s the limit for a defense long looking for someone to help them turn the proverbial corner.
Great Pass Blocking, Weak Run Blocking
The long beleaguered Falcons offensive line have done an excellent job protecting Matt Ryan through two games in the season. Sam Baker was singled out several times by Jon Gruden for his excellence in stopping one of the best pass rushers in Elvis Dumervil. Garrett Reynolds has done well working at right guard, as have Justin Blalock and Todd McClure. Tyson Clabo has struggled a bit this year, giving up the only two sacks, but there’s no reason to think he can’t turn it around. Major congrats on a job well done so far this season protecting Matt Ryan and giving him time to run this new aerial offense.
DeCoud in Manning's Pick Parade (AJC)
For as good as their pass blocking has been, their run blocking has been anemic. Matt Ryan was the leading rusher at one point in both the games against Kansas City and Denver. It’s surely not all the offensive lines fault (Michael Turner we’re looking at you), but they haven’t opened up hardly any holes for any of the running backs. It’s true that maybe Jacquizz Rodgers or Jason Snelling could squeeze out a few more yards than Turner, but not much. Something has to get fixed in the run game and the offensive line shares the blame.
Please stay tuned, plenty more to come very soon………..
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721 comments Add your comment
DePlane
September 19th, 2012
9:51 pm
Unca’ Bob…Don Pardo is 94…I think he’ll be departing before I get a gift!
I knew you tried it on, haha!
Big Lou
September 19th, 2012
9:54 pm
The media loves Matt Ryan, so I don’t know where that argument comes from(that they are against him). They just say the same thing a lot of people think. Regular season does not mean jack crap; the post season is what takes you to the next level as a QB. Unfortunately, Matt Ryan has not preformed well thus far. I do not see how it is ‘trolling’ to point this out. The offense was the reason why they lost to the Giants, and the defense cost the game at Green Bay. Yet, Matt Ryan is the leader of the offense and needs to step up his play. His numbers in the playoffs speak for themselves.
I always defend Matt Ryan and think he is going to be outstanding, but to completely disregard his past flaws as just trolling is absurd.
I am with Dhunt on the Smitty Ball argument. Why would he have his fingers in the offense, but not the defense? If he was playing conservative, then why did ATL air it out in KC? Do people keep negating the fact that two dropped passes cost the Falcons points?
The point is that if MS was trying to be conservative, you would never see him go for it on 4th down. It just seems like a argument for the sake of arguing. I swear it looks like the Falcons are 0-2 from the constant complaining.
Everyone in here are Falcons fans, but let’s not start calling people trolls because they have legit arguments. Trolling is insulting or starting up crap for the sake of chaos. I see none of that on this board.
JB FALCON
September 19th, 2012
10:12 pm
BL. argument for the sake of arguing. Exactly, but when all you have is the past to back up your argument, you are not showing much optimism and I think the cage, at this time, is pretty optimistic. Constructive criticism is okay because we all wish for improvement. I think it was Einstein, when called a failure, said “I’m not a failure, I just proved 10,000 ways to be wrong.” I’m glad he didn’t listen to the pessimist!
Birdman
September 19th, 2012
10:22 pm
Great game . Cage .
Working out of town again . This time we are at Hilton head island for the next 2 and a half months . Only get to be home on the weekends .
Sure liked what I saw with the D in the game . I thought our offense was good but also seen some mistakes . A couple of troped passes by JJ that could have givin us an even better win . But a win is a win and that was a good game .
Was getting kinda worried there at the end tho . Looked like our D kinda let up . But it was a late game and you could see they were getting tired also.
Now I see the networks are saying that P M arm is weeker and he is not that good yet . Anything at all but the Falcons are really good . Same old same old .
Thanks for the reads guys –D3
All have a Blessed week .
Birdman
September 19th, 2012
10:24 pm
thats drop .sorry no spell check here
Matt Bicep
September 19th, 2012
10:28 pm
M. Ryan – passing TD (100) = 600 points
SP, don’t recievers get any credit for catching the ball? Personally, I think QB deserves 3pts, but I also think the entire stat is flawed in that it it does not accout for blocking, play calling, etc.
For instance, when Matty threw the TD to Gonzo from the one yard line, doesnt Turner get some credit for his TD the previous time they were on the one, for EVERYONE know CS would be back to turner, right? See my point?
Matt Bicep
September 19th, 2012
10:39 pm
I agree Big Lou, you don’t have to be trolling to say Ryan did not play well in his playoff losses, but neither did our line, or our D. My point is Ryan is still young, I expect him to play 10 more years barring injury. In that 10 years, I expect he will see 6-8 more playoff seasons. In those, I suspect he will win a playoff game or two. Actually, the way he is playing right now, if he keeps growing at this pace, he will win a few SBs too.
