The Falcons suffer a thumping loss but learn a needed lesson
Kevin Faulk was one of four Patriots' running backs who hurt the Falcons. (AP photo)
Foxborough, Mass. – A young team was exposed by the smartest and saltiest bunch in the NFL. If you looked hard, you could have seen it coming. Thomas Dimitroff, who built this young team, looked hard and did.
“We said this would be a benchmark for our organization,” said Thomas Dimitroff, the Falcons’ general manager but once New England’s chief scout. “And the reality is that we still have a lot of work to do. And I knew — I knew — that [the Patriots get] agitated when it’s suggested they’re losing something. I knew they would play physically and come out with all guns blazing.”
To use the Dimitroff buzzword of 2009, the Pats played with urgency. They’d rushed for a total of 156 yards in the season’s first two games; they ran for 168 Sunday. They kept possession for nearly 40 minutes. “They ball-hogged the ball,” receiver Roddy White would say later, and in so doing the Pats hogtied the Falcons.
The Pats weren’t precise — the great Tom Brady missed more open receivers in one game than he used to miss in a full season — but they were persistent. The Falcons hung around and seemed about to seize the lead in both the second and third quarters, but Michael Turner fumbled and Michael Jenkins was flagged for offensive interference in the end zone (the right call, by the way) and the Falcons didn’t score over the final 38 minutes and 48 seconds.
And you’re not going beat New England, which has been the NFL’s best team over the past eight seasons, that way. And that’s what showed Sunday. One team knew what winning such a game entailed. The other was still guessing.
“They did a good job out-executing us,” safety Erik Coleman said. “They did a good job running the ball.”
That part was a surprise, only it wasn’t. Bill Belichick didn’t become the hooded Beelzebub by doing the same thing every week, and his Patriots didn’t try to outscore the visitors 40-37. He tempo’ed the game, as they say in college basketball, and the Falcons’ offense wound up sitting so long it never got a feel for anything. Case study: Tony Gonzalez caught one pass.
“They played keep-away,” said White, who caught four passes but dropped two others. “They didn’t do what they were supposed to do.”
Loading ...The Pats are smart enough and seasoned enough to win any which way. The Falcons still have to stick to script. That’s a function of age, or the lack thereof. The Pats brought a championship intensity to Week 3 of the regular season. The Falcons don’t know what championship intensity is because, to be blunt, they haven’t won anything yet.
But that isn’t to say they won’t. This is a good young team that, with a few tweaks, will get better as it goes. There’s reason to believe the rookie pass rusher Lawrence Sidbury needs to be worked into the rotation — the Falcons had one sack against Carolina last week and none against New England — and the absence of tackle Peria Jerry was deeply felt Sunday.
But the secondary wasn’t completely undressed by Brady and Randy Moss, and that’s something. Indeed, this rainy day needn’t be viewed as a washout. The Falcons were beaten but not routed, not nearly embarrassed.
Said Mike Smith, the coach: “We’ll learn a lot from this.”
Said Mike Peterson, the linebacker: “It may not show right now, and people may not understand it yet, but this is going to help us down the road.”
There will be bigger games for these Falcons. And when one arrives, Smith or Peterson will be able to say, “Remember how the Patriots did it to us? That’s what we need to do.”
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182 comments Add your comment
Dale in NC
September 27th, 2009
7:41 pm
You are a moron. Look at the first 3 teams Flacco has played against, stupid. It’ll even out later in the season.
IlliniDawg
September 27th, 2009
7:42 pm
Mark:
At one point in the third quarter they showed Smitty chewing Jamal Anderson’s butt off. Don’t know as if I’ve ever seen him yell at players like that on the sidelines.
Any word on whether Anderson’s time is up? How many more chances does the guy get? Probably will go down with Aundrey Bruce as one of the most over-rated D-line draft picks in Falcon history.
How do you know when you have a losing franchise???????????/
September 27th, 2009
7:42 pm
When posters say the best qb in franchise history hasn’t won a playoff game
Vick Supporter
September 27th, 2009
7:42 pm
LOL
GOOD THING THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HAD KOLB OUT THERE READY TO PLAY.
My boy Vick looked like a chump in the game. 0-2 with a NOODLE ARM PASS THAT HIT THE TURF ABOUT 10 YARDS IN FRONT OF THE RECEIVER.
