Falcons make an impressive opening statement
The Falcons celebrate their first touchdown. Get used to this. (Bob Andres/bandres@ajc.com)
Remember the season opener a year ago, when it became so clear so early that every move had worked? The general manager who rebuilt the roster. The coach who chose a different path than his predecessor and convinced his players they really weren’t a sub-standard life form. The quarterback who played like some flawless lab creation.
It happened again Sunday.
This is the part where we caution: It’s only one game. Even Mike Smith, the coach, felt compelled to say, “It’s Week 1 of a long journey.”
But it looks like everything worked again. The second-year moves by second-year general manager Thomas Dimitroff leave some sense of clairvoyance. The Falcons look better than good, better than last year, almost certainly better than we expected. They won their opener, 19-7, and it wasn’t nearly that close. Two missed field goals and a botched extra point — OK, Jason Elam: not so perfect – prevented an assumed seven points. Miami was shut out until the final 3:22.
This game had 26-0 written all over it.
Falcons coach Mike Smith and assistant Gerald Brown celebrate the final minute of the season's first win. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)
“Until the first kickoff and the first regular season game – and I stress, regular season game – you can’t truly have an indication of what your team is about,” Dimitroff said. “It’s a good feeling when you know all of the hard work that goes into the evaluation of players by coach Smith and I and the whole personnel staff, and you see guys produce effectively. It’s encouraging.”
It’s more than that. For a franchise that has taken too many steps back after too few steps forward, this was a glowing statement on the future.
Tony Gonzalez in; Ben Hartsock out –
I'm Tony Gonzalez -- catch me if you can. (Curtis Compton/compton@ajc.com)
that one figured to work out. But could the new tight end have made a more dramatic entrance? Five catches for 73 yards, including one for a 20-yard touchdown and a finger-tip grab at the Miami one to set up the Falcons’ first score.
Mike Peterson in; Keith Brooking out – that one figured to work out. But is this the same Peterson whom Jacksonville practically drop-kicked out of town? He forced a fumble – separating the Dolphins’ Anthony Fasano from the ball and his senses — to set up a field goal in the first quarter and intercepted a Chad Pennington pass to set up a touchdown in the third.
Brian Williams, waiver pickup last week: a fumble recovery. Curtis Lofton and Kroy Biermann, selections from Dimitroff’s first draft: each with a forced fumble. Biermamn also had two sacks, as did John Abraham.
You looked for a few positive signs in the opener. The Falcons gave you a cross between ballet and a wrecking ball.
One win. Only one win. But think about this: They dominated despite seeing Michael Turner and the running game relatively stuffed, and Matt Ryan — despite finishing with solid numbers — actually misfire a few times to open receivers. What happens when everything clicks?
“I wouldn’t want to be a defensive coordinator trying to come up with a game plan,” center Todd McClure said.
Gonzalez was a little more direct: “If teams want to stack the box against us to stop the run, that’s fine. We should hurt them.”
There was no shortage of panic over the defense. Veterans were cut loose after last season and the team, while clearly younger and faster, looked lost in exhibitions. Exhibitions or not, there seemed no way to rationalize how the No. 1 unit played at times. “You just look at the guys we have on paper,” Peterson said. “Some teams look good in practice and some look good in pre-season. It’s just a matter of [carrying] it over when it counts.”
One win. Only one win. But it appears every move worked again. And afterward, nobody in the locker room looked surprised, nobody made any grand proclamations, nobody spouted off about their stats. An impressive start to the journey.
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213 comments Add your comment
Trey
September 13th, 2009
9:05 pm
Clusters, I thought you were done commenting.
WHAT UP!!!
September 13th, 2009
9:06 pm
Falcon Sorry is sorry he dont know football!!
Oh again………BigEasy830 and Bad News, you boys can still kiss my A**!!!!
Pete
September 13th, 2009
9:06 pm
One word only.
AWESOME.
Good night.
