‘Explosive’ Falcons just opened season with a dud
What do they say about a picture telling a story? This one of Matt Ryan explains Falcons' day.
CHICAGO – When the Falcons said they wanted to get more explosive this season, did they mean like Wile E. Coyote explosive?
They said the intent was to open up the offense. Stretch defenses. They said they wanted to get more aggressive on defense. Pressure opposing quarterbacks. Let it fly, baby. Light the fuse. Problem is, when you don’t follow your own directions, it’s easy to inadvertently wire your big toe to the ACME dynamite kit. Then when you push the plunger on the season opener . . .
Boom!
The Falcons opened the season Sunday. Three hours later, all the remained was a pile of ashes.
Chicago Bears 30, Falcons 12. How’s that for your potential Super Bowl team? Instead of giving you a reason to forget their 48-21 playoff loss to Green Bay last January, the Falcons succeeded only in extending the hangover. They have been outscored in their last two games by 45 points.
And about that 0-4 record in the preseason. Maybe it’s not so meaningless after all.
“Stunned is an understatement,” linebacker Mike Peterson said.
“This isn’t what we planned on — it was awful,” Roddy White said.
It was worse than that. It was inexcusable.
Was all that talk about explosiveness just lip service? This was a season opener. This game followed months of hearing coaches, players and the front office talking about the need for wows and pyrotechnics on both sides of the ball. The Falcons traded a blur of draft picks so they could move up to draft wide receiver Julio Jones. They snagged defensive end Ray Edwards in free agency. They talked a big game.
But when the gates open, they pressed the trigger and a flag saying, “Bang!” popped out. The Bears didn’t play dead.
Many Falcons players chose to credit Chicago’s defense for playing a strong game and taking away the deep threat. But quarterback Matt Ryan and offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey seldom left the impression they were in attack mode. Ryan never threw deep. Never. He says he thought about it several times but there was nothing there. Ryan also committed two horrific mistakes — an interception by Brian Urlacher, which led to a second-quarter touchdown when the game was still 3-3, and fumbling in the third quarter, leading to an Urlacher return for another score.
Ryan also was hoping to leave his Green Bay playoff performance behind him. This didn’t help. He has five turnovers and one touchdown pass in his last two games.
The Falcons didn’t just look bad. They self-destructed. They did things that good teams, let alone Super Bowl contenders, never should do. The defense missed tackles, took bad angles on plays and blew coverages. They turned Jay Cutler (312 yards, two touchdowns) into Sid Luckman. They introduced Roy Williams, who got drop-kicked out of Dallas, to relevancy.
They were beat physically. Chicago defense may be good but it’s hardly Monsters, redux. This isn’t 1941 or 1985.
Offensively, the Falcons looked and played timid. They lined up White on one side, Jones on the other, and Tony Gonzalez and Harry Douglas between the two, as advertised. Then they cowered. Chicago often dropped eight players into coverage and taking away the deep ball. But don’t great players and great coaches adjust? They make plays. Instead, we were subjected to four quarters of check-downs.
Coach Mike Smith acknowledged the poor performance but he tried to temper concerns with, “Let’s not say the sky is falling.”
Gonzalez also sought to calm the masses.
“People outside the organization are going to push the panic button,” he said. “They’re going to think, ‘Oh my God. Overhyped. Over this. Over that. You know what? They’re full of it. If you want to think that, go ahead. Maybe it sells papers. Maybe it gives people something to talk about. But it’s one game. We’ve got the players to do something special. We just have to go out next week and play better. And we will next week, I guarantee it.”
Nobody should doubt the Falcons can still be a great team. But opening performances like this tend to alter perspectives, especially with Michael Vick and Philadelphia coming to the Georgia Dome next week.
Overhyped? It’s probably too early for such proclamations. But it would at least be nice to see the Falcons attempt what they advertised.