I think Ryan is the best QB to come out in 5 years, but there are about several who have been around longer who, at this point, have accomplished more, and unfortunatly for Matty, he keeps running into them in the playoffs. None of that has ANYTHING to do with CS play calling.
Matt Bicep
September 19th, 2012
10:43 pm
I personally view it as a potential flaw, that *can* put us in a bad spot down the road. I understand your point, that the facts may not support it, seeing that we haven’t technically ‘lost’. But, the point still remains, we position ourselves or make it possible for that ’streak’ to eventually end because of this tendancy to tighten up late and allow other teams to crawl back into it.
I don’t disagree, and I don’t say we will never blow a 4th QTR lead doing what CS does. But, there is no philosophy that insures no blown leads. It is statistics, and CS’s conservatism has beaten the odds.
Matt Bicep
September 19th, 2012
10:50 pm
And I am curious to someones rebuttal to the fact that the Giants were absolutely the worst team in the NFL running the football last year, then got into the playoffs, and rode the running game to the tune of 30 rushes per game to the SB.
Why did Coughlin run the ball in the playoffs 30 times a game when they were the worst running team in the NFL? Becaues he is a stubborn old coot, and KNEW it was execution, not play calling. And, he was right.
Matt Bicep
September 19th, 2012
11:03 pm
I’ll take the time to go thru each and EVERY game log to get a number of potential candidate situations for halftime leads and what happened.
What you will find, is that most 24 games that we lost, we were behind at halftime, or going into the 4th quarter. And I admit, if there is one area I would like to see CS be more agressive is when we get down a few scores. I think he might be too patient, but I don’t knew if this trend will continue until they fall behind a few TDs early. I do not want CS to change his entire philosophy, but I would like to see this tweek.
Big Lou
September 19th, 2012
11:05 pm
JB Falcon
Love that quote. I use that on my girlfriend every day when she gets on my case.
Matty Bicep
Yeah, if the Falcons get beat, I want that team in the Superbowl. Males me feel better about it.
Matt Bicep
September 19th, 2012
11:13 pm
Yea, we got beat by Warner, Eli, and Rogers, I cound 4 rings and 5 appearances. We did not execute well, not Ryan, out our OL, not anyone. Funny thing is, I really don’t see much difference in Ryans arm stregnth, but he is faster, and stands stronger in the pocket. I suspect he will get there soon, and even join that little club.
Wabe
September 19th, 2012
11:30 pm
MB,
I don’t think anybody’s disputing the fact that running the football is essential, especially come playoff time when you’re possibly playing in bad weather conditions. You can’t rely on a one dimensional offense to take you there. I think for this team, you’ve gotta be able to run it just enough to get defenses respecting the threat of the run. That way you can still effectively execute the playaction passing game.
But, how much we run, who we’re running, and how we run is all debatable. I’m not sure why they insists on running Michael Turner as though he’s still capable of being a feature back. I may be wrong, but IMO, the dude’s lost a step, and isn’t effective enough to run 15-20 times a game now. Snelling/Quizz are still viable options, run them some more. Also, it’d probably be more effective for us to spread the field and run a bit rather than tip our hand and show run formations if we’re serious about being effective in the running game. Also, if we can execute the short to intermediate passing game effectively, that’ll substitute for any shortcomings we suffer from in our running game.
Last point though, I want to comment on what Dhunt mentioned a while back. It’s vital for this team to have an offensive identity and stick with it. The offense we saw versus Denver did not resemble that which we saw versus KC. We need to decide exactly what type of team we want to be, and stick to that formula. Our biggest issue last season was our lack of an identity. We were trying to be this big play ‘explosive’ passing team, but we were unsure about how to go about our offense with all the weapons we had. They went out and got Dirk Koetter because of his knowledge in the vertical passing game, yet we saw little to no downfield passing in the Denver game. Stick with what you wanna do, don’t let other teams or their QB’s dictate how you play. Force them to play our game. Let them be fearful of our offense.
Screen Pass
September 19th, 2012
11:32 pm
“M. Ryan – passing TD (100) = 600 points
SP, don’t recievers get any credit for catching the ball? Personally, I think QB deserves 3pts, but I also think the entire stat is flawed in that it it does not accout for blocking, play calling, etc.
