A 5-step program to ensure a better Falcons future
Step 1: Relax. This season was almost a worst-case scenario — defensive overhaul, tougher schedule, injuries by the boatload — and it wound up 9-7. This tells us the Falcons have the right kind of men in administrative places, and it also tells us the core of the team is talented enough to withstand a series of reversals.
Step 2: Get edgy. The Falcons ranked 28th in a 32-team league in pass defense, and I know what you’re going to say — because of the cornerbacks. And I won’t pretend that Brent Grimes and Chris Houston were the second coming of Lester Hayes and Michael Haynes, but even that Hall of Fame pairing would have struggled behind a pass rush that generated only 28 sacks. (Tied for 26th in the NFL.) Look for the Falcons to draft an edge player — a defensive end or an outside linebacker — in Round 1. Look for Lawrence Sidbury to contend for a starting position. Look for a wholesale commitment to rushing the passer.
Step 3: Give the secondary a second chance. Thomas Dimitroff made his reputation as a scout, and he’s known in the industry as a keen analyst of defensive backs. He believesHouston and Grimes and Christopher Owens can be solid NFL performers. And let’s not forget safety William Moore, who missed 14 games due to injury but for whom Dimitroff’s hopes remain massive. These are all young guys. Give them the benefit of a pass rush and see how they fare.
Step 4: Trust Matt Ryan. The Falcons had 39 completions of 20-plus yards (tied for 21st in the league) and five of 40-plus (tied for 25th). In 2008 they had 45 and nine, respectively. For reasons unclear, they stopped throwing long. And it isn’t, as some continue to insist, that Ryan can’t deliver the deep ball. He can and has. The Falcons just stopped stretching defenses. They need to start again.
Step 5: Open the screen door. I’ve heard your pleas, and I’ve come to agree: Mike Mularkey needs to mix in the occasional screen pass. (He seems to favor reverses, which seldom work.) It’s believed the Falcons don’t like the screen because they feel duty-bound to keep a back in to pass-protect, but this goes back to Step 4. Ryan is no longer a rookie, and even when he was he didn’t act like one. He can handle a blitz. And I’m thinking Michael Turner would like the chance to get the ball in the open field. I’m thinking he’d like it a lot.
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222 comments Add your comment
Sonny Clusters
January 7th, 2010
11:21 am
Chortling is best saved for the Dairy Queen.
Mark Bradley
January 7th, 2010
11:22 am
Really, I chortled. And when was the last time you heard anyone chortle?
Sonny Clusters
January 7th, 2010
11:24 am
Clusters got their start in Kentucky.
Gatorzone
January 7th, 2010
11:26 am
Ramblin Wrecker, I agree 100%! Fans complaining about this years team need to get a dose of reality. Remember where this team was 2 years ago? Last year was an anomaly, and this year was more realistic. Now, next year I would expect at least 10 wins if not more.
Buddy Curry made every tackle
January 7th, 2010
11:26 am
I wish I had your job Bradley. Sitting at your desk, blogging on the AJC, it must be nice! Wait, that’s what I’m…
SirReal
January 7th, 2010
11:27 am
We definitely need to ramp up the D-Line and Secondary. I TOTALLY agree with welikebaseball2. Get a shutdown corner and let the other 3 battle it out. Its time to lock that position down. Next year we mainly upper echelon QBs: Warner, Palmer, McNabb, Rodgers, Brees (twice),and Roethlisberger. Enough said.
Sonny Clusters
January 7th, 2010
11:27 am
We was wanting to blog some more but you-know-who just called and wants to throw the ball some. Back later.
Sick & Tired Of Being Sick & TIred
January 7th, 2010
11:27 am
Not only did the Falcons not utilize the screen pass as a few people have pointed out, but they also rarely threw any slant passes over the middle when they needed to pick up a first down on third and short. I’m not that impressed with Mularkey’s overall play calling as the OC. I really believe the Falcons could do better than Mularkey. Continuing to try to run Norwood up the middle was a wasted down all year long.
I too am looking forward to the off-season and the draft to see what changes are made to the personnel on the team. For too many games, I sat on the edge of my seat when the defense was on the field in third and long situations knowing that the CBs would get burned. Not just burned, but toasted way too many times (especially Chris Houston).
With some upgrades and changes on the defensive side, and another WR than can consistently catch the ball (Jenkins and Booker need to go and Finneran needs to retire), I believe that the Falcons can be serious competitors next season.
Gatorzone
January 7th, 2010
11:29 am
This team showed heart and character previously unknown to Falcons squads in years past. To finish with 3 victories after elimination was unheard of in prior years. Mike Smith has them heading in the right direction and I am proud to be a fan from Southwest Florida. I really enjoyed watching them beat Tampa last week at home!