AUG24
September 13th, 2009
9:07 pm
Thomas Dimitroff takes the “emotion” out of his decisions and seems to make the right ones. He let Warrick Dunn and Keith Brooking go. They were both great members of society but their best years were behind them. This is a business. Mark Richt needs to understand that college football is big business. Football brings alot money to UGA, fire Willie Martinez. Please!
Skee
September 13th, 2009
9:09 pm
The Defense played an excellent game today. The offense struggled there some, but managed to get the job done. The new guys played really good today. I was very impressed with the speed of our defense and the hard hits was coming from everywhere. It’s only one game and we do gotta lot to work on, but I think they got something going good there. GO FALCONS!
Skee
September 13th, 2009
9:09 pm
The Defense played an excellent game today. The offense struggled there some, but managed to get the job done. The new guys played really good today. I was very impressed with the speed of our defense and the hard hits was coming from everywhere. It’s only one game and we do gotta lot to work on, but I think they got something going good there. GO FALCONS!
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:09 pm
FALCON SORRY was banned, but somehow Stendec still is allowed to spew his rage… And Bug Killer, well he speaks for himself… He has the observational skills of a 10 year old…
Hey Jeff Schultz, where’s that next Brett Favre story?
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
9:10 pm
karolina kittens:
Jake the Fake was benched and replaced by Josh McKown, who suffered leg and foot injuries. Matt Moore played some, then Jake went back in to throw another pick and fumble some more.
GO BIRDS!!! Bring on the kitty cats!!
Starring Peter Graves as Capt. Clarence Over
September 13th, 2009
9:10 pm
The good: forcing 4 turnovers. The bad: only getting 6 points off of TO’s.
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:11 pm
Go back to the Willie Martinez watch dim wit…
Trey
September 13th, 2009
9:11 pm
At least we won.
Sage of Bluesland
September 13th, 2009
9:14 pm
Where’s crabfilledjoe and his ‘yearning for Brooking’ tripe?!
I saw more ill-intent–and deliverance–out of Mike Peterson in one game than our precious Hometown Hero ever delivered on the field in over a decade.
See, folks–Peterson’s performance and overall disruptiveness is what linebacker play is supposed to look like…It’s not the ankle-grabs eight yards downfield (a Brooking specialty), pre- or post-game ‘rah-rah’ interviews (another Brooking specialty to which the media sheep lapped up), or reading ‘Green-Eggs-and-Ham’ to the little kiddies (about all Brooking was good for–charity work).
Addition-by-Subtraction indeed. Goodbye and good riddance to the overrated and completely overpaid local-boy-done-good!
Here’s to actual performance on the field under this braintrust–for the first time in a long time–maybe ever–I feel like we actually have a chance when it comes to GOOD DECISION-MAKING, which is the key to success in most pursuits…
Here’s to your garbage, crabbyjoe–and your ridiculous and not-too-subtle racism (and I’m white, by the way, and called Brooking a Hometown Hero way back when he was at The Flats, getting kicked out of practice for hitting defenseless QBs…and, no, I’m not a Dawg fan either…you’re excuses are pathetic, my ignorant ‘friend’, but I DO look forward to them nonetheless…)
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:16 pm
That 800 meter chick from South Africa has more gonads than you… And at least he/she’s a winner… A true example of real gender equality… And I wan’t 1-6 against the last week… 7-1 straight up and against the line…
Falcon 8211
September 13th, 2009
9:17 pm
great game falcons. let’s keep the focus and intensity still have 15 more to go. carolina will come in here trying to make-up for this week. divison game let’s put the wood to them . i truly have to say i was surprised by the defense today. please keep it up. great coaching but the players have to perform. put b. williams on smith sunday and follow him everywhere. back to work monday focus turns to carolina now!!!!!!!!! go falcons
Teresa (Tee-Tee)
September 13th, 2009
9:20 pm
I love my Atlanta Falcons Great Game!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the good work.
Fact Finder
September 13th, 2009
9:24 pm
The Top 5 teams in the NFL would wipe the floor with the dirty birds.
Bull Butter
September 13th, 2009
9:25 pm
This win was compliments of auther blank,for the snubing from the tuna.No way was miami going to win this game.