For instance, when Matty threw the TD to Gonzo from the one yard line, doesnt Turner get some credit for his TD the previous time they were on the one, for EVERYONE know CS would be back to turner, right? See my point?” – MB
Depends on how you are using the stats. Technically, the WR gets credit for all 6 points from an “accounting” perspective since the points can’t go to both and the total team points add up correctly. If you would like to breakdown the WR with the most point production since 2008 go ahead…my guess would be Roddy White by a good bit.
There is alot of talk of benching Turner or “we are better off without him” threads on various Falcons boards. Not surprisingly his fans and homers have come out swinging making all sorts of claims. It has been an anti-Ryan sentiment for a long time and now a concerned Turner fan meme lately that “Turner has carried this team”. I let the stats do their talking and they say this is wrong. Of course they are just stats and if you or others would like to make a different hat, broach or a pterodactyl ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaXvFT_UyI8 ), then go right ahead. I will be buying a black “Bryant” jersey anyways…I guess one could argue the holder should credit for those points tho.
Screen Pass
September 19th, 2012
11:42 pm
Oh yeah, the second part. That will always be subjective as one can easily argue that by going into the Power I formation, regardless of who the back is, will dictate the defenses scheme and play-call. KS I believe was an actual coach and can prolly argue that better…ask him.
Screen Pass
September 19th, 2012
11:53 pm
“But, how much we run, who we’re running, and how we run is all debatable” – Wabe
Ding, Ding!! Sounds like a winner. KS brought up some good points about the O-line play in relation to Koetters style passing offense. I mentioned in the past I didn’t think he matched up well with Turner unless he was here to run ground and pound like he did last year with the Jags. I despise S. Payton for being the Taints coach and a lying cheating scumbag in general…but I have to give him credit for coming up with a nice offense. There has always been talk of running a “WCO” for Ryan but most have never gone deeper to the style of WCO. The Walsh WCO blends its running attack better than Koetter’s Coryell/ Power mix IMHO, and I hope he can learn to incoporate more of those principles. Throwing in a few Pro-Set variations that let us run or pass out of the exact same formation will also help disguise things a little better. I didn’t coin the phrase “Smittyball” so I don’t really have a dog in that arguments hunt…I would like our CS to use ANY and ALL possibilities to get out of the conservative and predictable mind set trap we fall into too often tho.
Big Ray
September 20th, 2012
12:40 am
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog/2012/09/19/atlanta-falcons-michael-turner-addresses-his-dui-arrest/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_falcons_blog
Didn’t really need to know about this, but it just freakin’ figures….
Big Ray
September 20th, 2012
12:55 am
When Smitty’s stubborness produces 2 rings like Coughlin’s, then I’ll welcome it. Until then….
Big Ray
September 20th, 2012
1:36 am
Wabe has said it better than anybody yet.
And he’s right – there needs to be an offensive identity.
I do think we’ve found it in the passing game. That is not saying we should throw the run game out the window. But we damn sure better “tweak” it or we could be in trouble against teams that find ways to slow us down in the passing attack. The threat of Turner is not what it once was.
Wabe
September 20th, 2012
1:36 am
Big Ray
September 20th, 2012
12:55 am
When Smitty’s stubborness produces 2 rings like Coughlin’s, then I’ll welcome it. Until then….
————–
So well put in so few words…
Atlanta Falcons: Birds Beat Broncos on Big Stage | Atlanta InformerAtlanta Informer
September 20th, 2012
7:01 am
[...] News here – Atlanta Falcons: Bird Cage ← Cobb police investigate deadly wreck Cancel [...]
Wings
September 20th, 2012
7:27 am
Unca’Bob – “UPS to the rescue! MR2 in the house!!”
UB, where did you buy the MR2? Reasonable price?
I need a new jersey, and if Matt Bicep posts his address, I will ship my Michael Turner jersey to him since I don’t wear it now to protest Smitty Ball.
Unca' Bob
September 20th, 2012
8:12 am
Wings,
I got mine from Dick’s Sporting Goods. It’s the same jersey offered by all(NFL). The price I got was $99.99 which is the norm, but I got free shipping and no sales tax. That was my selling point.
M Bradley has a post out concerning conservative play. It’s food for thought for all.
Unca' Bob
September 20th, 2012
9:11 am
Wings
I got it from Dick’s Sporting Goods on-line. Free shipping, no sales tax. All jerseys I found were $99.95-$100. I paid $99.99.
Unca' Bob
September 20th, 2012
9:16 am
Wings
I’ve tried twice to post your answer and it was eaten. s’kciD on-line. Free shipping and no sales tax. Last time.
JB Falcon
September 20th, 2012
9:56 am
The Birds forced four turnovers in first quarter which helped them jump out to an early 10-0 lead.