So much for Vick ‘09.
Notice I’m talking about the FALCONS playing a premier team and losing to them, but I don’t have JACK to say about my SORRY A$$ boy Vick against the sorry a$$ Chiefs.
It’s okay Mikey I’m coming to rub some Crisco in your jock strap for you.
BugKiller
September 27th, 2009
7:43 pm
BAD NEWS!!!
Again, with your stats that have NO BACKGROUND!
Baltimore plays Kansas City, San Diego, and Cleveland.
All defenses that are the bottom of the AFC in KC and Cleveland’s case, and in the bottom half in SD’s case.
Matt Ryan, on the other hand has played three defenses in the top half of the NFL.
So, what other LIES do you have for us today Bad News???
mars
September 27th, 2009
7:43 pm
Wow, what a lack of imagination. Seriously, is that the best you Racist Ryan Haters can do? Boring! BBBoooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggggg!
Dale in NC
September 27th, 2009
7:43 pm
IlliniDog:
He was actually chewing out Peria’s replacement.
Sonny Clusters
September 27th, 2009
7:44 pm
We was wondering where we could go for a good cupcake and then we saw the front page and the AJC is looking for the Best cupcake in Atlanta! That is some pretty heavy journalism. When we was playing ball the mom’s would sometimes bake us some cupcakes for an after game snack but mostly we was Dairy Queen. If they’re looking for a cupcake maybe they should look at Greg Norton. Cupcake might make a good pet name for Bobby to call him.
IlliniDawg
September 27th, 2009
7:44 pm
Dale – who was that? Because they all kinda sucked to me.
Good Grief
September 27th, 2009
7:45 pm
Say what you want too Mark, but the thing the Falcons really need to learn about this is to continue to play through bad…awful…disgusting calls by the refs. Sorry, I have to disagree with you on the offensive pass interference when clearly both guys were fighting down the field – a clear no call in my book.
It got so bad that even Joe Buck and Troy Aikman of all people began to question what game the refs were looking at. I can’t say nothing bad offensively about the Falcons because we moved the ball up and down the field the majority of the game (the turner fumble, and bad pass interference call took away points). Defensively we did better than what I could have imagined and if not for a late td we don’t lose by two tds. This final score doesn’t show just how close and tight this game really was.
Yeah the loss is disappointing because its a lost, but in years past this is a game that the Falcons would have gotten it handed to them. My only real complaint or thing to point out in why we lose this game points to the fact that Bill Billicheck showed he had more guts than Mike today.
Mike should have went for that 4 & 3 or 4 & 4 midway through the 3rd quarter instead of trying to play for field position in a game where his defense was playing bend but don’t break defense. There was two 4th downs that he should have went for that he did not which surprised me because the offense was moving the ball against the Patriots.
The Patriots were struggling to move the ball early in the 3rd quarter and went for it on 4th down in their own territory in which they converted, and then went for another 4th down which lead to a field goal and extended the lead 16 – 10. That was the ball game.
Vick Supporter
September 27th, 2009
7:45 pm
Hey BAD NEWS where you at man? Vick wants his underwear starched after you’re done with Flacco’s. I can’t do it because I’m getting his jock strap ready. He had a rough game today against the sorry behind Chiefs. Couldn’t complete a pass and ran for an incredible 7 yards.
BAD NEWS come on man were gonna be late. You know what happens when were late. Why you change your name, because you’re a punk and probably got your name banned yet again? Thats right homeboy you keep it up they can’t ban you forever. Not even when you had my namesake with a “2″ attached to it. You go boy, and hurry up we have QB laundry to do.
FIRE DIMITROFF & SMITH NOW.................
September 27th, 2009
7:46 pm
How can you be a GM and let all the veterans leave when you are trying to win a championship?
How can you be a head coach, when you have a defensive coordinator background and your defense suck this bad?
FIRE THE LOSERS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Randy
September 27th, 2009
7:47 pm
Gee, I so wish that we had the Eagles 3rd string QB back……..NOT !!!!!!!! *LOL*
Vick Supporter
September 27th, 2009
7:48 pm
Vick in ‘09
0-2, two bad passes
two punk handoffs
decoy on three useless plays
“BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO THE TRUE REALITY”
Joe Flacco
Good arm, blessed with decent running game and a great defense. Oh and an easier schedule than the Falcons had EVEN EASIER THAN FALCONS LAST YEAR SCHEDULE.