Jeff Schultz
September 13th, 2009
9:25 pm
Ryno – I’m happy to say Delhomme is not on my Fantasy League team.
Mad-Donna – Don’t know, don’t care, not sure anybody but you does. How’s that? But on an unrelated note, I think I’m due for a beer.
jesse james
September 13th, 2009
9:26 pm
Yeah i would like to know where are the “BAD NEWS”,BIGEASY 830 and MV7 are at with there fat mouths! I know it’s the first game but i know if we would have lost they would be running there mouths!GO SUPER BIRDS!
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
9:26 pm
Hey JSS:
Respect your opinion, and all, but this is a blog. Why should I type out “Tony Gonzales” when I can just type “TG” and everyone knows what I mean? And how does this show disrespect for Gonzales? Does your simply typing “JSS” show disrespect for yourself? Everyone uses shotcuts on blogs and posts; doesn’t mean any lack of respect; just to save time.
GO BIRDS!! CLAW CAROLINA!!!
Bull Butter
September 13th, 2009
9:29 pm
We will find out next week how good we are.If the falcons can stop the run we will be in good shape.
Ken Strickland
September 13th, 2009
9:29 pm
ED COVINGTON-thanks a bunch for the correction. I actually knew that, but I obvously had the Falcons in mind when I typed it. You know, this yrs DEF will have their share of bad gms, and that’s to be expected from a DEF that’s so inexperienced and young. The real difference in this yrs DEF is when it’s not having one of its off days, it has the ability to do what it did today. Last yrs DEF didn’t have the ability to do what our DEF did today.
DE KBiermann got as many sacks in todays gm as DE JAnderson got all of last yr. However, I saw JAnderson make some strong moves when rushing the QB. In one instance, he was responsible for JAbrahams getting his 2nd sack. I saw him bullrush the OT and put him so close to the QB he couldn’t throw. That forced the QB to sidestep to the left to get room to throw and sidestepped right into JAbraham grasp. Overall, everyone on the DEF had a successful gm. GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeremiah
September 13th, 2009
9:32 pm
Good game! The D was surprising, considering some of the performances I saw in pre-season, but I guess that’s why they call it the “pre” season! Now that the bell rung, and the real season started, the Birds came obviously prepared! I, like some, was concerned about Ryan’s few miscues, but I think he was solid overall and maybe just amped for the first game. His upside is so huge I’m not concerned. Biermann was AWESOME! Abraham, Peterson, Jerry, Lofton, everyone seemed to play with extreme fire and energy and the quickness to the ball and the finishes were all pretty great across the board today. Very encouraging to see! T. Gonzalez was the HOF we all knew he was, and he did not disappoint! I just can’t wait till Ryan does get his timing clicking, I really like our future! I’m not worried about Elam, and I’m certainly not worried about R. White. He was scrambling and came back in to allow Ryan to complete one first down, and created another on a crossing pattern with his quickness. White, like Ryan is young and his upside and future still looks very bright! Another great game preparing, planning, and execution-wise from the coaches, and kudos to TD for all his offseason moves. They are looking good so far… All in all, these are good times to be a Falcon’s fan!
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:37 pm
Just don’t be childish with Ed… Too much of that in here… He’s earned better than cute (a monkey and dog are that)… It is like this whole disrespect for young girls that goes on here… Time and place… You generally come with intelligent topical material, but he hasn’t been long enough for that mess… He’s one of the best and philanthropic men in the League… He’s just better than than that.. By the way, it how they desparged him as he was being jettisoned from KC…
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rdmblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/gonzo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://rdmblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/time-for-tony-to-go-gonzo/&usg=__X7qsP8DVdIeDA0_x9DG00V_TQcQ=&h=630&w=431&sz=52&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=jRJVDJgepsbnxM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=94&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Gonzo%2522%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1
Perspective is a dangerous thing!
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:41 pm
Only for Ed, so don’t come trying to get on this conversation
Sorry for the typos and omits, but I think you get the meaning of the comment…
Kris P. Creme
September 13th, 2009
9:41 pm
Great win, but I’m still gonna miss Grady Jackson.