By Jeff Schultz
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750 comments Add your comment
BunchofMularkey
September 12th, 2011
12:26 pm
Not too hard to see them beating Panthers once, Seahawks, Colts, Titans, Vikings, Jaguars, and either Bucs once or Lions for a 7-9 season. The stupidity of this organization w/ giving away draft picks and not drafting definsively, because they think that they are a Julio Jones away from winning it all,,,, is top notch. Did the GB game not teach the braintrust in this organization anything? Instead of recognizing the glaring weaknesses on D ,, they looked at how Rodgers used a cadre of receivers to pick their secondary apart, and said “that’s what we can do if we get another receiver to complement Roddy” ,,, instead of look at how exposed our secondary is. I think this is also the year that the Matty Ice melts into mediocrity …giving him the new moniker MattyMelt … with just as much cheese as a patty melt.
YourPoliticalAnimal
September 12th, 2011
12:29 pm
Well, just bought my Fallcants/Eagles tics so I can see the Mike Vick Show . . .He’s gonna really let the Dogs Out!!!
naturallyNAWLINS
September 12th, 2011
12:30 pm
FAILclowns fans dont worry its only one game!
naturallyNAWLINS
September 12th, 2011
12:32 pm
chuckle chuckle…..(last year # 1 seed……chuckle chuckle)!
T-MAN
September 12th, 2011
12:32 pm
I’LL TELL WHATS WRONG WITH THE FALCONS PASS DEFENSE IN TWO WORDS. CHRISTOPHER OWENS. THIS GUY CAN’T COVER ANYONE. DON’T BELIEVE ME, WATCH THIS GUY, WHEN THE DEFENSE IS ON THE FIELD. HE NEVER MAKES A PLAY. DID EVERYBODY FORGET WHO AARON RODGERS PICKED ON IN THE PLAYOFF, LAST YEAR. THE FALCON PASS DEFENSE WAS DECENT BEFORE THIS GUY BECAME THE STARTING NICKEL BACK. HOW DID THIS GUY GET DRAFTED. MIKE SMITH, VAN GORDER WAKE UP BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
realitycheck
September 12th, 2011
12:33 pm
AlpharettaGuy…….I think your posts are reasonable and pretty much on target. I agree that the Falcons overachieved last season, and I agree with your accessment of Ryan. There’s not going to be any SB with Ryan as QB, nor one with the defense the Falcons have either. To get to the SB, you have to beat either 2 or 3 playoff teams to do it. That aint gonna happen with this team. The Falcons have been very good against the non elite teams, but you don’t see those teams in the playoffs.
welikebaseball2
September 12th, 2011
12:33 pm
LOL @ the Aint’s trolls. Wow, what a fall. To go from champs to celebrating the fact that your division rival is 0-1 like you. Hilarious! And kind of sad.
True Falcon Fan
September 12th, 2011
12:33 pm
My bet is Falcons will rebound against the Con-Vick / Eaglettes – if they don’t then, next time!
Go Falcons
YourPoliticalAnimal
September 12th, 2011
12:38 pm
Eagles have enough talent for about six/seven games . . . so my tics are a real bargain . . . Avant, Young, McCoy, Jackson, Celeck, Asomugha, Maclin, Babin, Brown, Peters, Rogers-Cromartie, oh . . . and the VICKSTER HIMSELF . . . can you say BEATDOWN??? . . . as usual, Falcon cornerback Dunta Robinson will get burned and pull a hammy . . . Matt Ryan will implode as all graduates of the Brett Favre/Tony Romo School of Chokology do . . . Michael Turner will prove that he was a one-year wonder . . . meet me in the nosebleed section . . . it’s gonna be fun . . . Eagles/Chargers in SB XLVI . . .
X
September 12th, 2011
12:54 pm
@tdawgg37…SI picked Green Bay last year so where is the Jinx? Put the blame where it belongs, on the VERY PREDICTABLE coordinators! That includes #2 who calls the plays during the no huddle!
SR
September 12th, 2011
12:56 pm
Why is this a surprise, Julio Jones doesn’t play defense and neither does anybody else on this team!! They haven’t defended the pass well, in, jeesh, I dunno, FOREVER! DBs’ suck. No pressure up front. Undersized up front on DL. QB’s throw at will against them and BTW, they haven’t won a game since last December. Apparently they have forgotten how to win.
