First! Yay D3!

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http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog/2012/10/22/qa-falcons-coach-mike-smith-on-first-practice-after-the-bye-week/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_falcons_blog

What to take from this article:

1) Nice to have Peters and Palmer back at priactice.

2) Peters is not yet ready to contribute…like I said…and it may be a 2-4 weeks before he’s back in game shape. Assuming he doesn’t get bit with the injury bug again.

3) I know the Smitty refrain by now. Anytime he uses the word “progressing” on a player that’s not starting…that player ain’t gonna start anytime soon. Look for Konz to get a crack at the starting lineup…next year. Unless of course somebody can convince Tonya Harding and her stick-wielding friend to do a run-by on either Reynolds…or preferably Clabo.

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Falcons Must Get Better?

How about AJC sports desk’perts learn to appreciate a team that goes 6-0 in the NFL. No, NOT the lingerie league, but the flippen National Football League!

So sick of all the Falcons bashing. You guys must get dips from ESPN.

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You are being way to kind and giving way too much credit to Akeem Dent. The way I see it he has not shown “a few glimpses”. He has shown zero glimpses. I doubt seriously that he’ll ever take the field again except for special teams. The question then becomes: Can Mike Peterson take over at MLB. I’m really afraid that he is too far past his prime to be effective. I think that it may be time to work Robert James in and give him a starting shot. What do we have to lose? To me the MLB position is the weakest link in the Falcon’s chain. There may not be an answer to this desperate situation.

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Oh, Mike Franklin… Welcome to my wheel house! Let’s compare Richt’s record with other coaches in the SEC. Since Richt took over in 2001, ZERO national championship appearances. None. Never played in a single game for the whole enchilada.

In the same span:

2003 Saban at LSU
2006 Meyer at Florida
2007 Miles at LSU
2008 Meyer at Florida
2009 Saban at Alabama
2010 Chizik at Auburn
2011 Saban at Alabama

Wait… Wait… That’s not the same time span. You said compare Richt to any coach in the same time span… Hmm… He may have more wins, but all the coaches above had been at there school less time than Richt. Not a single name on the list was with the school in 2001! Not one.

So you love getting close, but never winning it all. You love wasting talent. That’s right, WASTING! UGA is in the top 5 of colleges for total number of players in the NFL today. The difference between us and say USC is that since he’s been ther for 11 years, they all played for Richt. That is the only coach who can say that. Further, draft sights are predicting that 6 members of the current defense will be drafted in the first 2 rounds. The same defense that couldn’t stop Tennessee, South Carolina, or Kentucky…

So the best, talent in the last decade and not ONE SINGLE national title APPEARANCE!

Enjoy your mediocrity.

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Put Konz in for Reynolds. O-line is weakest link. Focus on tackling instead of always going for the big hit. DON’T change the D scheme. We are taking the ball away and defending the pass. We all have seen how we fare with a top 10 run D and bottom feeding pass D. Yes Dent has been horrible…but Mike Pete… SERIOUSLY? Let him stick to locker room dejay and D-Block host.

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I was headed to bed, then out of the corner of my sleepy eyes I see, A NEW BIRDCAGE BLOG POST!! So I can live without this next 15 minutes or so of snooze time.

1) Simple Quick Draw – what’s the biggest thing the Falcons need to fix? Fan(atic) expectations. I’ve been watching a lot of teams, and I just don’t see where the Falcons are so god-awful bad in comparison to the rest of the league. We’ve got the talent, we’ve got new coordinators with new schemes. Can’t we give this part of the process just a bit more time to work out the kinks? OK, since the Falcons can’t actually do anything about Fan(atic) expectations, lets go with EXECUTION. Just do the things we are trying to do a little bit better and we will be fine.

2) Rank your list of areas that need fixing, highest priority to least? Tackling, Blocking, Catching, Running, Throwing. Seems pretty simple when you look at it like that, doesn’t it? Smitty says they are working on the fundamentals. I’m inclined to believe him, and to think the team realizes that it’s been less than stellar, and bringing the proper focus to the games from here on out.

3) Should the Falcons mess with the OL or give it a few more chances? If there was a better option perhaps they would take it. When it’s good, it’s decent, but when it’s bad, it’s very obvious. Clabo needs to step it up, but for the most part the rest of the line has been decent. There will be a couple of times that we lose a one-on-one matchup. This is the NFL. It happens. Not a reason to bench a guy, unless it happens over and over and over again with no sign of improvement.

4) Can better tackling alone cure an ailing defense? HELLS YEAH! But in the case of the Falcons, they could also use better hand work to get off blocks in the run game. Tighter coverage in the passing game couldn’t hurt either.

5) How best can Koetter, Ryan, and Co. break their offensive slump? Execute. Catch the catchable balls. Give them more catchable balls to catch. Spread the field, and use more creative and harder to cover route trees. Become a better passing team and the run game will fix itself. We are now a pass to set up the run team. Get used to it and use it to our advantage.

6) What kind of running back split would you like to see going forward? Quizz is more of a threat in the passing game which means he needs to be on the field more. Turner and Quizz in the same backfield is a better bet than the FB right now. Snelling isn’t going to take Turner’s job and he’s had plenty of time to try. Smith isn’t healthy so we will have to wait until next year (or at least later this season) to hope to see a speed demon in the Red and Black.

7) Any new looks or players to help out Abe on the pass rush? This one is tricky. Nolan is supposedly scheming to get more sacks out of different guys. Seems like we’ve been concentrating more on coverage than pressure. Maybe inserting McClain, who is a better cover corner than Dunta, and unleashing a bit more and varied pressure packages can make a difference. One thing I will give the defense is that other than the Raider game, where they were just dog tired, they have seemed to come on stronger late in games.

8.) How often should the Falcons use the no-huddle? Should it be a potential base offensive set?
Considering that Ryan can generally audible no matter whether we no huddle or not, I can’t see this as the biggest factor in jump starting the offense. It does keep the defense on their heels, but it also keeps the Falcons from subbing at times too. At least 50-50 for now, and more up tempo as needed based on game situations.

9) What’s the best way the Birds can fix the run D? Don’t get locked up with blockers, and make that first contact count.

10) Any personnel changes you would make to starting lineup in all 3 phases? Somebody, anybody, get me a new punt returner! As mentioned earlier, McClain to the left corner, and Dunta to the nickle. With St. Nick healthy, we should be in more nickle than base anyway, since that’s arguably our best personnel grouping.

11) Should the Falcons give some new guys a chance? Which ones? Did I mention McClain? And let your tight ends do that extra blocking work. No more linemen as fullbacks and tight ends. Here’s hoping Palmer is back and on his game. Not ready to jump on the Konz, Holmes, Matthews, Massaquoi, or Robertson bandwagon just yet. Making those guys active means somebody else doesn’t dress. They haven’t won the jobs or they would be in the jobs. Giving all benefit of the doubt to the coaching staff and their decision making ability at this point.

Of course I reserve the fan(atical) right to completely flip flop on any or all of this following this Sunday’s tilt in Philly

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I see another one has arrived…

Welcome, Mike Franklin.

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I think our coaching staff can see clearly what we’re doing wrong (and right), thus, the emphasis on fundamentals. Despite the fact that the basics of the game have been drilled into our heads since childhood, sometimes going back to first principles is needed. Our Lines are still my main concern, especially on offense. We have got to give Ryan another second or two to work his progression and our WRs to run their routes…everything we’re trying is dependent on Matt having time to operate calmly and confidently in the pocket. When our opponents get to Ryan he starts to get nervous(who wouldn’t)–fortunately, he rarely panics, but he does have to rush throws off the wrong foot too frequently due to protection breakdowns. The only way our young linemen are going to get playing time is in the event of injury or a huge 4th quarter lead. HCMS loves his veteran players and more importantly, TRUSTS them. Having observed Smitty over the years, it becomes apparent that trust is his major issue when adding staff or players–especially coaches– and familiarity gives him that trust level since these guys have been with him in the heat of battle.
ps
Jamie Dukes just can’t bring himself to say something good about his former team. He was on this morning talking about how Philly was going to kick our asses because they were “hungrier” and “wanted it more” and how we couldn’t handle their pass rush. What a jackass…..

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Mike Smith and the Falcons don’t need any advice from me on football, or from you Dawson Devitt. Every win the Falcons get, the AJC heaps on more criticism. I have a simple system for the Falcons.

Step 1 Make the Playoffs

Step 2 Win the Playoffs and the Superbowl

Step 3 Enjoy a parade while being showered with confetti, made out of shredded AJC newspapers that no one read

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Rob — You’re right, especially since I’m a fan just like you who does not WORK FOR THE AJC. They call it a “fan” blog for a reason. Yeah, I guess getting blown out in the playoffs two years in a row is reason they shouldn’t listen to anyone……..EVER!

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D3 – Relax. Don’t defend yourself to the trolls. We got your back.

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we have a half yard to go for a touchdown and can’t get it ! and DENT will never be a nfl linebacker or in his case nfl not for long

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If you’re worried now, D3, imagine how worried you’ll get if we keep winning. What a disaster that would be! =P

Seriously, the “any chance for new faces?” section made me think I was reading about a 1-5 team, not a 6-0 one. Is this really the time to experiment with inexperienced guys, especially when we’re winning with the guys we’re playing?

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Jeff — Fair enough. But I did preface with Again, these players likely don’t hold the answers that fans are looking for . However, I do stand behind wanting to see Antone Smith get some touches @ RB and Konz and Holmes get some snaps on the OL. It wouldn’t kill anyone to see Kevin Cone’s speed at WR either.

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Hi bird family

D3- great post as usual

My thoughts-

I think sleeper in this game will be Asante Samuel due to his previous experience working with the eagles. I think he and Nolan’s previous experience working with todd will put the falcons over the top vs eagles come Sunday. I predict they we will win 28 -14 and go 7 and 0 for the first time in franchise history. I think the extra attention to the fundamentals will be all they need to keep this freight train moving to a parade on peachtree st come late January.

