Archive for February, 2013

What’s the Falcons Biggest Needs?

The Off-season Picks Up Steam (AJC)

The NFL Scouting Combine is complete and free agency is only a few weeks away as the NFL off-season starts to pick up some steam. It obviously isn’t the same as the real, live games, but it can be just as exciting thinking about what the Falcons need and trying to predict what moves they plan to make over the next few months. For us Falcons addicts, it can be a great way to pass the time while also building excitement for the 2013 season.

As the raw numbers are in from the combine and you start to build your own draft board, one good way to go about looking at free agent prospects and at the players in the draft is to rank what you think the Falcons biggest areas of need are and that will give you a baseline to start from. Of course it’s entirely likely that none of what you hope will happen will actually come to fruition, but it’s still a fun exercise to help pass the time in the off-season. A look at the …

Continue reading Rank your Positions of Need for the 2013 Atlanta Falcons »

Falcons Need to Clear Space

Is Turner a Cap Casualty Lock? (AJC)

As the NFL Scouting Combine kicks off this week, another important date is rapidly approaching. NFL Free Agency begins on March 12th, and while the Falcons aren’t expected to be big players in the free agent market, the front office have their work cut out for them. They need to free up money to not only give themselves roster flexibility and sign their new draft picks, but also to keep some of their own soon-to-be free agents. A list that includes William Moore, Sam Baker, and several key role players. And that’s not even including trying to potentially bring back Brent Grimes and Tony Gonzalez, if he decides to return for one more go. It’s not easy letting go of players who have been great on and off the field, and sometimes even fan favorites. The best franchises do it and the Falcons won’t be any different, at least if they want to keep up their winning ways. A few items and players regarding the cap …

Continue reading Will Any Big Names Be Cap Casualties for Atlanta Falcons? »

Give Your Plan on Defense

Defensive End

The lack of pass rush other than John Abraham has been beaten to a pulp by fans and critics alike for years and years, and rightly so. This defense has been downright pitiful in getting to the quarterback. Sure, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do, but the failure to develop ANY pass rush from the defensive ends spot, or any defensive end prospect for that matter over a 5 year period is just criminal. They tried to move Kroy Biermann to a full-time DE in the 4-3, even though he was unanimously projected as an OLB at the next level. They re-signed Chauncey Davis to a starter level contract and he did absolutely nothing. They signed Ray Edwards and we all know how that turned out. Lawrence Sidbury must have kicked Mike Smith’s dog, because he’s nowhere to be found, even though he earned 4 sacks in very limited chances in 2011. Cliff Matthews and Jonathan Massaquoi showed some potential, but they didn’t see the field until Ray …

Continue reading What Changes are Needed on Atlanta Falcons Defense? »

The Defensive Process has Hit a Wall

Only Part of the Issue on D (AJC)

***Editor’s Note — this is part 1 of a two part look at the defensive side of the ball***

To be nice, the Atlanta Falcons defense has not lived up to expectations in a long time. To be blunt, the Falcons defense has been downright atrocious pretty much for the entirety of the Smith and Dimitroff regime. Faults lie vast and wide in a defense that doesn’t look much different from the one in 2008. Some has been coaching. Some has been drafting. Other parts has been scheme, while still other parts has been development. But all involved are to blame. 2010 saw a defense that finished top 5 in points allowed in the NFL, only to completely collapse vs. Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers in the second half.

The Cage is Ready for the Off-Season

2012 saw the Falcons defense do pretty good overall against the pass and do a very good job at creating turnovers, but were horrid vs. the run and even worse against tight ends in …

Continue reading Are Drastic Changes Needed on Atlanta Falcons Defense? »

Firecrackers, Dynamite Tosses, or Implosion?

What Changes Needed on O? (AJC)

As the sun sets on the 2012-13 NFL season, most Falcons fans are still grappling with “what could have been” before divulging and immersing into the off-season. For some, it’s therapeutic to jump right back into what the Birds need to fix, but for others a sabbatical from the Falcons and football in general will be needed. Either way, for 31 teams it will be months and months filled with how to reach the ultimate prize, including our Atlanta Falcons. Last off-season provided plenty of excitement with the former coordinators “finding new jobs” and the hiring of Dirk Koetter, Mike Nolan, and Pat Hill. This off-season may not have as many big changes as 2012, but it looks to be the most important one to date since the arrival of Mike Smith and Thomas Dimitroff. How do you go about changing and fixing a team that was only 10 yards away from the Super Bowl and was even up 17-0 early in the game? So with …

Continue reading What Changes are Needed for Atlanta Falcons Offense? »