Peedyoj
September 12th, 2011
1:00 pm
Settle down people……..there are plenty of Super Bowl teams who don’t start off hot………it’s Week 1. A better showing would certainly have been better and was definitely expected; but we are still tied for 1st in the division……:-)
PMC
September 12th, 2011
1:05 pm
Seriously though guys, with the people they’ve picked the last 3 years, what were they going to do with the picks for Julio anyway?
They got Julio because he’s a great player. OBVIOUSLY they need top of the draft players given what the middle and late picks have been.
Anyone seen Peria Jerry? Isn’t he a “rolling bucket of butcher knives”?
I hear Spoon, but I don’t see him making any plays.
Jeff Schultz
September 12th, 2011
1:06 pm
Welikebaseball2 — I just got off an airplane. Give me some time.
PMC
September 12th, 2011
1:06 pm
Sam Baker was a FIRST ROUND draft pick….. Peppers just hit Ryan AGAIN.
15 or 20 hits in that game yesterday with 0 blitzing.
Jeff Schultz
September 12th, 2011
1:09 pm
True Falcon Fan — Were you aware of the racist connotations of your comments? I’ll wait until 1:30 for your response.
Pauls Johnson
September 12th, 2011
1:15 pm
I will never say another bad word about Joe Tess Fishhouse,,, the man is clearly a Genious,,,
Julius Peppers' Tomahawk Chop
September 12th, 2011
1:15 pm
Hey Atlanta, Did the Falcons actually get on the plane to Chicago this weekend? It was too much fun having regular DLine meetings at the Quarterback.
Falc Fan
September 12th, 2011
1:16 pm
We are after all still tied for first in the divsion!!!
True Falcon Fan
September 12th, 2011
1:18 pm
There was a time, I felt that MV#7 as a Falcon, possibly could have been the next Herchel Walker. Boy, was that a pipe dream to say the least.
Folks, jus want to make sure you all understand MV#7 is a special talent! However that’s where it all stops with me, what this guy did to the Falcon Fans, Organization and ALL the NFL players is a crying shame!
This guy, Con-Vick, would whether lie than tell the truth, when the truth would do. Stop a minute, “ask ones self”, did Plexco Burres, did he lie – “well NO”, was he right to be carrying a gun without a CHL “NO”. Was he suspended by the commissioner, NO, “He did the crime” and “He did the time”! Ya Boy Con-Vick will back in the clink soon enough, watch and you will see! So all you Con-Vick lovers be at the game to cheer ya “BOY” on – PLEASE…….
Go Falcons
AlpharettaGuy
September 12th, 2011
1:21 pm
realitycheck–that’s the unfortunate fact, I believe. For the most part, it takes Super Bowl quality QBs to win the SB & I just don’t see it here. They are going to have to make some BIG adjustments this week or they will lose handily to the Eagles. The “new” Vick is full of confidence. Matt is an old-style, drop back QB and the game these days calls for more of an athlete. Just sayin.
I have hope, however, since I am NOLA-born and a Saints Fan IN ADDITION to a Falcons Fan (my Saints fan friends tell me I can’t be that way but oh well). And when the two teams play? Gotta “geaux” with my Saints. NFC champ. this year? Saints/Packers II with the Saints winning this time in another shootout! Then Drew & the Bayou Boyz will handle the Pats in the SB. That’s how I see it!
TheSmooth
September 12th, 2011
1:21 pm
This team has the making of an 0 & 16 club. And the Philly Eagles come to town next wk.
And could you believe that Cam Newton can put the ball farther down field than our superstar quarterback Matty Ice. Matt Ryan and Tony Romo make a great pair. They both look good in their prom dresses.
JAY TOWN SMITH
September 12th, 2011
1:22 pm
#84=greatest show on turf lmao#2=pro bowl quarterback lmao#56you call that a tackle attempt,56 more dedication to your craft less talk lmao..Coaching staff lack of adjustments put some more notches on your belt lmao..Mr G.M. Of the year = missing on P.Willis, D.Regis and Lee Evans a receiver who can also stretch the field but who’s not a rookie. Question fans. If you could have either one today Flacco. Or Ryan who would you pick for this team. Flacco =vertical passing. Ryan=west coast offense. High football I.Q. Lmao.
Joe Tess Fish House
September 12th, 2011
1:22 pm
I done told U all.