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Why not give Kone snaps over HD? Maybe he will do a better job at catching the ball or getting open.

To be honest, I felt Denver was the Falcon’s first playoff feel game. You know, national TV and all versus Peyton Manning. They pretty much dominated the game, and slacked off the 4th quarter. It would be nice to beat the Eagles, but I’m also okay with a hard faught loss. All I care about is not being blown out.

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Changing the offensive line against the Eagles pass rush is a bad idea, no matter how you spin it. I would wait till NO game or somebody with a less dominant D to try that mix up. Just seems more logical to me.

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@Big Lou: Interesting idea. The offense as a whole certainly does well in the no-huddle, but I’ll look out for that specifically in the future.

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snack — Through gritted teeth, I’m starting to have to admit that Ray Ed is entering “FA Bust” territory. I really thought it was a decent signing at the time, but I appear to be wrong. If we had some beasts in the middle (325+) than maybe he would be doing better. At least he’s good against the run.

BL — RE: Changing the OL…..that’s a very valid point. Honestly, I don’t expect any changes, but I just still have a really hard time believing that either Konz or Holmes seeing snaps would be the end of the world.

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MB — Would this be the end of the world in terms of active vs. non-active?

Holmes for Hawley

Cone and Drew Davis are usually active.

Massaquoi for Sidbury

Matthews I agree with.

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D, I want to see what the new guys can do as much as the next fan, but I do have trust in Smitty, and even more so in Nolan and Hill that if they wanted to play a guys, he would get some snaps.

But to answer your question, about actives vs inactives…Sure, only if Holmes can line up at FB.

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Remember the YAC yardage HD piled up in that NOLA game last season at the Dome? They caught HD with room to run and he put on the burners.

But, all we see HD catching are balls where his feet are bolted to the ground. He either stops in the middle of a zone for a ‘move the chains’ type of catch or he’s running an out pattern towards the sidelines with little room to really make a move and turn the ball up field. The one time he looked like he had his man beat in the Raider game running up the field on a streak, the ball was underthrown, hits the Raider defender in the helmet, and HD still adjusts while the balls in the air and comes down with it. I mean, if the ball was thrown on target, that had big play written all over it.

Bottom line, rather than saying dude needs ‘more looks’, I’ll say, dude needs ‘better looks’.

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Well, thus far – beyond the excellent record – 2012 is eerily similar to 2010. Going into the 2010 Philly Game, I was ready to lay some wood on those bleeping bleep eating EAgles. Did not happen. If we play WELL against Philly, even with their current chaos, it will indicate the organization has made progress. HOwever, I’d be disappointed if we lose – except the last 3 games indicate we’ve fallen back to earth. Still, Falcons 24- Eagles 17.

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However, as the pollyanna crowd says, execution can not be sloppy. Can our O line hold up? I’d prefer a focus on passing, and pass protection – last year was horrible. We shall see if we have adjusted.

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“Holmes for Hawley” – Why? Isn’t he supposed to be the heir apparent for Baker? Meaning he is a left tackle, and Baker isn’t the problem on the O-line. So Holmes is going to do what? This is not the time for inexperience and indecision at the right tackle and we have no indication that Holmes is in any way prepared for that job.

“Massaquoi for Sidbury” – Again, Why? He hasn’t shown that he is that much superior to Sidbury, and even Sid isn’t getting much time with Bierman, Edwards, and Abe getting most of the snaps. So how is the relatively untested Massaquoi going to be that much of an upgrade.

I get that the team hasn’t played up to the standard we might have hoped for. It would be lovely if we were getting 8 sacks per game, at least two from each DE, a couple from the interior DL, and some LB and Safety pressure. I also understand the natural temptation to want to shake things up to try to get to that point. But throwing untested guys into the fire on Sunday when the team is UNDEFEATED, just seems to be a bit of an over reaction. We had three decent games and three that were a bit sub-par in certain respects. That simply cannot be the criteria for all this blow up the chemistry, try some new guys, fire the OC, fanaticism that is creeping into the conversation. It’s like they get no credit for the three decent games (really four by the defense if you count the Washington game), and all we care about is the games they didn’t dominate the other team. That ain’t right.

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Found one early prediction so far at cbssports.com. Falcons over the Eagles. I can live with that.

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If we apply the logic used by some to analyze the falcons to every other team, everyone will be one and done. Nobody is “playing up to potential”. Now, I know that Green Bay, the Saints, and NY will raise their level of play come December, and the playoffs. (assuming the Saints find a way to get in).

Will we? I hope so, but raising our level of play today does not mean we will in December, we are just going to have to wait until December/January to find out. This is a marathon, and the regular season is about surviving.

We are in good shape, and the fact that we have not come apart by the seems after our playoff experiences the past few years shows good coaching. Will we collapse again? We won’t know until we get there.

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DHunt – you make a good point that we should not over react. However, I want to clarify that I’m not nervous because we played a 3 games that were a bit sbu-par. We stunk it up against Carolina and Oakland. It literally took two miracles to beat the Panhers and a near miracl (long FG at least) to beat the Raiders. To me, those are signs that there are some issues that against better opponents may end in losses. that’s worth a minor shakeup here or there.

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I also agree Konz should win playing time, the tackle, he is very raw, I would be hesitant to put him out there. It is one thing to get beat physically and let your guy get a hand on the QB, but blowing an assignment is what gets QBs hurt.

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anybody else here wondering if the SF greatness was a fluke? It is beginning to look to me as though Harbaugh’s intensity – and arrogance – is beginning to see a reduction of return on investment.

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If I recall, Gartrell Johnson gained 27 yards on that toss play. Never saw that play ran again. 1 hit wonders of the Falcons?

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Wah wa wah wah wah

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heck, I’m also a Cowboys fan, and ever since we’ve had Tony Romo, I assume the team will find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

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And by the way, both of Cams fumbles were swatted out of his hand by our defense…Luck?

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MB, that link on the Packers O Line was enlightening, to say the least. I especially noticed the part about getting back to basics. Same thing MS pointed out.
I hope it works as well for the Falcons as it appears to have helped the Pack.

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1378516-bleacher-reports-expert-consensus-week-8-nfl-picks/page/11

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Perception is amazing…fans, media want to discount the Falcons 6-0 start by saying the last 3 close calls againts subpar teams causes concern. Let’s dig deeper…

vs. Carolina….they were coming off an embarassing loss vs. the Giants. Had a few extra days to prepare for a division opponent. Both games last year came down to the 4th quarter. Panthers played their best game of the season and the Falcons found a way to win.

@ Washington…were coming off a big win @ Tampa. Rainy DC. Trying to snap a 8-game home losing streak. Knocked RG3 out of the game. Made plays in the 4th quarter to win

vs. Oakland….a team coming off a bye, had two weeks to prepare. Player their best defensive game of the season. Picked off Ryan 3 times. Falcons found a way to win.

There are no gimmies in the NFL!! Just play, and win!

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LA, correct, they say “Falcons should be 4-2 if….Then using the same “what if” logic, the Panthers should be 4-2 also. So if records are not indicative of “how good” a team really is, how can you say “how bad” a team is?

Or are all teams with winning records just “lucky”….To some extent they are, the 1998 falcons can be said to be lucky. Any team implodes after success can be said to be lucky, a fluke….But teams that win year after year are not lucky, that is a winning franchise. Be grateful that we have one.

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Waynester, I agree with you. Why do the Falcons keep letting that Mr, know-it-all, don’t know a damn thing idiot, Jamie Dukes use Falcon Cam. All he does, is bad mouth the team. If he insist on doing that. Can’t he do it without the Falcon logo sitting right behind him. It’s f**king disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to the Falcon players and the Falcon organization. Why is it, that the most mediocre former players, think they are such experts on what every team and every player should be doing. On the other hand. I guess he would be an expert on how to do half-ass job as an offensive lineman. He did it for years

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@Greg Mendel. Completely agree.

Going to sound reactionary, but I hope the coaches are doing some starter analysis today… OL has to open holes AND protect the QB. Defense can adjust after that when they are not exhausted on the field.

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I also predict the war eagles to win the sarahb trophy, 2-5 11th place…thank god im AT LEAST not in LAST PLACE…

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blog monster.

be back later.

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Real quick though. Some of you guys are diggin’ way too deep into this.

Nobody is saying we ’should’ve lost’. But, we put ourselves in positions to lose games against bad teams. That’s it. Those games were projected to be blowouts. I’ve said over and over, the Panthers game, whatever, it’s a division rival so I’m happy we just came away with the win. Even the Redskins game, it’s fine. The Raiders game shouldn’t have been anywhere near as close as it was. If a bad team like the Raiders can disrupt our protection and our offense in general to the extent they did, does at bode well for our team? Does that sit well with you guys?

It should’ve been a blowout. Great teams don’t let lesser teams hang around consistently the way we have. Sure, there’s parity, and every now and then, you’ll have a bad team stick around and even beat a team that they technically shouldn’t have an opportunity to beat. But, it shouldn’t happen week after week after week. 3 weeks running.

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Agree Wabe.

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ps-congrats on new addition to family!

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Thanks man, great girl.

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I LOVE THE CAGE BECAUSE IT SOMETIMES MAKES ME LAUGH LIKE HE!!.

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What a great example of the roe vs wade case, this roe should have been aborted!!!

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LOUD YELLING. RANDOM IDIOTIC SAYINGS!

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D3 – Great article. The retards attacking you let’s you know it’s working.

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Greg – Now that was funny!

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I’m curious how Philly’s D will look. Will they try a major shakeup with the new DC? Is 2 weeks enough time? Plus, how has the report of death for Reid’s son affected coaches and players? We’re they more distracted or more focused because of it?

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Coop, I kinda think a major shakeup will not be in order this quick but that is just my thinking. As for the report of Reid’s son’s death and how it affected them, I have no clue.

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Matty, are you on drugs? What the hell man?