What’s wrong with the above statement from the Falcons website? (hint) 10-0
Wings
September 20th, 2012
10:04 am
UB thanks. My nephew also wants a new MR2 with the Nike swoosh for Christmas.
Big Ray
September 20th, 2012
10:15 am
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/39276/julio-jones-having-problems-with-drops
Don’t like this at all. Gotta tighten up.
I will say this, though – rather have a case of the “dropsies” early in the season as opposed to later on or in the postseason.
LRD
September 20th, 2012
11:31 am
Wings. check ebay too.. since the jerseys are all “new” for the NFL this year with different manufacturer, the old models are out there and inexpensive. Was able to get my son his Julio jersey for 15 bucks.. 5 of that was shipping.
Execution and the running game.. This dates me a bit, but growing up watching the Skins, what did Gibb do.. he ran the same dang trap plays up to the point where they were finally stopped. The opposing teams knew what he was going to do every time, but his O Line executed. However, Riggs with his nobbly knee’s could still get to the hole when it opened.
We have all said it, witnessed it and gnashed our teeth over it, but Turner is much slower now. Our O Line is not the Hogs (and never will be..free agency and everything)… so we need that back with the fast first steps to get to that hole while it is still somewhat opened.
and I def agree with previous posts, that one of the major factors is the lead back…and that will haunt us probably for the rest of this year.
A cringe moment for me though was watching Turner trying to push it in for the overturned TD and then when he “dove” over the top. Both times our Oline was unable to push the Bronco D back the 1.5 yds needed. It brought back bad memories of Ryan not making the first down, Turner not making the 4th down etc…
I am rambling, I know.. but maybe the point is, do we have the right line for a run attack now?
Paddy O
September 20th, 2012
12:51 pm
I can’t comment on 30 rushes leading the Giants to the SB win; I do remember that tremendous catch in the SB down the line. I also remember a tremendous catch in the other Giants win. Who is to blame when say, you attempt to execute 40 or so Turner runs between tackles, and average less than 2 yards per attempt? Is that execution or coach stupidity? I’d say coach stupidity; we had hoped that was MM, but it is fairly obvious that SMITTY BALL is still rooted in the HC. as previously stated, if I was TD – I’d tell MS to keep scoring as quick as possible up to 35 points, then do the Turner into a brick wall insanity. Even the Turner runs are more successful off tackle – which I think was the case on Monday? We’ve had this “precision” execution” discussion before, and how we slink by on below average teams (Seattle). But, with Nolan’s defense, we beat a top 25% team in Denver.
Unca' Bob
September 20th, 2012
1:02 pm
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2012/09/19/michael-turner-hasnt-had-a-great-week-but-hes-still-needed/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog
D3
September 20th, 2012
2:27 pm
I could write an essay on the following, but I’ll keep it short…………
Some will put the blame on Koetter/Smith for Getting Too Conservative With A Lead, but that’s the way of the neo-NFL: You throw to get ahead and run to stay there. If you keep throwing it every down when you’re in front, you don’t burn the clock and you run the risk of getting intercepted and blowing your lead. But if the Falcons can’t line up and push somebody backward when circumstances mandate, they’re going to blow some leads that way.…..LIE
You can burn plenty of clock as long as you’re getting completions, which Matt Ryan and this offense has shown an innate ability to do. The short and intermediate game, Ryan and this offense excel at. I watched the clock go WAY down when we came out and made that awesome 2nd half drive, eating up clock, completing passes, and ABOVE ALL ELSE keeping them off balance. If you can’t push somebody backwards is all fine and well and good, but it’s hard to do all that when they KNOW EXACTLY WHAT’S COMING! Is it any coincidence that they only success the Broncos finally find are late in the game when we put the “Smitty Brakes” on?
JB Falcon
September 20th, 2012
3:18 pm
For what it’s worth, Peter King has the Falcon over the Chargers 24-20. I can go along with that.
kc
September 20th, 2012
3:56 pm
im a little late posting on this one; just finished reading the comments section from the previous post and before i even dig into these i just wanna say dhunt you friggin crack me up; and your paragraph on franks perfectly summed up my sentiments during the game, including why in the holy hell douglas isnt returning punts. yet another head scratcher…
Paddy O
September 20th, 2012
3:59 pm
don’t want HD getting hurt. I’l let the RB Smith take it.
kc
September 20th, 2012
4:15 pm
will i agree hd hurt would suck – smith was injured im pretty sure. missed practice on monday, and i doubt he hurt himself during the game – i didn’t even see him play (that coulda been the six pack though). i was looking at it like grimes is out for the season, so we do some shifting and bring in owens, now owens hurt…..if franks get hurt punt returning, they are in trouble too. at least douglas would prob have better production and we have more depth at receiver anyway right now. maybe i just plain dont like franks, but returns can be valuable, and franks sucks at it. franks sucks all around actually. im disheartened we couldn’t do better than bringing that scrub back.