I WANT TO GO BACK TO K.C. SO I CAN MAKE THE PRO BOWL AGAIN
September 27th, 2009
7:50 pm
This chump sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Vick Supporter
September 27th, 2009
7:50 pm
Man you guys are racists. Two white quarterbacks in one game. It’s a conspiracy I tell you. Two white head coaches too. Conspiracy!! BAD NEWS we can’t be friends anymore because Flacco is white and you know I don’t like white people. Sorry homey.
frank
September 27th, 2009
7:52 pm
the falcons were great today. a rookie team playing a champion ship team. great job falcons.
Bad News / Vick Supporter / Joe Flacco Jock Sniffer
September 27th, 2009
7:52 pm
I was an abused child. I feel the need to act out in this way because I am, like my favorite QB, a felon.
I have an intense hatred for Matt Ryan, whom I call Noodle Arm, because I hate white people. White people put me in prison, white people won’t hire me for a job, and white people are the devil.
Tomorrow's Special.........Noodle Soup, Fish & Fries
September 27th, 2009
7:53 pm
We are fresh out of crow
I SPENT 5 YRS IN COLLEGE TO GET MY G.E.D.
September 27th, 2009
7:54 pm
But I read those defenses today……..Oh wait I am just kidding………I suck
Fin
September 27th, 2009
7:55 pm
Tough game today..but as many of the posters have pointed out…were fans expecting a 16-0 season??? We lost one out of sixteen games…and it wasn’t a Division game. Also..let’s not forget, these are the Patriots. All the talk of the refs blowing calls and what not..that’s garbage. Play past that. First drive of the game, we get to the 5 yard line and end up kicking a field goal? Absolutely not acceptable! If Ryan holds the ball a fraction longer..Tony G was open with nothing but space to throw to. I’m concerned about Turner, is it the O Line or is it him? And man…we need to BLITZ!! I would have loved to have seen Mike P bearing down on Brady at least five times this game just to rattle him. We have the bye week to let some people heal up and get ready for the 49ers in two weeks.
IlliniDawg
September 27th, 2009
7:55 pm
It seems to me that the same guys here who prefer a Vick or a Flacco over Ryan are the same guys who preferred Bledsoe over Brady or Brooks over Brees. And the guys bashing Smitty and Dimitroff are probably the same ones who thought Schuerholtz was a bad GM and have been clamoring for Cox to quit. Unbelievable. You remind me of the idiots up here in Illinois who actually think Kyle Orton is a better QB than Jay Cutler.
Okay guys have a good night
September 27th, 2009
7:55 pm
ICE, ICE BABY
Bad News / Vick Supporter / Joe Flacco Jock Sniffer
September 27th, 2009
8:01 pm
IlliniDog… until proven differently, Orton IS better than Cutler.
So far, Cutler = Jeff George.
IlliniDawg
September 27th, 2009
8:04 pm
OMG – you are officially a retard!
Dale in NC
September 27th, 2009
8:05 pm
And Orton= Ryan Leaf
Chucktown 38
September 27th, 2009
8:06 pm
First of all I am a HUGe falcon fan. The team seemed flat all game. They were playing like they really didn’t want to be there.Also I thought they were out coached as well as out played.I am still scraching my head wondering were out run game has gone to?I think the Falcons need to open the play book back up and become willing to change the game plain when its not working out.
J29
September 27th, 2009
8:12 pm
Come on with the ref crying, the Pats played without Welker and Mayo, loss Wolfolk and Marroni early in the game went to ball control and schooled a very good young team.
MattDawg
September 27th, 2009
8:27 pm
Should have drafted Flacco? Are you kidding me? Matt Ryan is the far better qb and he was not the reason we lost this game at all. He had to throw the ball out of bounds and to the underneath man because the play calling was pedestrian at best. Should have drafted Flacco……stupid remark.
MattDawg
September 27th, 2009
8:30 pm
Hey FALCONS SORRY…..see Vick play today?
CJ
September 27th, 2009
8:42 pm
Brady was really off target, and his receivers are still out of sync with timing, routes and drops (except Moss). Welker didn’t play. Wilfork left the game hurt. Mayo was inactive. Their nickel corner was out. Yet, the Pats win by 16? Atlanta fans should put it all in perspective: your very talented team has a long way to go before winning anything in this league.