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21, you I’m with you 100%. 6-0 is 6-0 and all teams have room for improvement. Look at the Aints when they won the SB, every game was by the skin of their teeth. Our 13-3 season was the same way. I think the team we have on the field this year has a lot more depth and, more importantly, a winning attitude.
I’ll take an ugly 6-0 and there’s not a lot we can do but re-group, remind ourselves of how we got to be 6-0, with the same players we have and do a better job of what we have been doing. I think that is what MS tried to relay to use in his bye week speech.
I’d venture to say that the Miami team that took it to the house could set back and come up with how they could improve the next year. This is what we do as fans. It’s like one time a preacher asked my dad, rest his soul, did he believe in God. Dad said, “Well I don’t go to church because I work all the time, but the way I figure it, it ain’t going to hurt nothing not to.”
I ain’t trying to get all religious on you but our team is what it is. The only thing I can think to do with a 6-0 team is keep on doing what we’re doing but do a better job of it.

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Am I no drugs, naahh….maybe a few cocktails, and having falcon withdrawls. But I take nothing for granted. One game at a time. Actually, I don’t want to peak too early.

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Same page JB.

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I don’t think Smitty would actually disagree with every problem that we have identified. It just comes down to whether we think he is doing the right things to fix it. I trust he is, others who disagree don’t think is he is. It is an agree to disagree thing….To suggest that Smitty is unaware and clueless is wrong in my opinion. I guess that is it.

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I was provoked first…I was playing nice….But 21, don’t take offense. I am just one day at a timing it.

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Somebody put up bad stats to insinuate I make too many posts….I let it slide…Then somebody cut and pasted it onto this blog…I let it slide….Then somebody called me out again, totally unprovoked….So I went jihaad.

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My point above is that Smitty, for any/all of his warts, recognizes serious FUNDAMENTAL issues cropping up. I’m glad to know that he not only saw those problems, but has gone about fixing them.

Look, you can talk about different strategies, play calls, blah blah blah…but if your fundamentals of EXECUTION aren’t there, then guess what? All of it is for naught. Get back to basics – blocking and f’in tackling. Although personally I think our tackling is better than our blocking at the moment.

It’s also nice to know that the players understand this.

Now comes the part where it has to be done on the field.

I love being 6-0. But that’s yesterday’s news. The best teams in the NFL start to catch fire as the season wears on. All I want is for our team to maintain and get better at what they do throughout games. I don’t want to be what the Buffalo Bills were a year or two ago – faster starter with a dismal ending. Fixing your fundamentals before it starts costing you wins is a good way to avoid that.

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21, I just red my post where I took your quote…I apologize for the tone, I was a little wrankled.. I agree, we have issues to address by playoff time. But we are nowhere near the playoffs. Hopefully we will round into shape about week 14.

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Matty B ,

That was my humorous take on the comments. If you are fresh out of humor, then that’s that.

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JJ ,

Thanks bro, good to see you as well. I’m not back to work yet, Doc’s orders. Gotta make sure everything is absolutely going right before I get back to suited, booted, and ready for come what may. I feel like I can go back to work right now, but I probably better listen to the expert, LOL.

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MB, read more and post LESS!!!!! Jesus h christopher,your like my x wife, cant shut u up!!!

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It’s cool Matty. We are not a bad bunch here. We just love our Birds!

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MB ,

Thanks. Heck, I “owed” the man that much. Can’t criticize if you can’t also give credit. I don’t coach NFL football…something I have to remember from time to time. That said, being a fan is all about giving criticism and credit…what else can you do? You don’t have your actual fingers in it beyond what you’re willing to pay at the ticket stand or on your tv….

I really think Smitty is going about this the right way, and it was obvious that while he enjoyed the record, he already knew what had to change. And again…he’s not going to discuss the particular details of what the team is going to do to get the chains moving on offense or what wrinkles they might install on defense.

And just because they don’t discuss it where WE can see it doesn’t mean it’s not been discussed.

BTW….when I put an “LOL” in a post, it generally means I’m not taking myself too seriously. And I didn’t mean to say that you provoked anybody, just that it was clear to me you were in a mood to retort or otherwise get it on….

This may be the blogosphere, but we are very much creatures of habit. Persona or not, we always give ourselves away somehow, LOL.

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I know BR, if the stats were right, I would have been OK. But as I pointed out, the numbers are bad, so that bothers me.

Ha….dude I did not even read the post in question, so don’t even qualify to assess the situation. As for the numbers/stats…I’m just not going there. I’m very good with some math, but hate other math….have no dog in that fight…oops, did I just have a MV7 moment….

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JJ ,

Thanks again man. Yeah, I feel bad for SW . I posted to him days and days ago, but I doubt if he saw it.

Seems there are no “right” words to say when a person is grieving, I always feel at a loss. Only thing is, when I ask somebody to let me know if I can do anything or if they need anything to just call me…I really mean it. Nothing worse than the person who says that and clearly doesn’t really mean it. Better to not say it at all. Better to just stick with “my condolences” or something like that.

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I go in spurts.

snicker …hee hee hee….bwaahhhahahahahahahaaaa……

Ahem. Sorry. Must be the pain meds. Oh wait, I stopped taking those a week or so ago. Ok, it must be the sugar high from eating that cheesecake with my wife. And they say Eve did a number on Adam with the apple….ya can’t trust ‘em, man!

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Although I suppose if it was just one continuous stream, one might seek a physician.

WTF is wrong with me? I must be channeling Stiffler or something….

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MB – you seem like a good dude, but you can’t take a joke or direct commentary. You have decent opinions. I don’t agree with many of them, but that’s fine. My issue, say something different. Bring up a different topic. You wouldn’t have 47% of the posts on a page (or whatever) if you said something different. But every post you make is to support your talking points.

As for 10.5 not being a blowout… Ok. That’s fair. I say 14 is probably blowout territory, but you said we weren’t favored by more than 7. In gambling terms, 10.5 is a HUGE line. That means Vegas thought, the only way they could get even money to the Raiders is to set such a high line. Follow me? (Btw, that’s a douche question)

They had to set the line that high, because most everyone thought we should have easily handled the Raiders. I know you believe that teams are much closer due to parity. I think you’re wrong and was pointing that out.

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hiphiphooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Then get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged….

That being the Cage, of course.

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Now where is Slant Pattern ?

We could run a comedy duo that would put Tim Conway and Harvey Korman to shame (oh wait, maybe we should go with Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little from Blazing Saddles) and have everybody soaking their smallclothes in short order.

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Maybe I should put my hands up and back away from the computer. – MB

MB, I sorry I even put up those stats. They were there to prove a point. You were the only one to respond. As per your post above, maybe you should think about what you’re going to say before you put you hands on the keyboard. This blog has been here a looooong time and we’re not here to argue and prove points. We discuss, cuss, agree and disagree but no one is ever wrong. Learn to accept that and you will be welcome, as is every other Falcon fan. I may not have the official right to say that but the cage is full of true Falcon fans who care more about the team than they do about winning afguements. IMO!

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BR, your leaving out my fav comedian…milk n cookies…shes a 2 yr old devil…what u looking at…want me to say ur doing a good job…lol, rip Bernie!!!

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LOL@ Coop ….guilty as charged…..

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falcon 21 Congratulation on your daughter .

May good health always be with her and may God bless her and your family

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So, I continue to wax and wain on the Philly D. Part of me thinks they can’t change much in 2 weeks with a new DC. Part thinks the team has been out on notice. Part thinks Reid will be distracted due to his soon and part thinks he will be more focused. He is 13-0 coming off a bye.

I get the feeling that we’re gonna blow them out and they will tail spin into a 6-10 season… Or they’ll blow us out and got to the NFC championship…

I’m tending to think that Smith is the stable coach and Reid may be at the end of his run.

All I do know, is I’m not confident.

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Later 21

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So, was bored and went back and watched bits of that Denver game again.

When do you think we bust out that nasty amoeba defense again? Man, that stuff was something else to watch. Vick tends to struggle reading the blitzes, but, I’m not sure if we’ll be seeing the amoeba type looks this week. I am curious to see whether we play it more conservatively, utilizing more 3-man rushes and keeping Vick and those speedy receivers in front of us or do we come out aggressive looking to get after Vick and risk letting those speedster receivers get behind our defense? I think both ways could be successful, but I think I would lean more towards forcing Vick and the Iggles put together methodical drives to beat us. They don’t seem to be an offense that’s oober successful when having the homerun threat taken away from them. Therefore, I say we’ll see some blitz packages, but more 3 to 4 man rushes with a lot of zone looks.

I’m sure Philly knows exactly what Asante’s capabilities are. I’m 100% sure they’ll definitely look to draw him in with a double move. Asante will have to stay disciplined this week covering either Maclin or Jackson. Can’t let Philly get over the top on us.

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Wane – I think that defense is better suited for the pocket QBs and less running teams. I doubt we’ll see it here.

As for the way to attack Vick, I’ve always thought blitzing the hell out of him was the way. I know you fear his running, but I wouldn’t let him get comfortable in the pocket either. He can get streaky with is passing. Blitz him. Flush him from the pocket. He doesn’t protect the ball when he scrambles. I think that’s the best way to induce some turnovers.

If he’s hot though… We may be screwed. As much as I hate him, he has the most physical skills I’ve ever seen.

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I hope the Nole has the Falcons D ready and on fire for this game . Can;t wait till Sunday.

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Time to Rise Up

So all these Sport critics will Shut Up

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In Vegas, a 10 point + spread indicates blow out. We got lucky winning against Carolina; I think RG3 & the Skins – with Shanahan – are dangerous, and to rack up 17 in the last quarter indicated somebody was holding MR2 back. No way, even with a bye, should we have been so inept against the Raiders – that was the worst game I watched as far as rhythm in what? 3 years?

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1) Simple Quick Draw – what’s the biggest thing the Falcons need to fix? OL issues that have been plaguing us for years now, stopping the run, running the ball.

2) Rank your list of areas that need fixing, highest priority to least?
OL
Stopping the run
Running game
Use more than just Roddy, Tony, Julio and Turner on the offense

3) Should the Falcons mess with the OL or give it a few more chances? They definitely need to give Clabo and Baker help against teams with stout front fours. They should at least try Reynolds at RT and Konz at RG. What’s the worst that could happen?