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:44 pm
Ed, just don’t be childish with it is all; too much of that in here… He’s earned better than cute (a monkey and dog are that)… It is like this whole disrespect for young girls that goes on here, Time and place… You generally come with intelligent topical material, but he hasn’t been here long enough for that mess… He’s one of the best and philanthropic men in the League… He’s just better than that.. By the way, it is how they disparaged him as he was being jettisoned from KC…
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
9:45 pm
Concerning other games today, including GB v Bears now:
We’re either seeing a lot of awful QB play or great defenses. Ryan sure looked a lot better than 90% of the other QBs. Jake, Rogers, Cutler, Orton, Leinhart(?) etc. have had problems galore.
Buying the groceries in Miami
September 13th, 2009
9:48 pm
Did the big tuna Parcells show up?..John Abraham slapped Jake Long around pretty darn good.
JSS
September 13th, 2009
9:52 pm
Well you have almost a full off season to game plan this one game and tendencies… So I think it is more than anything else… None of that putting in the game plan on Thursday stuff… What’s your take?
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
9:54 pm
JSS:
I respect your place, man; God Bless.
I also have the utmost respect for real people (not celebrity) like Tony Gonzales. He has been an awesome addition to the Falcons both on the field and off. He has been a guest on several TV and radio programs and has represented the Falcons with honesty and intelligence. I was glad to see his remarkable performance on the field today to back up his respectability as a still all-pro player to go along with the respect he enoys as a person. ( and a beautiful wife, October) We can all, as fans, be proud that he is a Falcon. This could not be said of all Falcon players in the past.
fieldofdreams
September 13th, 2009
9:59 pm
Colts – Falcons Super Bowl.
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
10:01 pm
I don’t think you need a special game plan for carol(ina). Cover Steve Smith and stop the run. Don’t worry about QB, whether Jake or McKown.
On offense, know where JP is. Let carol(ina) worry about our SEVEN offensive weapons (have to count OvieM now!)
Sonny Clusters
September 13th, 2009
10:06 pm
That little three legged dog is still blogging away. Imagine that! We was always pulling that dog’s tail and it was always running into the street. When we was playing ball sometimes we’d let that little three legged dog (we called him Trey because he was stupid) play centerfield. You shoulda seen him getting the ball back in to the infield!
Tech alum
September 13th, 2009
10:09 pm
Had to TiVo the game and just finished watching. That was complete domination. The D played huge and our offense is a machine. Should’ve been 50-7. Bring on Carolina and welcome to Atlanta Tony Gonzalez and Mike Petersen!
Sage of Bluesland
September 13th, 2009
10:14 pm
Folks in Atlanta: Peterson’s performance is precisely how LB play is supposed to look like.
You’re so used to ankle-grabs eight yards downfield (a Brooking specialty), pre- and post-game ‘rah-rah’ interviews with the sheepish media (another Brooking specialty), and the reading of ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ to the kiddies (about all Brooking could do halfway well–and it was OFF the field)…
Looking forward to crabjack#@@joe and his excuses and not-too-subtle racism…His ignorance makes me laugh!
Just think, our good ol’ Hometown Hero was the 2nd highest paid LB in the league last year! What a sad, sad joke. Thank goodness we have a chance as this braintrust weeds out the utter FRAUDS like the rah-rah local-boy-done-good!
Ryan
September 13th, 2009
10:22 pm
OK, we get that you hate Brooking. How about we talk about this year’s Falcons instead?
JSS
September 13th, 2009
10:23 pm
Ed… Do you think Rex Grossman is somewhere laughing his butt off?
I don’t care if Carolina can’t run against anyone in the League, they somehow find a way to gash the Falcons…
As much as people bash certain ex-Falcons, you still had high quality community folks of those dysfunctional team… Dunn, Crumpler (and I still can’t get the hatred of him here) he told the truth about a cancer and liar (Petrino), and Milloy (drunk driving aside)…
JSS
September 13th, 2009
10:30 pm
Ha ha ha ha ha… Sears!!! I guess Favre really cares what Jeff Schultz thinks! That was too funny!
