Things I Learned About Falcons/Saints Game

[TheTruth]

1. We hung in there for a while. However, as much as I hate to say this, the better team won. Maybe this will provide a wake up call for our players. We had times where we could have capitalized (the drive after Grimes INT, the Ryan INT at the 1 yard line down 28-24, two missed field goals) but failed. Can't do that against average teams--let alone the Saints...ON THE ROAD.

2. Jenkins has not stepped up to the plate. He keeps dropping balls, does not score TDs, and hasn't been nearly as dependable as last year. I don't expect 80-90 yard games and a TD every game, but C'MON MAN! Give Booker/Finneran more time in his place to light a fire under his butt. I mean, you have to at this point.

3. Chris Houston. Sigh. Get's some flag every game. Tye Hill wasn't much better. Grimes did well for the most part...but QBs will still just throw up top time and time again. AWESOME INT though! Grimes got major hops!

4. Matt Ryan will be fine. However, I have heard from the announcers the past 3 games say, "Ryan is zeroing in on Gonzalez too much." Whether it is scheme/playcalling or Ryan's doing, this has to change.

5. The Two TE/Two WR set is getting on my nerves. The announcers said we run it close to 50% of the time. I'm sure it is for extra protection, but we need someone other than a much-too-targeted Gonzo and gets-open-when-he-can White to be threats. (Thank God Harry Douglass will help us with that next year).

6. TURNER! Dude had a beastly game. I hope this is a sign of good things to come from him. He finished runs with authority, bounced it outside with speed, and carried defenders with him. We have not seen THAT Turner all year. I said he needed to channel his 2008 version for us to have a chance--he did.

7. Have you seen Abe? Biermann? JA98? Coleman? Peterson? If you have seen them, please ask them to call the Flowery Branch office. They didn't play well AT ALL. Nice to see Vance Walker play well (at least it looked like it).

8. Suspect Playcalling. That Ryan INT at the 1 yard line when we were down 28-24 should have NEVER EVER occurred. Yes, bad pass by Ryan, but WORSE play call. I know it was 2nd & 9, but no one could stop Turner today. Run the dang ball, get what you can, and work with that on 3rd down. You (Ryan) don't make that pass at such a pivotal time in the game. Score the TD there, go up 31-28 and it changes the outcome of the game...heck, we finally found ways to stop them on 3rd down. Terrible, terrible call by Mularkey.

9. We are 3 games behind the Saints in the division. Not insurmountable, but very unlikely to overcome with the way we are playing...and the way they are playing. However, 4-3 is not terrible as long as we come back to the Dome and take care of business against the Redskins.

10. Elam. As soon as we went for it on 4th & 5 instead of kicking the FG, that told me all I needed to know about the faith they have in Elam. This is a major concern because Koenen sucks at double duty. I am REALLY hoping that he was just off (or his hip was really bothering him) because if it isn't, we don't have a ready replacement.

11. This team is so frenetic. What version of the Falcons will you get? Will the run game show up? Will Abe make an impact? Will we shut down the run? Will Ryan have a mistake free game? Will the playcalling be good? Will we coach aggressively? Will the offense roll? Will the offensive line allow Matt enough time to throw the ball downfield? These are all things that we have done inconsistently. Outside of the SF game, we have not done all these things (heck, most) for an entire game. We gotta get this stuff together. Will we make the playoffs? Yeah, I totally think so. But if we don't correct some of these things, it won't matter.

[frosgrim]

Pretty good observations.

I don't know what Ryan is doing right now. It does seem like he goes to Gonzo way too much, but when you factor in that White and Jenkins are dropping balls right and left, I can sort of understand it. That interception when we could have gone ahead was awful. I don't get that route. It should have been into the corner of the endzone, not at the pylon.

The Falcons are still a couple of drafts away from being an elite team. They have to get better on the defensive line. Abe seems to have lost the speed he needs to be an elite pass rusher. The team did get some pressure on Brees last night, but it would be nice to be able to do that with the linemen instead of sell-out blitzes.

[DrReality]

Their youth was evident last night. I was surprised they kept it that close. Given holw everyone talked about the Saints offense being super charged, I thought the defense held their own. And we were in their Dome.

[coachx]

This Falcons team can beat anyone !

A few miscues cost us the game.

The tipped ball, by Vilma, that lead to the turnover at the goal line. That would have been the go ahead touchdown ! Had we made the 2 FGs in the ast half we would have been up by 13 at that point.

There is such a small difference in winning and losing. Hopefully we give the Saints payback at the Dome on 12/13/2009.

[AHF]

I would also have liked to see Turner keep running the ball on the Ryan INT but I don't know enough to say whether the playcall was a disaster or whether that was just a tipped ball by Vilma. If the pass isn't tippped, Gonzo catches that at the 2, and Turner plows into the endzone I have a feeling that everyone is happy with that play.

[APE]

Referees defend divas like Reggie Bush for minimal contact,.

[Admin]

It sucks to lose to the Saints when you know you could have / should have won doesn't it? It's annoying because they can score so quickly and they have a good enough defense to give them a real shot at winning the Super Bowl this year. Reggie Bush is a bum but they've got enough talent at RB without him to where I think they'd be better if they didn't waste time trying to get the ball to Bush.

[APE]

Watch DeCoud get a fine for that hit on Brees.

[coachx]

Watch DeCoud get a fine for that hit on Brees.

If he is fined..........the team should pass a helmet around and cover that fine for him........That hit lead to the fumble recovery and TD by Beer-Man right ?

[Dnice]

I thought by the first week in November, ATL would be in the chase for the division, but now they may as well settle for a wild card.

