Falcons vs. Arizona

[HawkItus]

We are favored. I don't like the Chis Houston vs. either of their starting wr's. I would look at maybe starting Chavious Jackson against Ariz.

[frosgrim]

We are favored. I don't like the Chis Houston vs. either of their starting wr's. I would look at maybe starting Chavious Jackson against Ariz.

The real issue is getting pressure on Warner. The guy has shown he'll fold like a house of cards if you hit him enough early in the game. BvG needs to blitz Warner every play in the first half to rattle him. The fact that the Cards don't have a running game should make this strategy workable.

Hopefully Lawyer and Abe will be healthy enough to play the whole game.

Ryan also needs to come out of this mini-slump and be the efficient, accurate QB he was in the middle of the season.

Lastly, where are all the slants that the Falcons were running for Roddy? That route seems to have disappeared from the offense in the last few games.

[DrReality]

FALCONS IN THE PLAYOFFS: Five trumps to top Cards

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Arizona is not exactly coming into Saturday’s first-round NFC playoff game against the Falcons with a full head of steam. The Cardinals finished 9-7 playing in the weak NFC West division.

They wrapped up a playoff berth early and then went in the tank. Before closing out the season with a 34-21 victory over Seattle on Sunday, the Cardinals had dropped four of their previous five games. They also gave up an average of 41.7 points in the losses.

The Cardinals calling card is a prolific offense. They scored 427 points this season, setting a franchise record. The game will pit Arizona’s No. 2 passing attack in the NFL against Atlanta’s No. 2 rushing attack.

Here is a look at some of the key matchups:

STOP CARDINALS AIR SHOW

The Cardinals boast three 1,000-yard receivers —- Larry Fitzgerald (1,431), Anquan Boldin (1,038) and Steve Breaston (1,006). Fitzgerald and Boldin are headed to the Pro Bowl. Quarterback Kurt Warner joins them after completing 67.1 percent of his passes and throwing for 4,583 yards, 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. The Falcons secondary figures to have a tough time. Right cornerback Chris Houston has been targeted late in the season, but left cornerback Domonique Foxworth and nickel back Chevis Jackson will also be tested. Safeties Lawyer Milloy and Erik Coleman will have to help over the top on deep routes.

PLAY KEEP AWAY

Running the ball will help the Falcons take time off the clock and keep its secondary off the field. The Cardinals have a solid run defense which ranks 16th in the league. Their defense is led by former Auburn star linebacker Karlos Dansby and Pro Bowl safety Adreian Wilson. The Falcons counter with Michael Turner, who ran for 1,699 yards in the regular season and is still running strong. Jerious Norwood appears to have recovered from a rib injury that slowed him in the second half of the season.

WHITE LIGHTNING

Pro Bowl receiver Roddy White has to get open if the Cardinals commit eight players up front to stop the run. White is one of the team’s playmakers, but he didn’t do much in three wins over Tampa Bay, Minnesota and St. Louis down the stretch. White did not have more than 61 yards receiving in the final three regular-season games and scored only one touchdown. White set a team mark for most yards receiving in a season with 1,382 and scored seven touchdowns.

TAKE OFF THE EDGE

The Cardinals finished dead last (32nd) in the NFL in rushing yards. The Falcons have had their moments stopping the run. They held San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson to 24 yards on 14 carries. They held Minnesota’s Adreian Peterson to 76 yards on 22 carries. However, they have also gave up a big game to St. Louis’ Steven Jackson (161 yards) in the season finale.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt knows that he needs a better running game in the playoffs. He turned to veteran Edgerrin James in the season finale against Seattle. James had his second 100-yard game of the season. Before the Seattle game, James carried only 11 times in five previous games and didn’t play at all in three other games. His 35-yard gain against the Seahawks was the Cardinals’ longest run from scrimmage this season and James’ longest in three seasons in Arizona.

COVERAGE UNITS

The Falcons punt and kickoff coverage units will have a tough task in containing punt returner Steve Breaston and kick returner J.J. Arrington. The punt coverage unit set a league record for fewest yards allowed in a season with 49. Field position will be key as the Falcons’ defense tends to give up yardage (347.9 yards, 24th in the league), but not points (20.3, 11th). The coverage units need to create long fields for the Cardinals. The punt team, which gave up two blocks this season, must protect first. Arizona’s Sean Morey, a Pro Bowl pick as a special teamer, blocked a key punt against Dallas.

