Five keys for Falcons Thursday night

[DrReality]

Five keys for Falcons Thursday nightBy D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Here are five things to watch for in the Falcons’ exhibition game against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night at the Georgia Dome:

.The play of the cornerbacks: The Falcons acquired cornerback Tye Hill from St. Louis on Tuesday after the starters played poorly against San Diego on Saturday. Hill is not expected to play. Starters Chris Houston and Brent Grimes will get a decent test from the strong-armed Joe Flacco, who led the Ravens to the playoffs last season as a rookie. Also, rookie Christopher Owens and nickel back Chevis Jackson will get plenty of action and a chance to show if they should be included in the competition for starting cornerback.

The battle for the third quarterback: The Falcons have not announced their rotation for the game, but D.J. Shockley and rookie John Parker Wilson figure to get most of the action in a battle to determine the No. 3 quarterback spot. Shockley has shown flashes, but his overall play has not been stellar enough to dismiss Wilson from the competition. Matt Ryan will start and play briefly.

The rotation among defensive ends: Jamaal Anderson started the opener, but Chauncey Davis has started the past two games. The Falcons are still probing and hoping to find someone to rush the passer opposite John Abraham. Anderson has played better coming off the bench and is not conceding the starting position that he has held since he was taken with the No. 8 pick in the 2007 draft. Also, Kroy Biermann and rookie Lawrence Sidbury are worth keeping an eye on.

Punt returner: If Grimes is not able to hold on to his starting cornerback spot, then look for him to resurface in the punt-returning derby. He was a stellar returner in college. He hasn’t gotten more of an opportunity because of his status as a starter. Eric Weems and Chandler Williams have handled most of the punt-return chores, with Weems appearing to have an edge to win that roster spot.

Coverage units: The Falcons are taking extra pride in their coverage units, especially after setting the NFL mark for fewest punt-return yards allowed (49) in a 16-game season. This is where some players will be trying to make the team. A couple of players to watch in coverage are linebackers Spencer Adkins and Robert James. Helping on special teams and providing depth appears to be their path to a roster spot.

[coachx]

Joe Flacco looked very sharp last week. It will be a huge challenge for our corners to defend against that rifle arm of his. I hope flacco plays more then 1 possession b/c our corners need the reality check.

Thank goodness they will not see an arm like his in week 1 or 2 of the regular season. Pennington and Delomme may have the 2 weakest arms out of all the starting QBs in the league.

Edited September 3, 2009 by coachx

[DrReality]

Weak arms may be a blessings to these guys to gain some confidence . . . . and our line has to put some pressure on the QB to protect them.

[EazyRoc]

I think one key Ledbetter left out was my attendence!

Since I'm going to be there, we will win! :go ahead:

[DrReality]

Bierman with a sack. That's what we need to see more of. Love it.

[DrReality]

Hope they learned sometghing about personnel tonight because they looked pretty bad. Time to lace up the cleet a little tighter.

They said we might be 3 to5 top offense, well we are goning to need to be to score enough points to win.

[coachx]

Every starter was in the game except for Abraham on the opening drive where Beck, 3rd string QB, lead the Ravens on a 94 yard drive for a TD. OUCH !

Flacco's arm would have eaten our secondary alive last night.

Its not looking good for the Falcons secondary at all. We need Abraham to play like a mad man this year to protect our sedondary from being exploited. Some good CBs are going to be cut soon. Every team hase over 15 cuts to make in the coming days. Maybe we can upgrade the roster again.

On a positive note it looks like our defenive line will be talented and deep. Trey Lewis looked to have his wind back and Jerry had his best showing of the preseason. Sidbury and Bierrman looked good too.