[jy23]

I agree with coach, so many little things led to that defeat. The dropped ball by Jenkins which would have given us first and goal which led to the shank by Elam. Bad formations when the saints decided to rush 3 and drop 8, it seemed everytime they did that we were lined up to fail, the 2 wr 2 te formation is a lil annoying but if we're going to run more i don't have a problem with it. Great pick by Grimes....GREAT PICK....but we have to take advantage of things kike that against this team. The int at the one wasn't that bad of a call just a good play by Vilma to get a hand on it and slow the ball down. I think we should at least TRY and take more shots down the field, we need to open up the passing game and let Ryan fling it. We played well but the Saints are a good team......better team won

[coachx]

I thought by the first week in November, ATL would be in the chase for the division, but now they may as well settle for a wild card.

Honestly, when I saw our schedule this year I was hoping for 9 or 10 wins tops.

[coachx]

Bad formations when the Saints decided to rush 3 and drop 8, it seemed everytime they did that we were lined up to fail, the 2 wr 2 te formation is a lil annoying but if we're going to run more i don't have a problem with it.

The defense makes audibles just like the offense does. When they see certain formations they adjust based on our tendancies which they game planned for.

I personally LOVE the Ace formation (if you have 2 quality TEs). It allows the QB so many audilble oppurtunites for pass protection, changing direction of run play without any movement, and hot routes. The trick is the QB has to have the right pre-snap read with what the defense is doing. The Saints did an excellent job making it look like blitz by crowding the line of scrimmage, only to back into coverage after the snap. Credit the Saints for game planning to our tendancies. B/c of this it is important to not get too predictable with your tendancies for each formation you run. That is much easier said then done but Matt Ryan is a quick study and will master it sooner then most do.

(For example.......we did a good job of breaking tendancies when our FB lined up as a WR and Finneran was lined up at FB. When a FB is out their as a WR, and the defense catches it, common sense tells you that FB is out wide to block on a reverse or trick play......................Well, we actually ran the ball right up the gut for that play for a big gain by Turner b/c the defense was not expecting that based on how our personell lined up.

With the Ace formation the QB can change the play and keep the right TE or Left TE in pass protection based on the pre-snap read. The QB can change the run to the left or right (since you have a TE on each side) based on the pre-snap read. the QB can give either TE a hot route to beat the blitz instead of having them block. A TE can go in motion to give unbalanced blocking force for a strong side run.

It all comes down to the QB making the pre-snap read and how well the defense disguises their coverages.

Jaws said during the game that Atlanta uses 2 TE sets on offense 44% of the time, coming into the game. That was the highest percentage in the league. The Saints knew this, were prepared for it, and disguised their coverages well and we fell right into their trap. We still almost won the game. Now its time for the Falcons to adjust.

All in all, the Saints Def Coordinator, Williams, is one hell of a coach and his defense was well schooled on what he wanted them to do vs. certain formations.

Edited November 4, 2009 by coachx

[Traceman]

My biggest observation from the game is the same one I've had for weeks. Ryan is going to be a very good QB in this league but he is not Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees YET. He is a 2nd year QB with a LOT to learn. STOP putting him in positions to fail.

First of all, no way in heck he should have thrown that pick 6 at the end of the first half because we shouldn't have been throwing the ball in that situation. Run the ball and if you get a first down, THEN consider opening it up but you generally don't throw the ball in that situation with a veteran QB, let alone a 2nd year guy. Worse case, we should have been down 7 at the break.

Second, Matt threw FORTY THREE passes in a game (completing less than half of them) in which Turner rushed for 151 yards. No excuse for that. No way Mularkey would have thrown that ball on 2nd down in that situation last year on the play where Matt threw his 2nd INT. Why even THINK about putting him in a position to fail? Worse case scenario should have been a FG leaving you down 1 with momentum and a LOT of football left to play.

If we are going to win anything of importance, it will be because we get back to doing what made us successful last year...running the ball and letting Matt make timely throws off play action. He can be a successful QB playing that way just as Roethlisberger was early in his career. We are just now seeing Ben start to wing it around like Peyton, Brady and Brees and that is the approach we need to take with Ryan.

[EazyRoc]

My biggest observation from the game is the same one I've had for weeks. Ryan is going to be a very good QB in this league but he is not Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees YET. He is a 2nd year QB with a LOT to learn. STOP putting him in positions to fail.

First of all, no way in heck he should have thrown that pick 6 at the end of the first half because we shouldn't have been throwing the ball in that situation. Run the ball and if you get a first down, THEN consider opening it up but you generally don't throw the ball in that situation with a veteran QB, let alone a 2nd year guy. Worse case, we should have been down 7 at the break.

Second, Matt threw FORTY THREE passes in a game (completing less than half of them) in which Turner rushed for 151 yards. No excuse for that. No way Mularkey would have thrown that ball on 2nd down in that situation last year on the play where Matt threw his 2nd INT. Why even THINK about putting him in a position to fail? Worse case scenario should have been a FG leaving you down 1 with momentum and a LOT of football left to play.

If we are going to win anything of importance, it will be because we get back to doing what made us successful last year...running the ball and letting Matt make timely throws off play action. He can be a successful QB playing that way just as Roethlisberger was early in his career. We are just now seeing Ben start to wing it around like Peyton, Brady and Brees and that is the approach we need to take with Ryan.

There was a very obvious pass inteference on that play that led to that interception. Jonathan Vilma had pushed Roddy White to the ground while the ball was in the air. However, I still don't understand how the refs missed that.