‘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
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
8:48 pm
No, numbers tell the truth, the “story” is based upon emotion, hope and fear. So you are right, numbers don’t tell the story.
Chandler going Deep..
September 12th, 2011
8:49 pm
IceMelt has never beaten the Eagles..How u like them STATS?
cHiLLoUT
September 12th, 2011
8:49 pm
Everyone its just ONE game, ha ha, so what Atlanta got hit hard in the mouth…these games can be good or bad, depends how the Falcons take it. I say the Falcons are gonna rally together, realize this isn’t gonna be handed to them and they are going to get to work…I think that because I don’t have that pathetic panic attitude that most of you losers are crying about…haha, its just one game people, amd it ain’t that serious
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
8:52 pm
Again, I have you interest in your speculation and hypotheticals, Vick did not beat the bears with the team he had last year. I am not giving opinions, guesses, speculation, or even really care, I am just stating facts, and some people can’t handle the truth.
Chandler going Deep..
September 12th, 2011
8:53 pm
Again:IceMelt has never beaten the Eagles..How u like them STATS?
Again:IceMelt has never beaten the Eagles..How u like them STATS?
Again:IceMelt has never beaten the Eagles..How u like them STATS?
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
8:53 pm
Chandler, now you are onto something. He is 0-1, he did not play the first time. I don’t like or dislike stats.
Chandler going Deep..
September 12th, 2011
8:54 pm
Whew…..lol
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
8:55 pm
lol
Chandler going Deep..
September 12th, 2011
8:55 pm
0-2 Sunday..
JSS
September 12th, 2011
8:57 pm
WOW, Stat Man must work for Arthur Anderson or Standard and Poors… That is some Enron cooking of the books…
“Bounced by Seattle?” Say what? Did you mean Philadelphia?
Explosive Offense = No Offensive TDs?
September 12th, 2011
8:58 pm
this is a hilarious stat right here:
Donovan McNabb: 7 for 15, 39 yards passing (thirty-nine!), 1 TD
Matt Ryan: 31 for 47, 319!!! yards passing, ZERO TDs
JSS
September 12th, 2011
9:00 pm
And Ryan is 0-2 versus the Eagles, he lost as the starter his rookie year and last year….
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
9:01 pm
We’ll see, Anything can happen.
RR Time
September 12th, 2011
9:02 pm
No big deal—the Falcons came out too emotional due to 9/11 — they’ll pick it up big and beat the eagles by 10 on sunday–book it!
Chandler going Deep..
September 12th, 2011
9:03 pm
But McNabb has been to 5 NFC CHAMPIONSHIPs and a SuperBowl..He’s near the end of his career..
Joey Harrington Jr: Probably may never duplicate………….Heck never..Not talented enough….There…..
Chandler going Deep..
September 12th, 2011
9:07 pm
JSS
September 12th, 2011
8:57 pm
WOW, Stat Man must work for Arthur Anderson or Standard and Poors… That is some Enron cooking of the books…HaHaHa LOL!
Didn’t they go under, like the fail-cons will Sunday night? lol
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
9:15 pm
All I am saying is both Vick and Ryan have very similar records when it comes to playoffs. In 10 years, Vick has 1 playoff win. That is all I can find, seems like there would be more, but other than GB in 2002, he ain’t done jack in the Playoffs, kinda like Ryan….IDK, just don’t see the big deal.
Back 2 Reality
September 12th, 2011
9:25 pm
ATL Naive@10:46am
JSS@10:53am
WELL SAID!!!!!!!!
Smitty
September 12th, 2011
9:26 pm
Simple; used to say to my High school B Ball team after a bad loss: ” you just weren’t ready to play”.
With a few exceptions, Bierman, Lofton, Turner, the Falcons played like they have been reading all their own press.
Back 2 Reality
September 12th, 2011
9:29 pm
Can somebody PLEASE!!! do something about these new “Falcons Rise Up” commercials!!! I’d rather listen to a Russian Opera concerto than that ruse. UGHHH!!!
JSS
September 12th, 2011
9:32 pm
What the ? Dude, Vick was the QB behind the explosive day in Falcons playoff history!
Scary enough, January 15, 2005 Atlanta Falcons – 47 St. Louis Rams – 17
When compared to worst playoff defeat in Atlanta Falcons history
Scary enough 6 years to the day January 15, 2011 Green Bay Packers – 48 Atlanta Falcons – 21
Smitty
September 12th, 2011
9:35 pm
Totally agree about Owens. Is there really no better choice?. Somebody explain the Falcon choice for kickoffs. In 5 games now, I think every kick has been returned.Why the risk?
Mystikal
September 12th, 2011
9:43 pm
Good Character guys = SOFT!!!