JSS
September 12th, 2011
1:24 pm
Clocks ticking on the suicide watch, delicious!
True Falcon Fan
September 12th, 2011
1:26 pm
Jeff, if i made a racial connotation then I apologize!!!
jusathought
September 12th, 2011
1:27 pm
man i tought this was the falcons with chris miller…..where do we start..does anybody go to the film room like they suppose to. why would you run these offensive plays after halftime when nothings working…i saw nothing new no screens no two tight end sets…or 3 wide out sets.. did mat even throw in the flat.if your suppose to be explosive then be that.. did mat even throw a pass over 15 yards? defense defense…. abhram was the only one that showed up… van gorder will you please get it together or go back to college this soft zone is not going to work so dont run it the whole game… (tight end is killing you).. if you gonna stay in a zone can we get a zone blitz package or something… stunts, cornerblitz, shift the line or something defense get sets and then nothing changes…take note from ravens and jets defense its not the same schemes the whole game
Birddawg
September 12th, 2011
1:27 pm
Enter your comments here
Jamal Robertson
September 12th, 2011
1:29 pm
Najeh Davenpoop — I get your point you like MV and that is cool, but he is an unwelcome guest in the Georgia Dome. Yes we live in America and you have all the rights that go along with living in this country, but how can you call yourself a fan of these Falcons and root for MV on this upcoming Sunday. Do you not understand that his goal is to beat our team or is that concept lost on you? My wife has Mike on her fantasy team and against the Rams I wanted him to do well because it was her QB, but normally any top NFC team I want to lose because if all the NFC teams lose and the Falcons win it means that the Falcons have a better chance of winning their division and the conference. Does this make sense or is your overpriced jersey clouding your comprehension of this concept. Too often people don’t care about division and conference games until about Thanksgiving, but they all count. So from a fantasy perspective I get you cheering for Mike Vick, and I can even understand you wanting him to have an MVP season, but you still haven’t explained how and why you can be a Falcons fan and cheer for MV this Sunday? I wait for your answer….
Pauls Johnson
September 12th, 2011
1:30 pm
true falcon fan,, how dare you call out the mighty JSS,,, he is clearly the smartest person on this blog,, just ask him he will tell you,, however,, I think calling coach Smith Barney Rubble is racist,, imho
Birddawg
September 12th, 2011
1:34 pm
Do you guys realize that Ryan would be a backup QB on all but a few NFL teams? He’s pedestrian for the most part although he fits Smith’s offense. How hard is it to hand the ball off? Wholio Jones better start running 5 yd outs if he wants the ball thrown his way!
TheFreedomSeeker
September 12th, 2011
1:35 pm
Listen, the Bears designed themselves to matchup with the Packers as best they could, they were ready for the Atlanta spread attack, the defense needed to step up their game (Abe and Bierman can’t do it by themselves) DeCoud SHOULD have had 2 interceptions that he just flat out dropped. The offense line wasn’t good, particularly the B-Gap on the right side of the line (between Center and Right Guard for those keeping score at home). When McClure comes back, we should be better on the o-line, seeing as how he makes most of the line calls, and hawley was not ready for that quite yet. Falcon fans, this team will get better, remember, we said a lot of the same things early on last year about the season going down the tube after the Pittsburgh game. Keep the faith my friends, and be at the dome next week to make Vick REALLY feel like it’s an away game.
goodgod
September 12th, 2011
1:36 pm
Matt Ryan lost the game. after his interception it was over. matt ryan was never the same after that. on the first drive, it was like 3rd and 4 yards, he threw first pass to julius jones that was for two yards. almost all his passes were short yards passes, i think i could have thrown. in fact in the middle of the third quarter they noted matt only threw pass over 20 yards. the defense was on the field so much the first half i sure they felt like that had played a whole game at that point. matty ice is more like melty ice. we need a new quarterback.
JSS
September 12th, 2011
1:37 pm
“I think calling coach Smith Barney Rubble is racist,, imho”
A stone age cartoon character with blonde hair who is short and stocky as well is racist? Well you can’t spell assumption without the first three letters! Try stretching that one in your mind!
Pauls Johnson
September 12th, 2011
1:42 pm
JSS,, ya got me there buddy, i’m speechless.