> No. 5 Falcons at No. 4 Cardinals; 4:30 p.m. Saturday; NBC, 92.9 FM

Edited December 30, 2008 by DrReality

[DJlaysitup]

I actually kinda fear this game - as you said - we need a pass rush bigtime. Warner is a pocket passer and accurate as heck - he was being thought of as comeback player of the year before the last few games. Plus - he has the best receiver corps on this planet to throw to.

It won't be snowing in Phoenix - our guys better be ready.

[DJlaysitup]

Only down 14-10 early - keep tryin guys!!

[DJlaysitup]

Only down 14-10 early - keep tryin guys!!

Gettin our arses kicked now. Oh well.....let's get a TE and some more D players next year.

[AHF]

The real issue is getting pressure on Warner. The guy has shown he'll fold like a house of cards if you hit him enough early in the game. BvG needs to blitz Warner every play in the first half to rattle him. The fact that the Cards don't have a running game should make this strategy workable.

WTF???

How did this not happen?

It is like Atlanta thought they could win this without getting Warner's jersey dirty! Hit him even if you give up some completions. He fumbles, he throws picks, he screws up when he gets hit. When you drop people back and challenge him to pick you apart he does exactly that.

On that final third down with our season on the line, how the #$*& do we not bring a ton of pressure? Was anyone surprised he completed 3rd and 16 with no one in his face? Not me. With those receivers, he will make that play better than 50% of the time. Rush 5 and suddenly he has to make a quick dump which is unlikely to go for more than 15 yards or he is in a position to fold under pressure.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, play calling. This team's only major flaw this season was growing too conservative at times. That definitely bit them this game.

The irony is that playing conventional drop back defense on third and long against Arizona is actually fundamentally unsound. It is the anti-conservative because it maximizes their chances for success. Damn, I'm pissed about that approach and that call in particular.

[DJlaysitup]

Yeah AHF....I remember some years back I was at my brother's house in STL. It was just before the NFL season and he picked up the morning paper to see that Greene had a season ending injury and all was lost. All the building a great team of speed and talent was tossed because all they had as a backup was Warner - who was a dart throwing Arena League guy .....alas....we toasted the demise of my brothers season tickets with a Bloody Mary.

Of course he took them to a superbowl win and was MVP. You can't give a guy like that time in the pocket....he'll kill ya.

[DrReality]

Painful to watch. They must have believed the hype and the Cards were loaded for bear to prove them wrong.

[WraithSentinel]

Falcons could have won it. They gave all the momentum back to the Cards right away with that fumble. All offseason efforts should be on defense. We need a tough defense and a defense that can make big plays when it matters.

[Plainview1981]

Falcons could have won it. They gave all the momentum back to the Cards right away with that fumble. All offseason efforts should be on defense. We need a tough defense and a defense that can make big plays when it matters.

Sorry guys. Not a Falcons fan, but it sucks that Atlanta teams always give the let down.

[DJlaysitup]

Falcons could have won it. They gave all the momentum back to the Cards right away with that fumble. All offseason efforts should be on defense. We need a tough defense and a defense that can make big plays when it matters.

Yep HJJH.....Ariz is a little bit better than the pundits gave them...still, we should have beat them - live and learn. We should go all D in the draft and do two things in ht F/A market....first get a TE and second re-sign fox.

[Admin]

I just don't understand what the linebackers were thinking on that 3rd down play. Why were they defending the underneath routes and letting the receiver get deep over the middle? I don't know if blitzing them would have been the right call there but it would have certainly been better than having 7-8 guys within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.

I hated seeing the Falcons lose today but it was definitely nice to see them turn this thing around so quick.

[Plainview1981]

Yep HJJH.....Ariz is a little bit better than the pundits gave them...still, we should have beat them - live and learn. We should go all D in the draft and do two things in ht F/A market....first get a TE and second re-sign fox.

No their not. The Falcons made TONS of mistakes and still had a chance to win on the road. Arizona is a really bad road team and can't run the ball or play defense. We saw what happened to teams that struggle to run the ball. The Colts couldn't run the ball and the Chargers threw them out of the playoffs. The Cards are the biggest one trick pony team in the playoffs.

Arizona beat a totally inexperienced team at home by 6 points when the inexperienced team made loads of mistakes.

Edited January 4, 2009 by Hotlanta1981

[Diesel]

I just don't understand what the linebackers were thinking on that 3rd down play. Why were they defending the underneath routes and letting the receiver get deep over the middle? I don't know if blitzing them would have been the right call there but it would have certainly been better than having 7-8 guys within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.