Where is the fire in these guys? Too often they’ve looked like this. Even through their success last year in 4 or 5 of the wins they looked lack luster, but still came out with a win some how. Did Harvey Dahl take the heart and soul of this squad with him.
And when ever players are asked about leaders on the team, they are quick to point to Matt Ryan. That is good, a quarterback should be. What about the other pro bowlers..? Roddy White, John Abraham, Tyson Clabo, Tony Gonzalez, Michael Turner, Brent Grimes… What are these guys doing when the team is mucking it up like they were. After 3 winning seasons, one guy shouldn’t be taking on so much and one guy is not going to win by himself
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
September 12th, 2011
9:43 pm
Stat Man should stick to lying because your stats are like CHOKE – Worthless
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
9:45 pm
I knew Vick had at least another playoff win….thats right….but they got knocked off by the dreaded Andy Reid and the Eagles again. Still, he has not come close to living up to the hype, hell, Rex Grossman got a SB appearance. Maybe this is his year….guy deserves it.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
September 12th, 2011
9:46 pm
Vick
Jackson
Maclin
Avant
Smith
Celek
McCoy
Brown
Lewis
It’s going to be a masacre & I guarantee Art Blank won’t be extending CHOKE’s contract
Stat Man
September 12th, 2011
9:46 pm
What do you mean Choke, you always love to pull the stat that Ryan has not won a playoff game. You just like stats when they agree with your POV. You can’t handle the truth.
Fred
September 12th, 2011
9:57 pm
Yeah Right! You are an idiot. It is Matt Ryan’s fault since he is running scared. He does not step up in the pocket. He is not decisive. He runs backwards right into the hands of defensive ends. I feel sorry for our offensive tackles. He never threw once to the end zone although the Falcons were in the red zone twice. There is no explosiveness and if I was Arthur Blank and the owner I will tell Mike Smith that TD provided you with the players……….put the team in the posiiton to win and be agressive on both sides of the ball. If not you and the two coordinators are gone. Fit the players to their strengths and don’t fit the players to convservative chicken sh*t offensive and defensive schemes. We have two studs for wide receivers and we don’t throw deep to them and let them fight for the ball. Unvelievable. All us non-professionals see it but the so-called professionals who watch film 12 hours a day and sleep in their offices are lost and don’t see the forest for the trees. Wake up before its too late!!
JSS
September 12th, 2011
10:03 pm
I kept thinking after Stat Man kept throwing bad numbers, but it finally hit me… He’s finally found Matt Ryan comparison, he’s a new age version of Sonny Jurgensen and John Hadl… Great numbers, supposedly they had all of the attributes with long careers… And they never won one playoff game between them! 0-2 in the playoffs and that was over 35 years between them….
Falcan'ts
September 13th, 2011
12:03 am
When I hear ‘explosvie” I think of me on the toilet after a beef buritos with beans and 11 Coronas, NOT a good offensive team.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 13th, 2011
1:31 am
“He’s finally found Matt Ryan comparison, he’s a new age version of Sonny Jurgensen and John Hadl… Great numbers, supposedly they had all of the attributes with long careers”
I am too young to remember them, but thinking more recently, Chad Pennington is not a bad comparison. Pennington was deadly accurate (the most accurate passer of all time as a matter of fact) and made the right reads nearly all the time, but he couldn’t make plays when the play broke down and couldn’t make plays down the field, which kept him from ever being elite.
Of course, he did manage to win two playoff games in his first three seasons as a starter…
GA. Dome
September 13th, 2011
2:01 am
Do anybody know what kind of tackle that was Weatherspoon tried to make on Forte running down the side line?
FAlcons24
September 13th, 2011
6:24 am
It is really too early to do a fair assessment of any team. All we know is that they looked awful in every phase of the game. Matt Ryan had 2 crucial turnovers, along with Michael Turner that were drive stoppers (self-induced). Michael Turner is probably the only RB in the NFL that break for a 53 yard gainer in the open field and cannot score. The receiver are not running past people as of the first week. Give Ryan a good window. Weems refused to field any punts as if he is still in preseason. Matt Boshers 38 yard punt average will not cut it in the NFL.Bad angles and tackling was a big problem. Work on the basics sometimes and we are not a zone defense. The LB’s are not dropping back deep enough in coverage, but it looks like the secondary is not doing their job. All of the passes were underneath or in the flats were the LB should have been. Decoud and Moore need to hit harder and set a tone for the secondary. They are coming up and arm tackling. I thought a nickel back locate the receiver in a zone and get there. Chris Owens went to the flats and the receiver turned inside. I believe once we get some new blood(Hayden at nickel and Sanders) on defense we will be okay. When you stay onthe field that long you are not going to beat anyone. It is hard to blame the defense when your offense give up 3 turnover and all three led to scores. They did not give up explosive plays with the exception of Matt Forte screen pass. BVG and MM need to be more game driven rather than being very methodical in their approach. Play to the strengths of how the game is flowing. We will be fine, because we have 15 regular season games left.