ATL4LIFE
September 12th, 2011
1:46 pm
I JUST PUT MY VICK JERSY IN THE CLEANERS, IT FEEL GOOD TO HAVE MV7 COME BACK TO THE ATL. I CANT WAIT TO SEE MV7 SHOW ON SUNDAY NIGHT INSIDE THE DOME!
keepinitreal
September 12th, 2011
1:47 pm
Ryan doesn’t have a big league arm. He can do fine in a quick strike, high-percentage passing game, but he’s not going to beat anyone downfield. That’s why the Julio Jones deal didn’t make a lot of sense.
Chet
September 12th, 2011
1:51 pm
Just think guys you could have had Joe Flacco
True Falcon Fan
September 12th, 2011
1:59 pm
Here ya go
big don
September 12th, 2011
2:00 pm
First and foremost. Dunta Robinson: BUST. I saw him miss several key tackles, particularly on a screen pass when he had outside contain and dove at Forte’s feet and let him get outside for 40 plus yards. 2. Spoon: BUST. Did you see that ridiculous shove on Forte in the 1st quarter? How in the hell could you miss it. Piss poor effort. Piss poor player. 3. Mularky is malarky. Horse hooey. Dooosh bag. Explosive as in wet gunpowder is exposive. How in the @@#R to you call a three yard
pass when you need 10 yards time and time again. Oh, right, 4th and 4 is better than 4th and 10. 4. Can Matt Ryan throw it over 10 yards down field? Well, maybe but apparently they won’t let him. 5. What the F did you draft Julio for? 6. Let’s see. Lost to Greenbay. O and 4 in preseason. Hammered by Bears. Doing my gazintas and cyphering and taking everything else into consideration I can draw the following conclusions A. The Falcons suck big time. B. I delighted that Mr. Blank did not get my season ticket money this year for the first time since ‘85. Much easier drinking in my living room to drown my sorry than at the dome and driving home. Just try, I mean just try a pass over 4 yards. And Michael Turner — the burner — not so much. Jason Snelling. Man, he was, I said was, my boy but he sucked, too. Loved the dropped pass in the second half. Sharrrrp.
Big Don.
P.S. Dawgs suck too. I WAS there Saturday. And Tech won 2 in a row. Football really bites so far.
Falcons are a hologram
September 12th, 2011
2:02 pm
Yeah Right said WHEN THEY TAKE AWAY THE DEEP BALL, YOU CHECK DOWN TO THE OPEN RECEIVER.
What do you do when your arm is weak to throw deep?
Stupid Cliches'
September 12th, 2011
2:18 pm
Yeah…..The Falcons looked pretty ugly yesterday where as the Bears looked awfully good.
Skee
September 12th, 2011
2:20 pm
As a whole unit we didn’t play up to par. Ryan didn’t have a good game, but the offensive line was being man handled and any quaterback would have been rattled. Poor tacking by the defense and it seemed we had a bunch of confusion in the secondary. That combined with turnovers was just a embarrassment on the day. On the positive side we did move the ball at times and looked good on defense. It’s just one game and we have time to get it together. Everyone in the division lost so it’s time to hang the season up!
Phoenix Falcon
September 12th, 2011
2:30 pm
This loss had NOTHING to do with the players, and EVERYTHING to do with the PLAY CALLING. Until the falcons decide to move on to page 2 of the playbook, they are going to keep getting beat by avg ( at best ) teams. Not one time did they go to a 4 wide-out set, not 1 time did they go to 5 wide-outs, they went with the ” not so fast Hurry up ” when they did not need to, and when they needed to hurry up, they did’nt, that is NOT THE PLAYERS FAULT, that’s bad coaching. with the offensive talent this team has, it should be in 4 or 5 reciver sets @ least 50% of the time if not more, FORCE the defenses to HAVE to cover EVERYBODY. Look at the last two SUPER BOWL winners, the falcons have just as much talent on offense ( IMO ) as both of those teams, the only differance is how they call plays. The guy from Green Bay might be the best play caller EVER, he calls plays like I call plays, when I’m playing madden, and that A-Hole in N-O is a close 2nd. I live in Phoenix now, if you get a chance, check out how ” Wiz ” calls plays, he’s ( IMO ) in the top 5 of play callers in the NFL. It’s time for Mike Smith and the rest of his staff to move into THIS DECADE with the rest of the NFL. 1 more thing, at what point are the falcons going to understand that whatever they are doing on the defense side of the ball is NOT working? they have had 3 years to fix the defensive back’s situation and they have not even come close. same with the offense, the defense needs to take some steps to join the rest of us here in 2011, this is not the 1980’s, this is not my father’s NFL.