I hated seeing the Falcons lose today but it was definitely nice to see them turn this thing around so quick.

3rd and 17 was the biggest goof in the world. We were going to get the ball back with 2:00 left on the clock. I wanted to see the young fella take us down the field... But Keith Brookings took that play off. Somebody needs to check his bank account to see if he was on the take. Maybe he got an Arizona timeshare...

[Diesel]

Aside from 3rd and 17...

I think we got cheated all night.

How many times were they allowed to jump offside without being called for it. The HL was not doing his job. I would like to see if he got a new timeshare in Arizona too. Maybe 6 months from now, you will find 2 things:

1. The Officiating crew didn't call every encroachment. That's huge.

2. Arizona had some way of intercepting the play calls.

I'm sorry, I have watched some Cards games and even though I like their team, their defense has never been close to being close to being that good. For the first quarter and a half, they knew when we would run and when we would pass. They knew which way the run was going to go. I was wondering was Turner pointing? Was the offensive line giving it away? What is going on? Things didn't change until Ryan Changed. When he started to work the field with the short pass. Ryan is going to be a great QB. This guy checks off receivers better than I have ever seen a rook do it. Plus....he's really good with the left side of the field. Hard to do for a righty.

[tonegully]

The offense lost us this game.

[AHF]

I just don't understand what the linebackers were thinking on that 3rd down play. Why were they defending the underneath routes and letting the receiver get deep over the middle? I don't know if blitzing them would have been the right call there but it would have certainly been better than having 7-8 guys within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.

I hated seeing the Falcons lose today but it was definitely nice to see them turn this thing around so quick.

Agreed. Basically any defender closer than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage needed to be going after the QB. Just a terrible play call from the coaches on the most critical play of the game. The bad thing is that it wasn't a play that came on suddenly or that the coaches should have had to think about. They needed to make Warner miss, pound him into the ground, or make him throw the ball to someone short of the needed distance. The play was not designed to do any of those things. (If it was to make Warner miss, the LBs could have been DBs playing deeper to take away meaningful pass routes. If it was to get after Warner, the LBs should have been going after him. If it was to make him throw the ball short, there should have been immediate pressure generated on the play to encourage a quick slant or dump off throw that could be tackled short of the first down line.) That was very tough to stomach for me.

Diesel - the bad part is that Arizona is going to get pounded next week and look nothing like the team they were yesterday. That will make it an extra stomach punch for the way they destroyed our running game.

[TroyMcClure]

Agreed. Basically any defender closer than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage needed to be going after the QB. Just a terrible play call from the coaches on the most critical play of the game. The bad thing is that it wasn't a play that came on suddenly or that the coaches should have had to think about. They needed to make Warner miss, pound him into the ground, or make him throw the ball to someone short of the needed distance. The play was not designed to do any of those things. (If it was to make Warner miss, the LBs could have been DBs playing deeper to take away meaningful pass routes. If it was to get after Warner, the LBs should have been going after him. If it was to make him throw the ball short, there should have been immediate pressure generated on the play to encourage a quick slant or dump off throw that could be tackled short of the first down line.) That was very tough to stomach for me.

Diesel - the bad part is that Arizona is going to get pounded next week and look nothing like the team they were yesterday. That will make it an extra stomach punch for the way they destroyed our running game.

I agree with blitzing, AHF, but the call was sound, imo. The players were not. If Brooking does the job he's paid millions of dollars to, it's a different situation. Lofton had his responsibility covered. I'm still too disgusted to get into why we lost (there were a number of reasons), but the play in discussion is all about Keith Brooking being one of, if not the most overrated defensive players to ever step on a field. He was horrible 10 years ago, he was horrible when moronic players, looking at stats, voted him to pro bowls, and he's horrible now. He is both soft and stupid. Just a terrible player. Pulling a guy down 7 yards downfield as he's running over you, aren't exactly the tackles I'd like to see from a LB, but that's just me, you know?To be honest, maybe it was good that he was exposed in such a way. I'm not just reacting here. I've always felt this way about him. He's just, and I hate this term, I really do, but he's just a scrub of the highest order. I never thought he tried as hard as was portrayed. He has never liked contact and that's sort of like a receiver who doesn't like to catch. He's just terrible... and stupid on a football level, as everyone now knows.

[tonegully]

4 give aways is what lost the game. Not Brooking.

Letting AZ establish the run is what lost us the game. Not Brooking

Our O-line having one of their worst games is what lost us the game. Not Brooking.