just sayin'
September 13th, 2011
6:37 am
@Fred….Melt did throw to the end zone once…his javelin toss went 5yds over the end line..with that much arc on it, no one knows where it’s going…and, the ballboy and cameramen probably had more receptions that Juliet did…all of those sideline outs have to have been caught by somebody…
tony
September 13th, 2011
6:42 am
I’ve being saying for 35 yrs now that the Falcons will never win a SB until they build a dominant DL and OL. Unfortunately, Mr Dimitroff have other things on his mind.
Chandler going Deep....
September 13th, 2011
7:14 am
GA. Dome
September 13th, 2011
2:01 am
Do anybody know what kind of tackle that was Weatherspoon tried to make on Forte running down the side line?
“News Flash” Weatherspoon did not cost u the game on one missed tackle but your QB certainly did.. Those sloppy turnovers were game changers Joey Harrington jr(The 2nd coming)…….Zero TD’s!!!!! Huh!!!! Bench this bum……………………………..
YourPoliticalAnimal
September 13th, 2011
7:16 am
This is Falcons owner Art Blank here and I’m telling you that if you think I’m spending my billions on a bunch of choir boys, I’ve got some beachfront property in Montana that I want to sell you. I won’t be putting up with this Sugar, Honey, Ice, and Tea for long, so fret not . . . I’m gonna give Matt Ryan (notice I didn’t say Matty Ice) one more year (this year) and then I’m gonna put DJ Shockley on speed dial. Oh yea, and BTW, don’t think I don’t have my eyes on Michigan’s Dennard Robinson because I do . . . I know that we can’t draft high enough to get Stanford’s Andrew Luck, but that’s ok because Robinson is MV7 with dreadlocks . . . thank you, good day, and keep shopping at Home Depot so I can continue to receive dividends . . . Shalom . . .
Chandler going Deep....
September 13th, 2011
7:25 am
Six straight losses is enough data to evaluate this squad of pretenders along with the coaching staff..
Contrary to popular belief(or at least its the bull their selling you and your eating it) the four preseason games do count…The same mistakes your making as a player and coach will continue to manifest itself as it did in Chicago…Yep they count..Greenbay loss + 5= 0-6!!! Soon to be 0-7 on Sunday night..It will be a disaster……….
Mr Blank, I suggest you just may want to huddle up in your palace, because if you come down to the Dome you will probably get sick to your stomach!
Good luck genius!
JSS
September 13th, 2011
7:58 am
Najeh Davenpoop
September 13th, 2011
1:31 am
“Of course, he did manage to win two playoff games in his first three seasons as a starter…”
And that is why I did not include him in my comparisons… Now, if he continues to regress in some areas (turnovers in key situations), I’ll add the names Greg Landry (early 70’s Lions QB) and Jim Hart (early 70’s Cardinals QB). If he ever wins a playoff game, then he gets into the class with John Brodie, Milt Plum, and Norm Snead.
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Chandler going Deep....
September 13th, 2011
8:29 am
No Tony G your team is full of _______________^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
YourPoliticalAnimal
September 13th, 2011
8:52 am
Soooooo. . . you better not cry, you better prepare, you better not be shy I’m tellin’ you why . . . Michael Vick is comin’ to town . . . He knows your secondary’s weakness . . . .He knows your blitz is a fake . . . he’s knows he’s still loved in the ATL so be there for goodness’ sake . . .
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ATL Rules
September 13th, 2011
9:23 pm
Relax–dimitroff used to work with belicheck in NE. He knows what to do.
who dat?
September 13th, 2011
9:47 pm
the saints will easily win the division and beat green bay for the nfc title—bet the house. Atlanta may not even make the playoffs without big changes.
zionlion12
September 13th, 2011
10:43 pm
Michael Vick is coming with some more nails for the falcons coffin.
RalphCramdon
September 14th, 2011
9:15 am
I love the title “Explosive Falcons just opened the season with a dud”. The Explosive Falcons are a pathetic team of “wanna-bes” (Ryan), “prima-donnas” (white, jenkins, julio jones), and no-talent bums. THE FALSONS OPENED THE SEASON WITH A DUD AND WILL FINISH THE SEASON AT 1-15. Erase them from your memory banks.
TCCB
September 14th, 2011
11:56 pm
CHOKE, THE LOOSERS KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS IT’S PRIME VICK TIME LOL
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