4) Can better tackling alone cure an ailing defense? No, it’s a good start. We have to get back to attacking offenses again–seems like we’ve eased up after the first three games.

5) How best can Koetter, Ryan, and Co. break their offensive slump? Be more creative with the offense. Add Cone, Davis, Antoine Smith to the mix instead of the usual players.

6) What kind of running back split would you like to see going forward? Snelling and Smith more playing time to see what they can do. We should be trying all sorts of combinations to see who/what would work out best for us.

7) Any new looks or players to help out Abe on the pass rush? What happened to possibly playing some 3-4? Sidbury, Biermann, Matthews, Massoquoi as the LBs

8.) How often should the Falcons use the no-huddle? As often as necessary to wear down attacking defenses. And we should go more quick snap at the line instead of running the clock down to the last one or two seconds. Should it be a potential base offensive set? No, we want unpredictability.

9) What’s the best way the Birds can fix the run D? Discipline in the gaps. Our LBs get wiped out by OLmen, and we need Biermann or Nicholas playing the middle. Why hasn’t Travian Robertson been in the games?

10) Any personnel changes you would make to starting lineup in all 3 phases? We need HD returning punts and not Franks (he gives us zero return game). I know a lot are concerned about HD getting injured, but we have Cone behind him. That’s why we have backups.

11) Should the Falcons give some new guys a chance? Yep. Which ones? Smith, Cone, Davis

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D3 ,

Good points. My issue with them moving Clabo to RT is that….they won’t. Why? Remember how stubborn Smitty was with Baker. How “if they just got him healthy, he’d be alright.”

Chances are, they’ll take the same tag line with Clabo. “He’s not healthy, we have confidence in him, just get him healthy.”

Uggghhhh….

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http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog/2012/10/24/atlanta-falcons-akeem-dent-winning-over-his-linebacker-mates/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_falcons_blog

Interesting. Weatherspoon says the kid is gonna be good. Nolan called his performance on the head – average. Tough judge, but that’s what you want in a DC.

We shall see how this progresses.

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In Vegas, a 10 point + spread indicates blow out.

I don’t consider a 2 score game a “blowout”. I know 10.5 is about as large a spread as you will see in the NFL, but that just goes to shows there is a pretty narrow gap between “good” and “bad” teams. A 2 score game means a team has an outside of winning the game if they have the ball, and a minute left. A blowout is game over with 10 minutes left,…My opinion.

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D3, Excellent post my brother.

GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Hit Vick in the mouth and pressure him the hole game and Falcons will shut Eagles down.

GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I also am pretty dubious on your conclusion off the evidence you offered. there are quite a few bad teams. smell that son? that’s the smell of pollyanna. I love the smell of pollyanna in the morning.

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Darrell – completely agree on the way to rattle Vick. Pressure him up the middle. He is much less dangerous running out of the pocket than up through a hole in the pcket. The DTs MUST anchor the line this week. When Vick runs, he almost always runs left. If he runs right, awesome, get ready for a poor throw. If he runs left, he leaves the ball hanging longer and provides opportunities for strips.

Playing a soft zone against him is a bad idea.

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I know a double digit spread is huge for an NFL game in Vegas, but I don’t think a 10 point game constitutes a “blowout” on the field. Like I said, a two score game is not secured until the home team goes into victory formation, with a blowout, the victory is sealed midway through the 4th quarter.

A 10 point spread also means HALF the people are willing to put money of the fact they think it will be less than a 10 pt victory, again, hardly overwhelming expectations of a blowout. You can call me Pollyanna, but people coming on here predicting 24 pt wins, then thinking there is something internally wrong with our team and extrapolate it with playoff doom if changes are not made pronto are negative Nancys. Like I said, if we can easily be 4-2, so can Carolina. I feel we are very close in talent. Roddy=S Smith. They have better RBs, they have some good pass rushers,…They got maybe the most freakish athlete in the NFL…But their safety sucks….

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“This may be the blogosphere, but we are very much creatures of habit. Persona or not, we always give ourselves away somehow, LOL.” – BR

I don’t understand this…maybe a more complete explanation is in order? Oh by the way, did you notice the Lions OC rarely used screen passes and kept sending Megatron into the teeth of the Bears covers 2? I mean he had this RB named Leshoure that kept gashing the D for 7 yrds a carry or more but kept passing inside the RZ instead of punching it in! C’mon man, a backfield of Leshoure and I. Pead would have covered up the OC’s incompetance and gotten an easy win there…Lions GM is asleep at the wheel!!

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I seriously doubt Mike Nolan will go zone against Vick. He isn’t the runner he used to be. He is more of a pocket passer now. He will probably just have Bierman spy and mix it up.

I am more worried about our offense scoring on the Eagles. They have one of the best scoring defenses in the league, just like the Falcons.

My prophet genes make me think Vick with turn over the ball at least two times, which will lead to ATL’s win.

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“That’s right folks – a black guy quoting the Beatles. It’s showtime, folks!” – BR

Chim Chim Chimney Cheru!! This ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WICfZ4_V-ys ) is what you went to the hospital for? Modern medicine is so marvelous.

* RUNS * and changes license plate.

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“And what makes it even worse… they were not down by that many points the whole game! Why not run the ball? Seriously, Lions are pathetic.” – BL

There may have been bad humor involved with that post but I do agree with you. We get alot of flak for talking about schemes and things in the Cage but the announcers and Lions fans were not happy with the way the Lions OC attacked the Bears defense. I find using other teams as examples helps remove the Falcons fans “homer filter” sometimes lol. I didn’t really enjoy that game too much tho..Bears are way overrated, if Lions had played even halfway decent they would have stomped Da Bears.

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Darrell.. nicely put. Coming after to just nail Vick a couple times and we will have 1) turn over via fumble 2) a big run for a gain which will get the Eagle crowd super excited 3) A rushed pass for an INT 4) and hit him enough and he is sitting on the bench.
He is still a threat, but imho, not the threat he was. Age is catching up to him, and he still makes bad decisions when under pressure. He has 3 Fumbles already this year, 8 INTs . Heck even from ESPN fantasy spin-> ” Vick has turned the ball over at least twice in all but one of his six starts this season. He’s his own worst enemy and he’s facing the team with the second-best TD pass allowed/INT ratio in the league.”
Falcons have something they have been lacking… swagger and confidence… and I think Asante will both have something to prove to his old home crowd ( and yes he will probably get burned for a long one too due to his hyper aggressiveness at his old home)…
I would like to see an ameba defense and have Moore beside Spoon, peel Moore inside as a guided missile to Vick… take the risk a few times of giving up the play to rattle Vick.

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Thanks JB, nice read!

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Focus on #11 – I’m starting to think that it has nothing at all to do with whether or not any of the newer players have won a chance to play but it is Smith’s philosophy to simply not play the newer players. They are relegated to special teams until supposedly it’s their time. However, other teams and coaches seem to get a lot of help from their younger players…..why not give them a chance??????

If the O-Line and D-Line show up on Sunday against the Eagles and do something positive, the Falcons can put this one in the win column.

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Ben Tate

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NFL 32 just had one of the coaching experts focus on some of the defenses in the league that are suffering against the run. Out of those teams, he said the Falcons can fix their problems. He confirms what Big Ray and I have been saying, which is the players are not having good gap protection, and are having issues coming off blocks. That’s a good things, since that’s something that can be fixed with coaching.

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Unca’ Bob

The guy has coached professional football for decades. He probably knows a thing or two about defense, and unlike most of the ‘experts’ in ESPN, he has no hometown bias. Sort of like Jaws, Gruden, ect.

Unfortunately, since this is the internet, I do not know the tone of your comment. So, I don’t know if you’re sincere, or pulling a SP on me. Whatever the case, I just think most of the problems the Falcons are having is self-inflicted/poor execution, not scheme. This coach agrees.

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Big Lou,

I don’t do SP’s.

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Unca’ Bob

I don’t do SP’s.

Glad to hear it. I heard SP prefers hot chicks as it is….

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Big Ray,

Can’t say I can blame him. Been a lesbian all my life.lol

Night ya’ll.

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“SP ,

I KNEW you’d come through, LOL.” – BR

If only you were a hot blonde!! It seems Imma have to buy some of JB’s shiny lures. I cast out one to the Brits/ UK crowd we had going for a bit with the Joy Division concert vid but they didn’t bite. Maybe talk of the Beatles is more their style.
For those that didn’t understand or care, that Joy Division concert was a few months before the passing of their lead singer. If you are well versed in useless college/ Alt music scene knowledge you would know that post-punk pioneers Joy Division became the electro-pop trailblazing band New Order. In simple terms, ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMQ1NrkPoKw ) became ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWPIotDeNLs&feature=related ). Some will disagree but I think it is fairly clear that ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrh5kaWfyMQ&feature=related ) turned into ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mx7K1pQess ). Need to go to a new post to finish as too many links will attract the blog monster.

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Pattyo, but we won, week 6 is history, even if we beat them by 75 points it would not count any more, nor would it change a thing going into this week…My point is I find it funny when people predict a 24 point win, then get jacked when they win by 3.

I heard Rich McKay on the radio, he was asked if the eagle game is any more than a regular game….He said, yes, it not a regular game, it is our NEXT game, it is game 7. I like that answer. My point, Oakland game is history, and given the history of the Falcons, beating ANY NFL team is cause for celebration, and it exposed areas that we may need to work on, and you can bet that Smitty and company worked on it this past 2 weeks.

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This won’t make sense until the Blog Monster empties his stomach contents but I’ll go ahead and finish anyways. There can’t be an argument that ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF9V_Mlr534 ) became ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPwa4tEjkCw&feature=related ) but alot of todays “Yutes” don’t know the history. That ends my geeky white people music history lesson and will maybe be a shiny enough lure to get those UK posters back for a chat.

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SP — Posts are out.

Late night check-in……….