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
10:32 pm
Yeah, Sage:
One line about MP and the rest about Brooking? Let it go, man; unless you have money on the ‘Boys.
BTW, Let’s see: according to you, KB’s faults were:
He is from Georgia
He was paid a lot of money
He reads to children
He gave interviews you didn’t like.
He did not perform to your high standards.
Boy, he sounds like a real jerk to me!
KB may not have always been a great linebacker, but I was always proud he was a Falcon. I can’t say that for all past Falcon players.
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
10:42 pm
Kris P. Creme:
Do you mean “you” personally will miss Grady, or the donut shops will miss Grady?
After Babs play today, Grady who?
Singletary
September 13th, 2009
10:43 pm
The explanation re the defense that I find heartening is from Mike Smith himself. I’m paraphrasing, but the gist is that he & BVG were making players do things in pre-season they didn’t think the players could do, testing them to make the team better. While I’m suspicious he realized that the D was weaker than he thought when he made a phone call to Williams last weekend. However, it was clearly another good decision by Smitroff.
I like Grimes and his motor. I like the new wrinkle where we bring him around the line to pressure/disrupt the QB. I just don’t think the math is there for 5′8″ to beat a 6′4″ WR as we saw with San Diego. I think he could become another Alan Rossum/Tim Dwight speedster on returns, though, with that same disregard for his body and pain. (I don’t think he is Hester or Cribbs, but those two are almost super-human.)
Was Miami’s D Line that good or did our usually “beast” O Line not play up to their usual brutality?
Brendan
September 13th, 2009
10:44 pm
I think Sage’s point was that Brooking ate too much cap for what he brought. And that it got ‘glossed over’ because of the all the other wonderful, off-the-field things that he did. Which I think are admirable, on Brooking’s part. But his salary hurt the Falcons’ chances of ever putting together “back-to-back” winning seasons. Right now, that’s looking pretty good, sans Brooking. I think the Falcons are going to break the string.
Personally, I thank Brooking for his service. I’m happy he got Pro-Bowl recognition. But I am glad he’s gone and been replaced by ‘better.’ I’d never seen a player get so many Monday morning credits for tackles.
45ACP
September 13th, 2009
10:54 pm
Dawgs win, Falcons win, Jackets win.
An excellent weekend for the Georgia teams.
The Braves win also albeit a little too late.
Ed-Covington
September 13th, 2009
11:02 pm
I agree 100%, Brendan. I love MP’s play. But for once, I’d like to see the bloggers praise a present Falcon without having to drag a former Falcon throught the mud. How is that relevant?
As I said, Sage used one line to praise MP, and justifiably so. But then he used the rest of his post to degrade Brooking. Don’t blame Brooking because the media, pundits, front office and bloggers made him out to be superman. He was paid what the league thought he was worth. The Falcons offered the extension voluntarily; he did not hold out or twist their arm. Some of these fans hated him just because he played for Tech or didn’t defend a certain ex-QB when some others did.
JSS
September 13th, 2009
11:03 pm
Singletary, their front 7 is that good (Miami)… especially now that Jason Taylor is back… Porter on the other side… But if you get to two safeties with quality (like Gonzalez showed), you can make some hay…
By the way, your namesake has righted the ship in San Francisco… They did what the Falcons did not do in the playoffs…
Kane337
September 13th, 2009
11:05 pm
AWESOME
PMC
September 13th, 2009
11:14 pm
Where can I buy my #71 Kroy Bierman Jersey?
HERBIE
September 13th, 2009
11:18 pm
mad donna you are slimeball an idiot and dont know football when you see it
JJFalcon4Life
September 13th, 2009
11:20 pm
I HATE to say I told you so, (no I don’t) but I TOLD you guys last week that the defense would be fine after we our first team D was let loose on their QB! Have a little faith. After we get our offense clicking next week against the Panthers, we could be looking at going against the Pats as the 2-0 Falcons, maybe the featured game of the week!