Mark Bradley
January 7th, 2010
11:29 am
I don’t even have a desk at the AJC, Buddy C. Think they’re trying to tell me something?
Gatorzone
January 7th, 2010
11:32 am
I think Booker did well and deserves another year. He is certainly cheap enough and Ryan seems to like having him as an option.
Jenkins, great guy and good depth, but not a starter. Keep him as a 4th receiver.
YellowJacketFalcon
January 7th, 2010
11:34 am
Since I was just 6 years old, I can remember pulling for the Falcons (I wore my old grey coke Steve Barkowski jersey with pride back then)I was ecstatic Sunday watching them make history. I’ve been comparing Ryan’s stats with those of some of the greats (Manning, Favre) in their first two years. He’s going to be great folks. 2-3 more years. I’m excited. After 25+ years its about time! Go Birds!
Robert Nephew
January 7th, 2010
11:34 am
Ninety-sixth.
clthurman
January 7th, 2010
11:38 am
I would really ask Dimitroff to really take into account the injury history of his drafting especially in regards to last year’s drafting. I think Jerry was good while he lasted but this Moore guy was a total wash and his college injury history should have been a red flag…I mean next to Von Hurtin I still don’t know what these guys even look like. I love Fin but another knee injury….a receiver would be nice especially if Douglas is not 100%. I agree the secondary made vast improvements as turning around when the ball came near the receiver was a nice change. But in all honesty they played better without Houston it seemed though the secondary never really shined against any of the elite offensive teams. The rush was heinous…and the DE Anderson as much as I see him trying really is never gonna be an elite end in this league and that and outside linebacker are major needs. Babs played good but he will have to do it next year not high if he gets around the arrest incident so the middle is a real concern as Perry and BABS are big question marks in starting the season…in other words the defense is still a big conglomerate of question marks and maybes. Hopefully this draft and free agency hits will more closely resemble 2008 than the 2009 class( minus Gonzalez of course). Norwood looks like someone will pay him to much for us to keep so getting a good speed back late in the draft is a probabilty as Turner and Snelling both are beasts. Offensive line…keep Dahl and Clabo and who knows maybe we will find a diamond in the rough especially since we have in essence a guard playing left tackle who is as you probably guessed a continual injury casualty. I am optimistic but there is serious work to do since the NFC South really took an upturn at the end of the year and all teams showed serious improvements…gotta keep up with the Joneses.
9-7
January 7th, 2010
11:41 am
The big guy Iowa, #94, is a junior and is not coming out. He love the college experience and the Iowa nation. The Falcons should go to the 3-4 and send the LBs more.
willie martinez
January 7th, 2010
11:42 am
“above average” coordinator. that is one heck of an endorsement!
Nick
January 7th, 2010
12:01 pm
Coach Crem,
Bartkowski is on the Board of Directors, doubt he’s eligible to play.
Babaganoush
January 7th, 2010
12:04 pm
Resign the O-line
Free agent sign a CB ie. Carols Rogers, Dunta Robinson and keep the other 3 to fight it out
1st round go for Defensive line ie. D. Morgan, G. Hardy, C. Dunlap, T. Cody
Obviously get rid of Jamaal
DJ
January 7th, 2010
12:12 pm
Mark, you are way TOO SOFT and I am a girl!!! The key is to get rid of MATT RYAN, get a whole NEW OFFENSIVE LINE, and PLEASE get us some new DB’s!!!!! This team is SOFT, SOFT, SOFT. Turner, Norwood, Obie, White, AND Jenkins ALL NEED TO GO! Keep NOBODY but GRIMES AND SNELLING. Not the most talented two, but they WANT TO PLAY!!!! Makes a difference. Hmmmm.
ElBraggO
January 7th, 2010
12:16 pm
If not for some bad calls and none calls by the refs. in both of the Saint games going in favor of NO.If not for a dropped TD pass by Jenkins, a missed FG by Elam, or if Ryan had called HEADS on the coin toss against the Giants (or the NFL could figure out a better way to break a tie). Or, if the runt from the Panthers hadn’t taken out Turner early in the 2nd quarter, after he had already run all over them for 111 yards(there is no way Carolina could have even come close to winning, if the Burner had continued to play.The Falcons would have been 13 and 3.If, If,if,if,and if, I think that’s 5 ifs that could have made things better.The Falcons have a great future.The best organization since they were created.