DonH
September 27th, 2009
8:43 pm
Mark…in the post game press conference, did ANY reporter even ask Coach Smith WHY Tony Gonzalez didn’t get a catch (1 for the game!) until the 4th qtr.? I may have missed a couple plays but I don’t recall even ANY attempted passes to TG until the 4th??????? Probably a question for Mularkey!!!! Thanks Mark!
Yes I am back
September 27th, 2009
8:45 pm
The falcons are just a sorry ass team with weak minded coaches that don’t know a frog from a duck.I did thought they would show some heart on the field but I just was dreaming.I was a falcons fan in the pass but move on because they always get conservative coaches with no guts.I wonder why so many falcons fans cry if the falcons don’t win back to back season that BS.If any team can win a Superbowl one out of two years or 2 out of 4 years then the hell with trying to have back to back winning season but with noddle arms that a very long shot lol.NEVER!!!
hiramsaint
September 27th, 2009
8:50 pm
anybody watch the buffalo game? i was just wonderin!
Ron Elgin
September 27th, 2009
8:56 pm
What did you think of the refereeing, I thought it was very obvious that they wanted just about everything to go the Patriots way. If not, it just seemed that way. Even the bias announcers were Patriot fans, and I know they have been very good in the past, but the Falcons were not getting the respect that the Patriots have and were getting.
Yes I am back...again??
September 27th, 2009
8:59 pm
Yes I am back…May I suggest that you post in your native tongue? Obviously, English is not your strength. I have no idea what you are trying to say.
Steve T
September 27th, 2009
9:03 pm
The falcons have been expose and they will never get to the next level unless they get some major help. Matt Ryan has a limited ceiling as far as beening a QB. The guy can not win football games for the falcons and this is the reason I am no lomger a falcons fan because we did not draft the QB with the NFL arm in Joe Flacco. Ryan can not threaten the secondary with a deep 60 yard bomb, and he can not throw in tight coverage. The falcons better built a great team within the next 5 years because after that Mr. Ryan will start to decline, while Joe Flacco will be still winning championships.
The falcons got shut out the whole second half and i wonder why. Your QB better learn to throw the ball with some zip in the red zone or the falcons will be 6-10 this year and declining next year. San Fran is going to spank that A because they will be in Ryan’s face all day. I am going to let you guys in on a little sercet Matt is SCARE and you guys will see that when he gets pressured by the 49ers, Gaints, and Jets.
BugKiller
September 27th, 2009
9:09 pm
Steve T = Bad News = Vick Supporter.
Dude, you’re a MORON.
The BEST coach in football (Belichick) says Matt Ryan is “an outstanding QB who can make EVERY throw.”
But YOU know better.
You obviously didn’t watch the game today, or watch any of the games over the last two season where Ryan DID win the game on his own (Chicago, hello, moron).
In the game today, you could see Ryan zip the ball into tight places, and no less than a HOF QB in Aikman came away impressed with Ryan’s performance today.
But YOU know better.
No matter what name you use in these forums, you’re still the same piece of crap RACIST idiot.
Go kiss that poster of your Favorite Felon and remember the good old days when he was too busy killing and torturing defenseless animals to, you know, come in and work on his game and become a better QB.
Moron.
The last win that actually meant something......
September 27th, 2009
9:09 pm
2004 playoffs vs St. Louis Rams…..47-17!
Giants Rule
September 27th, 2009
9:09 pm
Looks like the same old falcons—one good year, now they are back to getting blown out by teams like New England, which are good but not great. The Falcons will not make the playoffs this year–mark it down. The Giants will be in the super bowl again—the best franchise in the game!
Did U Really Expect to get a call on the road in NE, come on Tom Brady is the NFL darling
September 27th, 2009
9:10 pm
Wake up Falcon fans, don’t u know that there are only 6 teams in the league: Giants, Jets, NE, Cowboys, Steelers, Eagles…… U R Crazy if u really think u r going into NE and drop them to 1-2, not w/ the NFL Darling pretty boy whiner Brady back!!…..as far as the announcers, who cares. FOX, ESPN, etc…are not interested in Atl sports teams, never have, never will
No QB pressure = no win
move on and learn from the loss, this team will only get better
Steve T
September 27th, 2009
9:12 pm
MattDog, Ryan is the problem because he does not have the arm that Flacco has which is why certain plays are called. Ryan can not nake those throw so why call a play to expose him to you guys and y’all will find out that the falcons blew a draft pick. The falcons could have traded down and got Flaccos and some extra picks. LLLLLL, they could have called me for that draft and the falcons would have been much better off.