Instant Dawgma
September 12th, 2011
2:31 pm
Their chemistry and timing was off….Will get better…I don’t think they were told preseason was over yet.
Scam of the day
September 12th, 2011
2:35 pm
So Scam picked apart the Cardinals defense and still lost….that’s the last high school defense he’s gonna see for a while.
bye bye Scam, your gonna need a M*A*S*H unit in carolina.
extremus
September 12th, 2011
2:35 pm
For those who might actually be wishing for the Falcons to fall into Draft lottery territory, think again because:
A) Cleveland owns next year’s Falcons first pick, and
B) seriously, it is VERY unlikely that a single player can make the difference between, say, a 4-12 record and a 12-4 playoff-bound record the next season. In other words, the Falcons’ window of opportunity, like any other NFL franchise, is THIS YEAR. And if such a disaster happened we’d be looking at possibly years of rebuilding and basic misery.
I’m as frustrated as anyone by that awful excuse for a showing yesterday, but I wouldn’t count on anyone at the top, be it Blank, Smith, or Dimitroff, to let it slide and stand pat. They will most definitely be addressing some things in some form or fashion. My chief concern isn’t merely the loss or how lopsided it was; it’s the fact the falcons clearly made NO attempt to make good on their preseason declarations regarding downfield passing for long-yardage gains, and that the defense just flat got carved up by a good but by no means elite QB.
The offensive playcalling falls on Mike Mularkey and/or Matt Ryan, and it’s up to the O-line to give Ryan the time to make good passes. None did anything they were supposed to yesterday. And by now I’m thoroughly convinced that Van Gorder is simply not a capable defensive playcaller; he’s been clearly outclassed against the Bears and during last year’s Green Bay and Philadelphia games to the point of embarrassment. If the rest of the season (or even the next few GAMES) follow yesterday’s pattern, then heads should be rolling, PERIOD, be it coaches and/or bringing players in who WILL get the job done.
He still has the look at me syndrome
September 12th, 2011
2:39 pm
Scam is still pointing at himself in nfl….me, me, me player, that’s all he ever was and all he’ll ever be. Hide your computers in Carolina. They might disappear with Scam there.
William
September 12th, 2011
2:42 pm
Wait…the defense was horrible?
The offense basically gave up 17 of the 30 points scored in the game. They held the Bears to some field goals and a couple of scores(one of which off of Ryans turnover).
Defenses are going to give up plays every once and a while, but our defense ALSO got a handful of sacks, a defesive touchdown and would have forced 2 more turnovers had Thomas D. held on to two gimmies.
The offense gave up more points than it scored. Special teams put the D in bad postitions where it was no way they weren’t going to give up at least a field goal on 2 occasions. ‘Spoon missed a big tackle, sure, jump on that all you want but Matt Ryan was HORRID yesterday and if he had played a mediocre game, the Falcons still could have won.
Dan
September 12th, 2011
2:53 pm
I am not trying to start anything here, but I am a Packer fan for 50 years, and know the Bears well. You didn’t lose to the Bears offense, you lost to the Bears defense. Cutler is not anywhere near the quarterback Ryan is, but no quarterback plays well with defenders in his face immediately, and the Bears were in your backfield immediately after the snap on almost every play. Everybody else in the league double teams Peppers, but you guys didn’t, at least that I saw. The Bears also took advantage of your defense, which played an exceptionally bad game on the worse field in the league. Say what you want about the Bears, but they always give you their best effort. You pretty much got “out efforted” all day. BTW, if you had tried to plug away at the Bears on the ground, you would have gotten beaten worse than you did. They play way better run defense than they do pass defense, and you have to hold onto the ball, they are masters of knocking the ball out.