Gatorzone
January 7th, 2010
12:26 pm
El, don’t forget about the dropped passes against the Patriots early in the season!
falcon66
January 7th, 2010
12:27 pm
Great article Mark. Right on point, particularly step 3.
hobgood guy
January 7th, 2010
12:27 pm
I think we still need another DB Owens could be the future shutdown corner. We need that edge pass rusher and a new music selector for the dome home games.
Falcon fan
January 7th, 2010
12:37 pm
The secondary did improve some but still needs a lot of help. Grimes would be a good nickel back but not a starting NFL CB. Owens definitely got better with playing time. But Houston should be named “Toast” because he’s always getting burned. Also, the safeties are too soft. An improved pass rush will help but Grimes will still be picked on when he’s trying to cover a 6′4″ WR.
Bill
January 7th, 2010
12:43 pm
Mark,
Good comments. One addition. “For reasons unclear, they stopped throwing long.” No mystery there. The quarterback needs a little more time if he is going to throw long. Ryan has not had it this year.
Marcus
January 7th, 2010
12:47 pm
MB,
125th !!!!!!
I digress ……… now, I was thinking 1st round DE or rush LB (explain later) .. and if we can finagle our compensatory picks and maybe draft position in the other rounds into a 2nd round pick, I would be good with a CB. After that, any RB still around.
I noticed on some draft websites that TCU DE Jerry Hughes was projected as a rush LB not a pure DE, but he has size (6′3″257 lbs, similar to JA55).
I wonder if getting Hughes, along with returning DEs JA55/Davis/Sidbury/Bierman and all the young holdover DTs (Walker/T. Lewis/Babs/T. Jefferson and maybe JA98 if he is still around), would it give us the flexibility to do 3-4 (Sidbury/Hughes/Beirman as outside rush LBs) or 5-2 alignments mixed in with our standard 4-3?
Drafting Hughes scenario is predicated on getting back into the 2nd round to get a high-quality cornerback, not a “servicable” one. dont know if we should expect a starting CB out of the 3rd round if we wait that long.
Other scenario is that if Dimitroff and Smith feel like the young DEs are ready or that CB is more important and can get a quality DE later, then we may be looking at someone else.
I like CJ Spiller, and the “change of pace” RB is a need, esp. if Norwood can’t stay healthy or gets his walking papers …. but it may not be 1st round level of criticality. CB and DE are primary.
cattle dawg
January 7th, 2010
12:51 pm
Your killing me today Sonny. Keep up the good work.
Brad
January 7th, 2010
12:53 pm
I thought that before the season started, we had a very difficult schedule. We managed to finish with a winning record even after injuries to arguably the two best player on our team. Hopefully we’ll draft a powerful OLB in the draft. We need to win games next year against the top tier teams. We failed to do that this year. GO FALCONS!!!!
Dan the Nerd
January 7th, 2010
12:57 pm
Sunny is doing a fine job channeling his inner Lewis Grizzard today….
38YrBravesFan
January 7th, 2010
1:00 pm
Nice Article MB. Now, what are your predictions for the Bravos this year???
bro
January 7th, 2010
1:07 pm
SCREEN PASSES WILL NOT WORK-JUST LIKE THE REVERSE WON’T- IF YOU ARE NOT STRETCHING THE FIELD. BUNCHED UP DEFENSES ARE ALWAYS IN PLACE FOR THE REVERSE AND THE SCREEN. NEED DECENT RECEIVERS THAT CAN GET SEPARATION AND HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE PLAYS. STRETCHING THE FIELD WILL ALSO OPEN UP THE RUN. WAKE-UP OFF-COORD. GET BETTER RECEIVERS-EVERYONE ELSE HAS THEM.
Matty Ice
January 7th, 2010
1:12 pm
i agree with most of your analysis – i do believe that Owens/Grimes can contribute and be a positive factor for the defense.
Having said that, how in the world can you defend Chris Houston, Mark? He’s awful. The next time Houston turns to locate the ball when pass defending – will be the FIRST time!!!!!! there I said it “first” – a popular word on this board.
keep it 100
January 7th, 2010
1:16 pm
Get Rid of the Secondary!!!!!
Barnacle Bill Bavasi
January 7th, 2010
1:22 pm
I think a lot of the readers of this blog need a 12-step program.