AUG24
September 27th, 2009
9:12 pm
The Falcons will be okay. They didn’t really catch any breaks, today. You need to catch some breaks on the road in the NFL, especially in New England. The fumble by Turner, the TD called back on Jeinkins, with some bad officiating was too much to overcome. Atlanta will beat San Francisco and we will be feeling much better. Atlanta has won 19 straight when faced with back to back losses. This is a team that rebounds well. We will be fine.
scoidy
September 27th, 2009
9:15 pm
Enter your comments here
the falcons cant stop nobody on defense it has obvious since preseason that the corners are too little i.e. grime on moss be for real they just act like brady is a god put pressure on any qb and he will fold f a zone briong the blitz it okay to be nice but when u step between the line on sundays it time to play for 60 min the pats get to much repect from the media and refs the nfl is so fake.
Frank
September 27th, 2009
9:17 pm
I think this is the first game where I saw Ryan looking frustrated. In a couple of the camera close-ups, as he was walking off the field from a 3-and-out, he looked like he was gonna cry. I knew we were in trouble when we took the opening drive down the field and only got a field goal. . . .looked good on a few drives, but nothing much to show for the effort. Agreed – Turner looks to be a step or two slower this season, not bursting through the line like he used to. 1st road game with a young team, against a seasoned opponent = predictable outcome.
FALCONS SHOULD HAVE DRAFTED FLACCO............
September 27th, 2009
9:18 pm
Flacco can flip his wrist and complete a 40 yard pass.
Weak armed Ryan has to heave it to lob it 15 yards.
Stop Turner and you stop the Falcons!
The “Curse of Mike Vick” continues…………
2004 and counting…………never win another division title!!!!!!!!!
Steve T
September 27th, 2009
9:19 pm
Yeah, Bill alos praised teh Falcons too. You have to understand that coach give out praise knowing all long that they are going to beat the LLLLL out the other team. Rex Ryan talked about how good the Pats were in the paper, but in the locker room, he was telling his team that they going to beat the LLLL out the Pats. Bill did the same thing to the falcons.
HAVE YOU SEEN DEEZ NUTTZ?
September 27th, 2009
9:20 pm
It’s thought by some that MARK BRADLEY is carrying a few extra pounds. That hasn’t been proved, but I’ve heard it mentioned.
ITS FUNNY WHEN THE FAL-CONS BARELY GET PAST A SCRUBB THEY SING THE PRAISES OF MATTIE LICE BUT WHEN THEY ARE MAN HANDLED BY A DECENT TEAM IT TURNERS FAULT. YEAH. ITS ALWAYS THE BLACK MANS FAULT, WHY MATTIE LICE IS A SCRUBB. TURNERS WAS THE RUNNER UP MVP AND MATTIE CANT THROW UNLESS TURNER RUNS WHICH PROVE MATTIE IS NOT PLAY MAKER NOR CAN CREATE OFFENSE. NOW IF WE CANT GET PAST THE RED NECKS THE QUESTION REMAINING IS CAN WE GET VICK BACK!~!
BugKiller
September 27th, 2009
9:21 pm
Steve T = Bad News = Vick Supporter
He can only talk about Joe Fluke-O now. You know, now that his Favorite Felon is nothing but a decoy in Philly, and STILL really inaccurate to boot!
Keep on talking about Joe Fluke-O, moron, without talking about the fact that he just got done playing three terrible football teams and that he has the best defense in the NFL at his back.
Because the more you try and prop up Fluke-O because your Favorite Felon sucks, the more you expose yourself as a complete and utter racist idiot.
I think someone touched you in a bad place when you were younger.
FALCONS SHOULD HAVE DRAFTED FLACCO............
September 27th, 2009
9:21 pm
FRANK
That was cold! Did he really look like he was going to cry?
It’s obvious you are not a good qb when you can’t get the ball to a Hall of Fame wide bodied tight end.
That was embarrassing!!!!!!!!!!!!!1