Sorry, I just can’t shake the bad feeling I had 2 of the times we’ve played the Eagles. Arguably, we played them in the highest of profile games (Iast year on SNF, and beat them), but I remember when we went up there a few years ago and got not only beat, but destroyed. Matt Ryan’s rookie year we actually played pretty well. I think I remember a BS call on a punt return fumble that wasn’t called or something like that, but I also remember when Michael Pick was re-introduced into the NFL and Andy Reid’s fat@ss just kept pouring it on, knowing the pain and misery that this franchise went through. Will always hate him for that. Likely Smitty’s worst regular season loss ever, at least IMO. First time I ever thought I saw the Falcons come close to quitting.

I know I shouldn’t be nervous / paranoid, but I can’t help it.

Nite ‘all!

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But Dan Reeves said it best, you are never as bad, or as good, as you think you are. My take away from the Oakland game, we are not as good, nor is Oakland as bad, as we thought they were.

Dan Reeves has been on the sideline as a player, assistant and coach something like 9 times, I am pretty sure that is a record, so I do trust his judgement.

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“I know I shouldn’t be nervous / paranoid, but I can’t help it.” – D3

Thank you D3. I don’t think this will be our 1st loss but I’ll be around on gameday to curse the team and Koetter to make sure .

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Feeling a little uneasy about Philly too, MV7 can go off, or he can look really ugly…Somebody said it best, rush him up the middle, and have the D ends keep contain and just sit in the spiderweb and wait to pounce when he comes to them. The Irony is that Andy Reid set this blueprint playoffs.

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I bet you guys don’t remember the Producers. Anyone remember Kansas? There were from Georgia. How about the B52’s, The Georgia Sattelites,ARS, The Black Crowes? Many more that I fail to mention. Sorry, but when you guys started talking about music, I went crazy.

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O’Mallys was by the tracks…..When i was a freshmen (1980 ring a bell), even though I had tickets, we would watch the game on the tracks before they enclosed the stadium….Sure I remember the producers, B52s hit it big in 78, just before I showed up. REM was the big that hit it big around 81….Love Tractor, The Squalls, Pylon, Dreams So Real were all absurdly good band. I remember going to UGA games, then going to the 40 watt club or Uptown lounge and seeing live music. It was a very special time. Not sure how I ever made it to class, let alone study.

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Uh-Oh! Music talk! I like the blues, meself, but you should do a YouTube search for the Leningrad Cowboys. Especially their version of “Sweet Home Alabama” — backed up by the Red Army Chorus. I have the DVD, and when I play it folks’ jaws drop, or they make excuses for leaving right away.

The Leningrad Cowboys inspired me to overhaul my gas grill, using the theme of “the KGBBQ.” It was very impressive, very “workers paradise” and old Soviet Union. But like the old Soviet Union, the fooker stopped working right away.

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elo is from London, didn’t mean to make it sound like they were Ga.

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D3, thanks for the write up. I agree with some of what you had to say but wanted to share my opinion on others.
I think P. Jerry has played very well. His quickness up the middle has destroyed several plays, and his pursuit has been relentless. It seems to me Nolan is calling a lot of DL slants, having the lineman disrupt and reroute the running backs, but just has’nt gotten the fill from MLB that we need to make those types of defensive strategies work. I’m all for Robertson getting some snaps but Jerry is going to make some game changing plays, I see it coming.
Antone Smith has had a hamstring injury for like 4 or 5 weeks now. I think we will see him. I beleive he was kept on this roster for more than just special teams, but a speed back with a hamstring issue just does’nt work, the Falcons need him to get healthy.
Now I’ve heard that Reynolds is battling some back issues this week. I think this may be an oppurtunity for Konz to make a debut. Holmes is unpolished as is, and I don’t see the Falcons moving him to right tackle to replace Clabo, and Baker has been solid. He’s (Baker) played well, they are 6-0, enough said on that point in my opinion.
I’ve said this before but I will repeat; Matt Ryan’s picks, to me, show a confidence I havent seen from him. He is not scared to throw a pick, which is how I viewed his performance against the Giants last year. I’m glad his letting the ball fly a little bit, because so many of his other passes have been absolute MONEY. Beautiful spirals, with power when needed, and placement that is parallel with the top QB’s in the league.
At DE all I have to go on in regard to our depth is what I saw in preseason. I thought Mathews showed another gear in getting around the edge that separated him from Sid, Beirman, and Massequoi. Sid has some quickness and definately the size, but after 4 years and 2 coordinators, something yet to be told is holding him back. I’d like to see Mathews get some oppurtunities on passing downs, but I’m just a huge Falcon fan like the rest of us.
To sum up, I think we see Konz play more this week. Smith is still hurt so I don’t expect anything out of him. I think Mathews may be active and get some looks, and I think Jerry causes a turnover. I can’t wait for Sunday, I am cautiously optimistic.

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“but you should do a YouTube search for the Leningrad Cowboys.” – GM

That is some pretty wild stuff, no doubt. When I think of Russian music this band always comes to mind ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXhvSCcMWes&feature=related ) from ye olde DJ days. There was another one but I’m not sure if they were really Russian or just liked the meme…here we go ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OykVR5LsZMU&feature=related ). Lol, that was like from the roller skating club days!

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See that’s what I meant. haven’t had a spare minute to type, but I managed to keep up with most of the hubbub going on up and through here.

BR, thank you sir, you are a scholar and a gentleman.

MB, I agree with exactly half of what you say. Just can’t say which half.

D3, you can get rid of that bad feeling with Tums or milk of magnesia.

And a 10.5 point spread is just a way to make more degenerates gamble.

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Slant Pattern & Matty:

There’s actually a “serious” side of the Leningrad Cowboys that I appreciate. The band is actually Finnish, for one thing. The other thing is that, if you watch their concert performances, they do their goofy cover band numbers, but when the Red Army Chorus performs traditional Russian folk songs (such as “Kalinka”), the Cowboys back off and get out of the way.

Apparently, the agreement was a matter of mutual benefit. The backup of the Red Army Chorus made the Cowboys act more interesting. In turn, part of the proceeds went to preserving Russian folk music.

The Leningrad Cowboys was/were an offspring of a movie (that I’ve never seen) that seems to have been a precursor of “Borat.”

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Unca’ Bob

Didn’t think so, and I’m glad. I can barely stand one SP. lol

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MB – i was wondering about the 40 watt club – I ran the Gumby’s pizza in 1988 to 1989 which was right near the 40 watt – we’d advertise in their club flyer.

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mb- those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it. usually to their detriment.

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dhunt – i agree. I’m not sure which half i agree with. sometimes the halves get flipped! musicians.

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I’m looking forward to the game. Trying not to catch D3’s nerve bug, LOL.

Too bad it’s only Thursday….

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Not to sound negative, but I doubt we’ve fixed our running game completely during the bye. Turner just needs to turn into the trucker instead of the burner and start running people over.

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i’m getting miffed at story ideas getting poached from the cage. At least 24 hours ago I discussed Vick’s penchant for killing coaches – then I stated he is working on #3; it is actually #4 – I forgot about Reeves!

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So MB, are you predicting a draw Sunday? Nah, cause Coach Smith is impeccable, right?!

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Coop, what your prediction on Sunday?

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JB Falcon,

Duece got his 19 in half the time Eli got to 23.

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Missed this one.

Atlanta Falcons linebacker Akeem Dent played every defensive snap in a Week 6 victory over the Oakland Raiders. It was the most Dent had played in any game since being drafted in 2011. He responded with eight tackles total, including six solo. His performance impressed his teammates. “That was my first time really getting to play with him a lot,” fellow linebacker Sean Weatherspoon told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was fun. I look forward to seeing him continue to have a bigger role in our defense.” Dent’s increased playing time resulted from an ankle injury to Stephen Nicolas. It’s believed that Nicolas will resume his normal spot this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, so Dent may see his participation decrease again. One difference between the two players is that the Falcons don’t yet feel comfortable playing Dent full-time in nickel packages. Still, his performance against Oakland didn’t go unnoticed and likely bodes well for the future.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

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W T F… go to NFL.com today.. and the first story up is entitled ” Bird Droppings” and prediction we lose to the eagles… talk about no respect. geez

Call me optimistic, but I am expecting us to be 7-0 when we come back home for next sunday.

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Hope your right.

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Yes, yard give up on D is an indication that you are not turning the ball over in your territory. Not always a bad stat….Eli’s won a few SBs, and made a few big plays coming down the stretch to do it. He’s earned his cred.

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All teams aren’t equal and I believe the divide is greater than you do. The Falcons have the higher talent level, but Reid is a much better coach (one caveat is that he seems burdened this year… I suspect his family).

the wild card to me is the new DC and Reid’s family issues. Does that galvinize the team or tear them apart?

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Offensive line is something that has to be improve over the next two drafts, not this season. I’m afraid we are going to have to dance with the girl we brought (no slight intended). As we continue to develop Konz and Holmes, I suspect they will be a big part of next years lineup. Koettner needs to continue to scheme an offense that works well with the line we have.

Tackling. Geez. I haven’t seen poorer tackling that I did in the Raiders game. It seems we were always taking the wrong angle and leaving our feet before the ball carrier was in reach. I remember specifically seeing #22 dive at a player from about 5 yards away and completely whiff. These guys need to remember that there are 11 guys on defense and if you wrap up, there will be another guy to clean up within a second or two. Don’t go for the knock out hit unless you are the second guy tackling, not the first. I was most disappointed with this phase of the game than any.

Having said all that – the Falcons are 6-0 and coming off of a restful bye, so I expect a great effort up in Philly this weekend. Make MV7 turn over the ball 3 or 4 times and we should be able to beat the Eagles.

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If we dominate Vick & the Eagles on Sunday, I’ll be a lot more relaxed the remainder of the season. However, you KNOW Vick will be up for the game and, if the rest of the team still supports him, they too should be up. However, if our offense can control the game tempo, we should roll. I’m still thinking 24-17. However, if we can rack up 21 first half points and keep Philly below a TD, I’d be pretty happy.