JB Falcon
September 20th, 2012
4:29 pm
We just might see Quizz’s brother back there.
Georgia F.A.T.Z
September 20th, 2012
4:36 pm
Have you guys heard William Moores’ new song W.A.R. (WillyMo Always Ready) ? I think he has a future in music after football.(Hopefully a long time away) Check it out. https://j.mp/WAR_Falcons
falcon21
September 20th, 2012
4:37 pm
We just may JB, as of now Franks is good for nothing except being a backup and leaving us hoping that he don’t get into a game!
JB Falcon
September 20th, 2012
4:39 pm
kc, Nice to have you in the cage but FYI a post without caps is harder to read and understand and is often overlooked and not read at all. No, I’m not a teacher, that’s D3’s job, but I did go to school and learn how to properly write.
JB Falcon
September 20th, 2012
4:42 pm
LOL 21, we could always use Franks as a water boy. He would probably stand on the sidelines and wait until the players come and got the water, much like he returns balls.
kc
September 20th, 2012
4:43 pm
Lol. I have been known to be a grammar stickler myself from time to time. I’m at work and was trying to hold my train of thought amid the phone calls; it was faster to take the lazy typist route. Thanks for the welcome, I’ve been reading this blog the last couple seasons and it’s always been a favorite. Some of you guys are hysterical and seem like genuinely good folks. And as a Falcon fan from NJ, I don’t have many people to compare notes with, so it’s been sort of a refuge too.
Greg Mendel
September 20th, 2012
4:45 pm
There are two kinds of SmittyBall: Having endured years of the Rankin version, I’ll take the Mike version a while longer before I complain too much. Mike’s version may show a lack of killer instinct, but Rankin’s version was a plea for assisted suicide.
Paddy O
September 20th, 2012
5:08 pm
mr. mendel – that was jocular.
Coop
September 20th, 2012
5:39 pm
kc – Welcome to the Cage!
GM – I winced when I read “Rankin” … YIKES!
John Waynesworld
September 20th, 2012
5:50 pm
Mendel, you reminded me about the Smith’s and I looked back at an article about the Falcons and Rankin Smith. It is interesting to me that although none of our teams over the years ever made it to the playoffs consistently or won the Super Bowl, we did have some pretty damn good teams with a whole bunch of interesting characters.
http://prod.static.falcons.clubs.nfl.com/assets/docs/History.pdf
It has some short interesting tidbits of seasons.
kc
September 20th, 2012
6:50 pm
Interesting stats analysis Screen Pass, thanks for doing the math.
And Paddy O, you made a great point about the RBs diverting the attention of defenders and I’m now officially and firmly situated on the “no more Turner” side. Until I read that, I had been looking at Turner with some favor, considering his sole upside was that he’s at least drawing attention away from other players. The help that lends to the receivers shouldn’t be undervalued. For some reason, it didn’t occur to me to think about that from the same angle you took – any running back on the field will have the same effect once he’s made a few good plays. So obvious, and yet I completely overlooked that…
kc
September 20th, 2012
6:57 pm
Thank you for the welcome Coop, and while im posting, thank you D3 for always having informative blogs on my favorite team and providing a great platform for discussion. I was excited about the flashes of excellence visible last season, but truly feel great about this year, especially after this last showing. The running game continues to be a point of extreme aggravation, but it’s really the only one so far. Doesn’t hurt that I scooped up Moore for my FF team either!
John Waynesworld
September 20th, 2012
7:00 pm
FFL alert for D3. That’s all I’m gonna say because generally I’m an honest guy and I’m not saying another word. Except that it would still be neck and neck the way Chris Johnson’s been playing!
Paddy O
September 20th, 2012
7:07 pm
kc – many in the Cage have worried about turners speed to the hole; it appears that Snelling or Quizz have quicker burst. Snelling has been successful every time he touches the ball, but once he makes a great play, we have the reverse doghouse effect. The last 2 years, they have tried to make Turner a servicable pass catcher – and the results a pretty iffy. However, he is a fantastic blocker; but again, Snelling does decent – even Quizz will slow a guy up. I just don’t see the need to rely that much on a running attack. I think even if they load up the box with CB’s, they still can’t defend us – IF we have a backfield of Snelling & Quizz or a portion of the 2. 6 yards on a screen is better than 3 yards off of a pair of Turner runs up the middle. We might try a flea flicker with Turner in there.