TradeEm
January 7th, 2010
1:22 pm
Talk football Larry..your girls probably know all the words to those songs anyway. We need a great, young kicker…sorry veterans. Receivers are easy to come by in the draft…don’t spend megabucks on one. The attention and money needs to go to the defense. A shutdown corner and a saftey that will put your lights out is a start.
dead on right
January 7th, 2010
1:23 pm
Did anyone else notice Grimes and Owen’s dramatic improvement over the last few games? Like quarterback, it takes a few years for a cb to come into his own. Speaking of qb (nice segue, huh?) I think Ryan’s lack of the longer pass (only 6 fewer longer than 20 yards, not even .5 a game, it’s the over 40 numbers that disturb me), could be explained by: 1, Roddy dropping a disturbing number of balls this year, as did Jenks, and 2. the turf toe issue. You have to have two good feet to throw the ball, one to drive off of, in Matty Ice’s case the right one, and one to step into the throw with, or land on, in this case the left. I don’t know which foot was hurt, but I can tell you the pain from that injury is acute, sharp, and mind numbing. No way you have that injury as a qb and not have it affect your throws. Kicking wise, a healthy Bryant would be a good thing and from the Braves front…Sciambi and Rathbun? Are you serious? Chip Caray, even with his occasional blooper, is much better than Sciambi and Rathbun sounds like a high pitched girlman with corks in his nose. Yeesh!
Richard Hamilton
January 7th, 2010
1:25 pm
I would love to see Mount Cody teamed up with Jerry in the middle. If Eric Norwood dropped to the third round, he would make a good de/lb. I can live with our db’s for another year, part of being great is developing your talent.
DJ (not the girl)
January 7th, 2010
1:29 pm
I agree Mark, another pass rusher. If 98 is a FA then he is gone. We’re getting the 2009 #1 and #2 plus a 2010 #1. As for the corners, 20 looked pretty good on the right side and 21 looked good for a rookie (the 21 of old got burned just as many times at ATL-Fulton and the rookie tackles). Looks like #23 might be a passing down guy in 2010.
All in all, the team grew alot of depth in a tough year. We won’t know until next year if they learned how to win on the road. What was weakness (D-line, secondary) should be deep in 2010.
Stat Man
January 7th, 2010
1:31 pm
Would someone please tell me what’s so “Tough” about a schedule that only has 6 teams on it with a winning record?
I am a big Falcons fan, but refuse to say a tough schedule had anything to do with it. Guess what – beat Carolina and do one better than 1-5 in the 6 games against a real team and we’d be in Arizona this weekend!
Terrell
January 7th, 2010
1:33 pm
TradeEM,
The game starts upfront in the trenches. Pressure on the QB makes the DBs’ jobs a lot easier. Improve upfront first. We don’t need to draft a safety until we can see what William Moore has to offer us. I like DeCoud at the other safety spot and Coleman has been more than serviceable. You don’t need a shutdown corner if you have a lights out defensive front 7. How many teams do you know have a great secondary and an average front 7? How many teams do you know have a great front 7 and an average secondary? Of course we want the best of both, but this is a business so if that isn’t possible I would rather take the great D-line and LBs and an average secondary. It worked for the Jags when Smith was the DC over there.
All I'm Saying Is...
January 7th, 2010
1:36 pm
Okay write-up Bradley but nothing new here other than you finally touched on the defensive backfield and stopped apologizing for Ryan’s inadequancies.
As any football fan knows, the best secondary derives from a fierce pass rush. Getting Jerry back will help some but not necessarily against the pass so clearly an edge rusher is needed. Abraham will be as motivated as anybody since he’s in the last year of his deal so let that be his incentive.
Grimes is at best a nickel defensive back. He played well during the last three or four games but that was against teams with lousy and/or inexperienced quarterbacks primarily so don’t be fooled.
Chris Houston has and can play well enough. We need to have at least one cornerback with size however so that’s what we need to find among free agents.
Ryan will be fine and Redman is a good enough back-up who will, hopefully, get pushed by John Parker Wilson.
This is a deep draft so use it to focus on the O-Line and the D-Line and increasing overall team speed while using free agency for everything else.
LET’S GO FALCONS!
Hollywould
January 7th, 2010
1:40 pm
One guy they better keep is Keonen(spelling)? How many touchbacks did he have. Good punter and can kick a long field goal. Bryant looked good to me. Why does everone want another kicker. Snap up these two.
Z-Dawg
January 7th, 2010
1:48 pm
Deep ball decline is due to 2 major reasons:
1) The league found out how well Matt throws the deep ball last year and have now adjusted their schemes accordingly. A good QB takes what the defense gives you. They didn’t think he could beat them deep last year, and he did. A lot of the deep balls I’ve seen him throw this year are into double coverage.
2) Losing a dangersous slot receiver before the season even started hurt badly. Without Douglass running those short/intermediate routes, secondaries could hang back a little deeper than before.