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I remember in 08 when I first saw Ryan work the ball down the field in pre-season, I was like, yea…I was thinking we might be pretty good and maybe get to .500, my friend said no way, that our O line sucked, and we lack “talent”…..The rest is history.

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Coop, on my way home I saw a guy shaking his finger at a stop sign. I think it was of our cage brethren argueing with it.

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We can complain about the OL all we want, but no personnell changes will be considered until after the Philly gm at the earliest. I’m just wondering what our staff has worked on during our bye week to get the same OLinemen to improve their run and pass blocking consistency and results.

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No,different cooks and take the same ingredients and create very different tasking dishes. It is coaching, good, old fashioned coaching, good communication, teamwork, and playing smart.

But really, if TD gets criticized for making misses in the 1st round when the most talented players are taken, and Smitty does not have a good track record of developing talent, where does all this talent, so much more than the other teams come from?

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And actually, the NFL is becoming a little like Nascar, that is parity. 32 teams don’t run 32 systems. That is a pretty good analogy. The cars are the same for the most part, but it is not blind luck, for the same guys are at the top, year in year out….It is about teamwork, and the QB, or driver.

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Coop, be strong!

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matty – i think your comments on cooking/coaching is what we’ve been griping about on scheme – bad game planning. under the execution argument, using the exact same ingredients would occasionally fail due to the ingredients not operating as usual. However, if the cook does NOT utilize the ingredients property (say, too much yeast), then the meal could be ruined. IMHO, that is what happend in the 2nd GB playoff game (our coaching staff did not adapt to what they saw as GB tendencies in our win – which was actually helped out a lot by a rodgers fumble on the goal line) and the Giants game – we tried to run on the Giants – pretty dumb from an offensive stand point. We have the best quality ingredients. Sometimes the lazy cook does not utlize them properly.

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Matty Bicep:

“Did Roddy White become more talented with Ryan walked through the door? Who is to say Oakland does not have a receiver capable of putting up RW numbers with the right QB? Is Wes Welker the model of athletic talent?”

———–

The reason why this argument falls short is because Roddy was posting 1,000 yard seasons before Ryan got here. I remember he posted a 1,000 yard receiving season with Joey Harrington at QB. And, I’d take it that Carson Palmer is more talented than Joey Harrington.

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Matty Bicep
5:07 PM

Did Roddy White become more talented with Ryan walked through the door? Who is to say Oakland does not have a receiver capable of putting up RW numbers with the right QB? Is Wes Welker the model of athletic talent?

———-

Blog monster got me the first time, so lets try this again. The reason why your argument falls short, at least IMO, is because Roddy White was posting 1,000 yard seasons before Ryan got here. Dude posted a 1,000 yard receiving season with Joey Harrington playing QB for the Falcons. And, I’d take it Carson Palmer is more talented than Joey Harrington, so why aren’t Raiders receivers posting RW84 numbers? Either the systems don’t allow it, which means we’re not all running the same systems, or the talent doesn’t allow them to…

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blog monsters gotten me 3 times now.

be back later.

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MB, re-read what you wrote in the 2nd paragraph of your 5:07 post and tell me, if it is that all these teams have great/talented receivers and the QB’s are the only thing separating other receivers from posting RW84 numbers, how is that RW84 posted a 1,000 yard receiving season with Joey Harrington playing QB for the Falcons…

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Roddy White posted a 1,000 yard receiving season with Joey Harrington playing QB.

MB, your logic is flawed.

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I put Duece ahead of Big Ben and Peyton.

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Let me try this one last time…

MB, your 5:07 post, 2nd paragraph. You claim that other receivers on other teams could duplicate RW84’s performance, the only thing holding them back is the QB? The reason why I can’t buy into that argument is because RW84 was posting 1,000 yard seasons before Ryan arrived. He posted a 1,000 yard season with Joey Harrington at QB. You’d really be selling RW84 short if you made that argument. He’s a top 5 receiver in this league, and he’s only one of 3 or 4 receivers to post like 6-7 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons or something like that. I know I botched the stat there, but, it shows how impressive a run he’s had here with the Falcons, with Ryan and without.

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Coop ,

Reid is a more complete coach than Smitty. He has a much better pedigree and nearly three times the experience. Smitty spent some years under Rex Ryan and Jack Del Rio…Reid came up with nearly a decade of experience with the Packers organization before spending what amounts to nearly three times as much time as a HC as Smitty, with much of that time controlling all personnel operations…including the draft.

Like it or not, the Falcons went with a rookie at GM, and one at HC. Both have a learning curve, but based on backgrounds/pedigrees I think Smitty’s is steeper.

Just sayin’….

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Wake me up when the Sucs/ Viqueens are over. Thats prolly the worst three series to start a game ever.

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The Vikes and Bucs are playing hard. Bucs defense is banging and getting the turnovers. Bucs offense is trying to look like they know what they are doing. Vikes may have more talent and that may win out in the end, but it’s not a bad game thus far.

Which brings us back to our old friend PARITY. Ponder was ballin out of control the first three games and the Vikes suddenly looked like the team to beat in the NFC North. then Ponder cools off and Green Bay and Chicago start to pull it together and all of a sudden the Vikes aren’t what we thought they were. and we are only 7- games in. Who knows whats going to happen in the second half of the season?

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I think Matty is the best QB to come into the league since 2005. He is the best of the “new guard”, that is they I hope Art does not do something stupid like blow things up if we don’t get the immediate success.

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Scheme VS Execution. Well, scheme is your plan, execution is what you actually do.

If a team that has the “right” scheme but can’t execute plays a team with a “bad” scheme (running into a box of but does execute, who wins?

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21, looks like the PJ experiment has run its course….

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Tampa don’t suck as much as we thought. And Morris put up 32 FFL points for me. Guess they won
t be a terrible team until the Falcons beat them.

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Morning cage, Looks like Abe is going to have a huge game with phillies #2LT out with achilies injury. So Abe will be up against there #3 LT? sweet!
This could be the perfect storm, besides just the weather. If vick is harrased into several turnovers in first half, he will be benched in 2nd half…karma, she is a biotch!!!

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As far as the weather, who do you trust more handling a slick ball? :8

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questionable scheme can neutralize talent. Occasionally, good talent will fail to execute – and if the scheme is iffy, they lose – or keep a bad team like Oakland in it. With good talent & good scheme, even when execution is not perfect, you still whoop bad teams you are supposed to. As stated a few weeks ago, we have the Jekyll and Hyde Falcons of 2012. 3 excellent games; 3 iffy games.

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If this team fails again this year, they will not blow up the team. the HC’s head will roll.

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Yessir, this Falcons game looks like it’s gonna be a big tilt in the land of trash strikes, Social Security fraud and overrated football teams. I personally can’t wait for the Philly boo birds to resound on national TV.

It will sound like victory.

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SP

I agree. They have a decent defense, but their offense is atrocious. Doug Martin is a stud, though.

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JJ: bad weather means more Turner , and even more Snelling. More Screen passes (still cant get over the fact we talk screen pass with our sarcasm this year)….
Can wait for Sunday. Gotta put out the Falcon flag.. already carved the falcon jack 0 latern.

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Hello Cagers

Hope everyone has had a Blessed week and all is well.

I just don’t see how anyone could even think of Smith getting fired after what he has done for this franchise. I will agree that all has not been peaches and cream but the Falcons have been a better team than they ever have with him at the helm. Remember he never was a starting coach until he came here . And his history will be one now that any team would think highly of. He also is learning as time goes on.
The falcons would be stupid to fire him unless something major were to happen And A Blank ant no fool and he knows it to.

COME ON MAN !!!!!!!!!

Go Falcons !!!!!!!!!!!

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or, simply promote nolan and hire a good OC.

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JWW: You gotta look at context – those assertions are only based on hypotheticals. Not current reality. I hope we make the Dolphins sweat.

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Birdman, I totally agree with your 12:15pm post. The fact that he chose Mularkey and BVG as his coordinators hurt him as teams figured them out. Also, I can’t say that he has the players to really dominate on either side of the ball until they got Ryan Julio last year. If he had taken over say a team with the 49ers personnel (except the QB) with Nolan and Koetter then I’m pretty sure we would be a dominant team and all the media heads would be riding our jocks. We’re still doing great until we get some more of the missing pieces though. I believe we will get their in another two years where we’re totally one of the dominant teams in the NFL.

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I guess SW is having fun with Sandy!

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LRD, looks like Drew is on the depth chart behind Harry and Cone is behind Roddy. I would’ve figured Cone to be more of a slot guy than Drew.

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LRD, I was hoping to see Cone out there as well. He had a couple of drops in preseason, but that explosive catch and run for a TD seemed to have just been a glimpse of what this guy can do.

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Make that CB.

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Paddy O

I like Gruden, a lot.

JWW

I think everyone here wants Smith to succeed. But, at the end of the day, the regular season does not mean jack apples. Win in the playoffs. Get to the Superbowl. That’s what this city wants. Somebody to cheer for, not notorious choke artists(which ATL teams are known for).

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I don’t agree with everything this guys says, but he has a nice breakdown of a few plays with photos that show some of the issues we have had stopping the run.

http://blogs.mcall.com/eagles/2012/10/enemy-film-breakdown-the-falcons-struggle-with-stopping-the-run.html

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DePlane, good find on that link, I have never heard of it, so I saved it. It’s always good to see what the competition is looking at. The key to your post was “have had.” Do you think for one minute that MS and Nolan have not looked at those same films? I’m sure they are well aware of our past weaknesses and their job is to correct the mistakes they have been making, just I am sure the Reid saw the same tapes and has figured out that he will use McCoy to cram it down our throat. I have confidence that we will be prepared with our best and it’s definitely going to be a good game. The ever so knowedgable “media” seems to give the edge to the Eagles because Andy is 13-0 after bye weeks. The reason they call them streaks is because streaks always come to an end.
As far as Asante’s tackling, I guess the Falcons saw the tapes of his history before they pursued him and, as far as I have seen, he’s been laying some pretty good hits since he’s been here.
I’m sure any anti-Eagle fan could create a matching blog, with pictures, showing the Philly weaknesses. They, however, are not 6-0. We’ll see, come Sunday.

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From what I hear the Eagles may have a rookie at right guard Sunday.

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I’d like to see Cone in the slot vs. Davis.

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Reynolds back is ailing….might we see Konz with some extended playing time?

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Bryant is money…

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And another naysayer….

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000084811/article/giantscowboys-falconseagles-saintsbroncos-head-week-8?icampaign=ATL_newsdriver

Can’t wait until they have to eat this….

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http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/20694956/peek-at-the-week-soaring-falcons-flightless-eagles-rg3-tests-mettle-in-pittsburgh

Thought this was particularly interesting:

The back story: Over the past four seasons no defense has been better closing out opponents in the final two minutes of a half than Atlanta. The Falcons have allowed just 17 points in 61 possessions by opponents. In fact, in 2011 they allowed just one field goal inside two minutes of either half. Conversely, over the past two seasons no one on offense has been better than Philadelphia in the final two minutes of a half. The Eagles have scored a league-leading 24 touchdowns and 113 points (good for second) during the final two minutes of each half.

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DePlane, I read that BS earlier, only problem is Bryant does NOT miss. 30-29 Falcons.

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JB, even though Bryant has been a rock, this clown chooses him as the reason we lose! What an idjit.

Falcons 27-17.

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The pundits are a joke, and so are the Eagles.

Know what’s not a joke? 6-0.

The only reason I read Falcons “picks” by the “experts” is so I can make fun of them when they get it wrong. Falcons get #7 on Sunday.

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Hello friends in the Cage

This may just be what the Falcons needed to get back into form.A week off not only to prepare for this game and the rest of the season but also to reflect on things as a group.

I liked what I saw the first 3 games this year even if they were against teams that are so called ( look who they won against ) teams.

They had a look of great desire and remember the Monday night game against the Manning Horses. The way our guys looked.

Guys if our Birds look like they did then. Game on; and no holds bared . And I got a feeling they will.
So I’m gonna say a 24 to 17 win Sunday for the Falcons.

May God be with you all

Go Falcons !!!!!

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Anyone focusing on this hurricane situation?

This is going to be one ugly game. I hope the Falcons bring their run offense.

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Context? Fire Smitty? Only context where that makes sense is a colossal collapse that sees us end up 6-10 and the team literally fighting each other on the field. In that alternate universe I’m on the fire Smitty bandwagon. Otherwise it’s just crazy talk. In less than five years the man is the winningest coach in Falcons franchise history. That cannot be understated. He came in winning, and he’s kept on winning, and we have one of the best franchises in the league now. The playoff wins will come. Right now it’s the regular season, so right now, the only wins that matter are regular season wins. Keep looking ahead to the playoffs. I’m looking ahead to 7-0.

Was listening to David Archer on 790 today, probably the only Atlanta sports radio personality with any inkling of how to really evaluate a football team. He made the point that evaluating individual players is about far more than individual stats. HD hasn’t lit it up with receptions, but he has done his job by making defenses commit to covering him, thus creating opportunities for other offensive weapons. Davis or Cone may not draw the same type of coverage, and hopefully MR2 will find them and make the Iggles pay for ignoring them. Ray Edwards hasn’t lit up the sack meter. But Abe isn’t facing double teams which means the other team can’t afford to ignore Ray, which opens up opportunities for better team defense.

I’m looking for the Falcons to play up to their competition this week. No way they are sitting around believing any hype about being undefeated, because there simply hasn’t been ANY hype about that from any source, whatsoever. I haven’t seen a single piece of commentary that gives them any credit for winning 6 out of 6 games. I almost hope they aren’t tuning it all out, and come out with a big old chip on their shoulders and looking to make somebody pay for the rampant disrespect. This team is built for the bright lights and the big games. This is one of those weeks. No turnovers, and very few (if any) missed tackles and you may see the blowout everyone seems to expect every week. I’m putting the offense squarely on MR2, no matter what the weather conditions, we are going to have to put the ball in the air. If Philly gets pressure, then Matt has to make them pay for it. If they load up to stop the run, then Matt has to make them pay for that too. Time for him to start earning that wallet busting 2nd contract that AB is ready to give him.

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Pretty sure Lamar Holmes, Dominique Davis, and Travion Robertson won’t be dressing this week. Who will be the other two inactives? C. Peters should make the D-Line stronger up the gut, but this is a game that may be decided on the edges. Shady McCoy and Vick aren’t going to over power anyone, but they can run around damn near everyone.

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Dhunt,

Terence Johnson was waived. As for Travian, considering how bad we get gashed up the middle on runs….I’d give him a shot and see how he does.

Ehhh…what am I saying, I know better than that…

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Great and Beautiful Saturday Cage Family! — Hope all of you are doing well and ready for a gorgeous weekend of football. While I’ve lost all faith in my Dawgs, (and still nervous with our Birds), I am starting to shake that sense of fear and nervousness. I took some alka seltzer as DHunt suggested. Still worried, but Smith usually has this team ready to play up to their competition with only a few exceptions in 5 years (Philly x 2, NO last year, two playoff appearances, and a handful more). That’s not too bad in well over 70 games. Check this out…….

So I met this super nice guy yesterday. He’s from New York originally and very nice and a great guy, but you’re typical NY fan, Giants follower, but he’s lived here since 1978. He starts into his standard NY tirade (respectful and in all good fun) about how the Falcons are weak, haven’t played anybody, etc. etc. We went back and forth for awhile, but I finally had him admit that he won’t respect the Falcons until they win in the playoffs and win a Super Bowl. I then talked about how it’s different down here and mentioned that our franchise hasn’t been around nearly as long as the NFL teams up north and how they have to compete against the SEC and college football and that the north is a joke in terms of college football. His retort was “well, we got Syracuse……and St. John’s has a football team.” That made me laugh really hard. I said that the SEC is king down here, and he said that’s because they’re the only ones that win. It really was a very good conversation and we were enjoying ourselves, no malice whatsoever.

I then asked him about Eli Manning and what he thought about him before he made the run to his first Super Bowl title and he admitted that he was ready to send his @ss out on a rail. He also admitted that he stopped following the Giants for a long time until Bill Parcells came. So I guess my entire point is that hypocrisy reigns with these northeastern “sports” elitists and the second thing is that they simply don’t understand the different dynamics in the South and how much of a challenge it’s been down here for the Falcons to prosper. They simply can’t understand it and know it like we do. All they do and know is that we’ve “always been bad,” and have no tolerance or understanding for the challenge vs. the SEC and College Football and how our ownership has been terrible, basically until Arthur Blank took over. It takes time, that’s just how it goes. Go look at Pittsburgh Steelers history and look how good they were before Chuck Noll got there. You can essentially say the same thing about every franchise until a certain owner or head coach got there with few exceptions.

Basically, what I’m saying is that, like many good coaches / managers / leaders, they find a way to galvanize their team and use the “us against them” belief. If you get frustrated with the media elite and their constant need to demean and denigrate our franchise, fans, and region, than just take comfort in that we just have to keep our heads down, ignore all the BS, and have faith in our owner, GM, and head coach that we’ve already done a 180 with this franchise and will eventually get there, but it takes time. Just like a d@mn bully, they feel the need to put down others to make themselves feel better. A day will come when we “Rise Up” and punch that d@mn bully in the mouth. I literally have tuned out all NFL “experts / media elite / talking heads” for about 2.5 years and it’s done wonders for my overall happiness and psyche. If it’s actual NFL news, I’ll read it, but if it involves any type of opinion, I shut it the F— out. Thank the good Lord for The Cage and all of you, because it’s about all the football talk, banter, conversation, and OPINION I need.

OK, enough of my speech, back to our Falcons vs. those hated Eagles………………

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D3, that is a d@mn on the money post! So true. I be remiss if I didn’t point out the total positive perspective you are laying out there too. We are the Falcon Faithful!!!!! On Sunday the Falcons can make a statement by ignoring the negative media and go out there a punch Phillly in the mouth!

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Perfect storm to hit the NE… and falcons out before the storm keeping their perfect record in place…
Hope to see Peters out there. Do like that kid.

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Sorry for all the typos, just put my glasses on.

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No offense, Dhunt. I am probably one of the most stern defenders of coach Mike Smith in here. Yet, if we go another one and done in the playoffs… he needs to be demoted or let go. I do not care about winning in the regular season. That doesn’t matter. We have the talent to do the job, period.

Last thing ATL needs is another Bobby Cox, or Norv Turner. I rather be inconsistent during the regular season and get a Superbowl, then be consistent and lose first game of the playoffs.

I am glass half full on this debate, though. I feel they are taking more chances this year, which is what great teams do to win. They aren’t playing conservative like last year, on both sides of the ball.

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“I rather be inconsistent during the regular season and get a Superbowl, then be consistent and lose first game of the playoffs.” BL

It’s always been a mystery to me how easy it is for some to postulate that a coach or team that isn’t capable of consistent success in the regular season will somehow be better at winning in the post season. That just seems at best counter-intuitive, and at worst plain downright illogical. Peyton manning will go down as one of the best to ever play the game. he has one Superbowl win in his career, and doesn’t really seem that likely to get another. Ben Rothleisburger(sp) has two rings already, and will never be the QB that Peyton was. Ultimately championships are defining points for sports. But it’s ridiculous to discount the Braves epic run of consistent play just because they only got one World Series win out of it. How many teams didn’t get at Division championship, or a League championship in all that time that the Braves were racking up wins but falling a little short of the grand prize.

I understand that there can be a point where you determine that a coach or a system doesn’t seem capable of taking it to the next level. I just don’t get how you jump from 5 straight winning seasons to absolutely cannot win in the playoffs; especially with a first time head coach, first time GM, and a rookie QB as the cornerstones to rebuild franchise that was literally in flames and ruin the previous season.