DJ Sniper
January 7th, 2010
2:01 pm
I agree with the comments about the lack of creativity when it came to play calling. Mike Mularkey seemed to be stuck in the same box most of the time, especially when it came to utilizing Jerious Norwood. He is not, nor will he ever be, a between the tackles RB. He needs to be used on the edges and to have more screen passes thrown his way so that he can be effective in open space. Then again, he may not even be back next season. I like the guy, but he’s just not durable.
I must say that I was pretty impressed with Brent Grimes and Christopher Owens down the stretch of the season. I was convinced that #20 needed to be jettisoned after the season, but he played lights out at the end. Owens more than made up for the TD pass he gave up to Braylon Edwards. I also couldn’t help but notice how well the secondary played after Chris Houston went on IR. If anybody needs to go, it’s him. With improved play from Owens and Grimes, along with the return of Brian Williams and the possibility of a new corner via the draft or FA, the secondary may be a strong point of the defense in 2010.
I am definitely looking forward to seeing what moves this franchise makes in the coming months!
DJ Sniper
January 7th, 2010
2:01 pm
I agree with the comments about the lack of creativity when it came to play calling. Mike Mularkey seemed to be stuck in the same box most of the time, especially when it came to utilizing Jerious Norwood. He is not, nor will he ever be, a between the tackles RB. He needs to be used on the edges and to have more screen passes thrown his way so that he can be effective in open space. Then again, he may not even be back next season. I like the guy, but he’s just not durable.
I must say that I was pretty impressed with Brent Grimes and Christopher Owens down the stretch of the season. I was convinced that #20 needed to be jettisoned after the season, but he played lights out at the end. Owens more than made up for the TD pass he gave up to Braylon Edwards. I also couldn’t help but notice how well the secondary played after Chris Houston went on IR. If anybody needs to go, it’s him. With improved play from Owens and Grimes, along with the return of Brian Williams and the possibility of a new corner via the draft or FA, the secondary may be a strong point of the defense in 2010.
I am definitely looking forward to seeing what moves this franchise makes in the coming months!
froggy
January 7th, 2010
2:03 pm
Would love to see a stat — not sure if it is compiled — on how many sacks are generated out of a standard four (or three) man rush set vs. blitz packages. It would speak to how much of our lack of pass rush is attributable to personnel vs. scheme. Our blitzes seemed few and far between. The teams that blitz like crazy (Philly, etc.) have to have CBs who can perform in man coverage — the two go hand in hand.
Abe defenders are all saying he was double teamed and held all year. Not really. Many times he was effectively blocked straight up. I think the guy is sufficiently motivated, but either he had an undisclosed injury or the collective toll of numerous injuries over the years has sapped his talent. Huge drop off from last year — no way around it — so let’s hope Kroy, Sid and other newcomers can pick up the slack. And, BTW, who really thinks Chauncey was effective this year? Kroy had 27 more tackles than he did, and four more sacks. He and JA98 can carpool out of Flowery Branch together, and not come back. I hope we load up in the draft on LBs and DEs who can rush the passer, cause we need ‘em desperately.
TP
January 7th, 2010
2:17 pm
I couldn’t agree more with your points, especially regarding the passing game. I mean, did we have to run the “fake the stretch run play to the left and roll the QB right and throw to Roddy White who was dragging from left to right” EVERY SINGLE game. Being that I made a ( obsessive-compulsive) point to watch for it, it came as no surprise to see it work maybe twice – for a total of about 8 yards. Perhaps he was just scrambling, but didn’t Ryan hurt his toe on that very play?
Beyond the playcalling, we need a speed merchant at WR. We need Douglas back, but we need even more a guy who’s willing to do his best impression of Willie Gault or the Falcons own Michael Haynes. In other words, just run a fly or post pattern every play and we’ll eventually break one. Let Gonzalez draw the coverage underneath or press the med/deep middle, and let Roddy roam free on the other side.
TradeEm
January 7th, 2010
2:22 pm
Terrell,
I’m talking about pieces to the puzzle we call the Falcons and immediate impact. It’s obvious two positions won’t turn the defense around. Same thing every year…let’s see what xyz can do. Sign proven players. Anything on defense will be an improvement. Teams purchase their great front sevens over time. If I had the choice between say Champ Bailey or the like and drafting a good lineman in the first round, I’m going with Champ.
A 5-step program to better a bright Falcons future | Mark Bradley | NFL Topics Blog
January 7th, 2010
2:33 pm
[...] wbeeball wrote a very interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt:Mark Bradley of the AJC offers a five-course blueprint for the Falcons to follow this offseason. Included: Trust Matt Ryan; give the secondary a second chance. [...]
michael
January 7th, 2010
2:42 pm
first????