D3 is absolutely correct in that the Arthur Blank regime is the very first time that the Falcons franchise has been anything other than a joke. If not for a couple of injuries, a little bad luck, and the dumbest decision ever made by a starting QB to be involved in a dogfighting ring, the first few years of the Blank era could have been far more successful. Such is life. Blank only has about 10 years of ownership under his belt, and has built a perennial laughingstock of a franchise into a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who suffered through the decades of debacle fostered by the Smith family should be simply ecstatic about the direction that this franchise is going.

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D3, how bout them Dawgs!

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vintage Aaron Murray.

dude’s a bum

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Now that was vintage Murray

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JB Falcon,

Seems to be earning his money.

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Blog monster ate my impassioned response to Big Lou.

okeetee brings up another point. People say they will believe the Falcons are for real if they do this or that in a particular game, but what usually ends up happening is that those same people find some reason to discount the performance or the win by saying the opposition either screwed themselves, or was really not good to begin with.

That’s why I’m cutting the legs out from under all the speculative criticisms. It’s one thing to say I hope the line plays better. It’s entirely another to say the Falcons are garbage for any one particular flaw. Falcons gave up a bunch of sacks in one game. So did Green Bay. Don’t hear anyone saying the Pack is garbage. MR2 threw three picks in one game. So did Peyton the Great. I don’t hear anyone saying Peyton is garbage. And don’t give me the historically good nonsensical repartee either. Dallas was once a juggernaut. They aren’t worth crap now, I don’t care how many Super Bowls Aikman, Stauback, or the rest of the Cowboys alumni might have won. Nor does the Dallas franchise look to be trending upward with current ownership and management.

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JB Falcon,

That’s why I mentioned his future, not Carolinas. The Vols showed some great class and respect when they came off their bench and huddled around Latimore while he was still down and laying on the field. A Falcon’s ( Carolina ) tip of the cap to them.

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I cringe every time Murray drops back!!! WTH?

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Dude, get rid of Mike Bobo and Aaron Murray.

It’s drop dead pathetic mayneeeeeeeeee lmao

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This is the worst football game I have ever seen.

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I’m thinking how did we got this far with Murray. I guess we must have a really good team, in spite of Murray.

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Who are the teams playing on my TV? #2 and #10 my butt.

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My god

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Jarvis Jones is still a play-makin’ football player.

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I have given up on getting a first down, I feel it is success if we don’t lose yardage.

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Agree UB but the young Dawg will be pushed out of TN after this season. I do not agree with it but is what it is.

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No catch

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Okay, they can take the duct tape off now.

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FL State whopped Duke. I know SW is smiling a little.

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Yes,I had one hell of a game, like that forced fumble?

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ruff ruff UB!!!

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That was a very ugly win. But, a win is a win, and that was a big one. A Big Ugly Win. I’ll have another tomorrow, thank you.

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JB Falcon,

I’ll be on the road tomorrow because I can’t get the game at home. I’ll be watching thru the bottom of a beer bottle at a local tavern. Poor pitiful me.lol

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That comment was meant for the D side of the ball, as for the O side of the ball, Mike Bobo sucks, it will come a time when Mark Richt takes the fall because of him!

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21, ino, the Dawgs left 14 points on the field. It is what it is but I’m like you, they got too much talent to be winning so ugly. Sort of like the Falcons?

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LOL JB.

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Great Night Cage! — I typed up this huge deal about greatness, but I’ll settle for this…………..

TIME FOR ME TO EAT RICHT CROW
Been hating on the guy for a long time. He has not shown an ability to win a BIG game since Greene, Pollack, and Shockley left. I’ve been chastising Richt and Co for not winning for a long while. And not winning a big game…………………ballgame…..time to shut the F— UP! Dawgs Win! Time for those D@mn Falcons to Win!!!!!

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D3, I’ve been concerned about your attitude and the doubts. I think Mark sucks also and it ticks me off that he has such good players and does not know what to do with them. Why in “H” can’t he come up with another QB with a brain? He doesn’t even have a back up? I will give the Dawgs all of the credit in the world in spike of Mark and Murray. If Mark keeps this up Georgia will lose the credibiliy of earning the hopes of a lot of young players wanting to come here.

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Honestly, I’m not UGA expert like the rest of yall that follow them much closer, but, no way should this justify Richt being a good coach. The team seems undisciplined whenever I watch. They racked up over a 100 yard worth of penalties just today. I think that falls on a coaching staff that fails to pay attention to detail. A lot of those drives early were being killed by stupid holding/personal foul calls that just kill any shot at extending a drive. Beyond that, you take into account that he has top 10 class year after year and is yet to win ‘the big game’ just boggles my mind. They haven’t even come close over the years.

Again, good win for UGA today, but I think it was more of a reflection on how Florida isn’t quite the team folks thought they were (in other words, they’re not the #2 team in the country), than it is about some fantastic coaching job Richt did to get his Dawgs to play so well.

By the way, for the hoops fans, James Harden just got traded.

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Seems like the real x-factor today might be our coaches…

Weather conditons in Philly continue to deteriorate with the Hurricane right off the coast now. High winds and rain will be in the forecast. I’m wondering, for a team that likes to chuck the ball around the way we do, what impact will the weather have no our ability to move the ball? Not sure if the coaches took the weather conditions into account, and if they didn’t, it might be crucial in-game adjustments that will determine our success on offense. Between Philly and Atlanta, the advantage has to go to Philly right now, IMO. Not because of everything that’s already been mentioned about Reid’s success coming off a bye or the desperate situation that team finds itself in, but more because of what the nature of this particular football game might turn into. If it turns into a game that requires strong running games because of the inclement weather conditions, you’d have to say Philly has the advantage with LeSean McCoy and the threat of Vick trotting around out there. It’ll be interesting to see just how much of the fundamentals Smitty and the crew have worked on. The run game, the run defense, those things might prove to be critical if we want to get out of Philly with a W.

I’ll still take the Birds in a low-scoring affair. 17-14.

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Hello Cagers! Coming off a bye, with our coaching staff expressing the importance of “self scouting,” I have a sneaking suspicion we might see some new wrinkles on offense…and we may well see some new looks on defense (scheme wise) and a new face, or two, Sidbury, Massaquoi ,orTravian Robertson???? Could we see Bierman getting some burn at Linebacker? Just a few things to look for today. IMO.

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http://www.weather.com/weather/map/interactive/USPA1276

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Blog monster chewed up my post. He IS hungry.

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Marino made an interesting suggestion: Start with the no-huddle to put pressure on Bowles’ playcalling. Sounds like a good idea to me.

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Snack I heard him too..I like it weather permitting. I think this game will be won in the trenches. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage and field position is going to have the upper hand.

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Ryan should learn to scan field for open receivers. He fixates on one receiver and forgets the rest. D-backs watch his eyes and guess what? no open receivers! Stop throwing 30 yds down field on 3rd down @ 3. You don’t have an open receiver Ryan! Use tight ends more other than Tony G. Throw some fast slants like all other successful teams. Ryan needs to read defenses better and stop with the flat passes when he has one receiver and 3 d-backs. Tight ends will be open in that situation. Check down!! Turner needs some training on spinning at line. He gets told go on and on but my fingers are getting cramps

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Big Lou, wind at 18mph…could get up to 35mph. Good weather for ducks. Rainfall subject to rapid change.

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Place-kickers on both sides will have a tough go at it today. IMO, the swirling winds will wreak havoc on field goal attempts 40-50 yards out.

The team that wins this game will be the one that scores TD’s in the red zone. I know thats cliche’…but it couldn’t me more true today with all the inclimate weather.

GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Give me a right-hand quaterback (passer) on days like today. Matt will be more acurrate than Vick today, just on ball rotation alone tends to favor Matt. His balls will spiral more tighter than Vicks.Vick passes will tail away from his receivers causing a higher incompletion rate. Just My Opinions…

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Game time. Let’s see what these Falcons are made of.

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Sheesh…

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As predicted, looks like Konz gets the start

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4th in the league on third down? Didn’t know that.

Pressure coming already, but I’ll take that holding call.

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I’ve b!tched about it before, but guess what?

I like the smash mouth attitude today. Running Quizz every other or every third play instead of Turner all the time…good idea.

Of course, we are still losing the battle at the line of scrimmage, as evidence on that last play.

Time to fool ‘em and go get 7 points.

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Good second effort by Snelling on that pass…he had nothing.

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DREWWWWW! That’s what I’m talking about baby.

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TD!!!!!!

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Wow!!! I asked for Cone and got Davis…and wow! is all I can say. Eatin’ a little crow.

Go Falcons!

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That TD toss to Drew Davis was a thing of beauty, as was Davis’ catch.

Damn….we’ve had this on the bench all this time?

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Turnover time.

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They ran right behind Konz like three times, pretty much pure domination on that drive.

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Excellent pursuit and contain by our defense. Especially the save by Decoud.

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Great effort by the defense.

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HELL of a couple of plays by Decoud, who has been mostly money under Nolan.

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Need to capitalize here. Make the Eagles go in comeback mode.

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Quizz with a heck of second effort. He was already caught in the backfield.

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Vick getting booed, priceless!

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Run game looking decent so far. Not amazing, but decent.

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PI! First down!

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PI baby…they’re scared of Julio. That’s why Drew was so wide open.

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Looks like the Eagles fired the wrong coach so far.

Keep it up Falcons.

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Konz whiffed on that play. Defender slipped right by him.

But Iggles can’t cover. PI again…

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Eagle screwing up…surprise!

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So Konz is in the game….Cone, Davis, JJ, Roddy, Gonzo, Quizz, Snelling, and Turner all touched the ball with a minute left in the 1st quarter. Any complaints?

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32 seconds left, Philly on the verge of quitting.

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Nothing wrong with Ryan’s throw at all. It would have been on target. But you can’t see that without watching the replay.

Wonderful trickery on the TD play. Wonderful trickery. Eagles scared to death Julio was gonna get that ball on a reverse or something.

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If the defense gets ANY turnovers today…the Eagles are done.

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snacktastic

Roddy would have been there if he wasn’t tackled. Hence the PI call.

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