It was the final preseason game for the Falcons, and the young players got the chance to impress the coaches before final roster cuts on Saturday. The players as well as the Falcons fans should be glad that this game did not count because the Baltimore Ravens dominated the Falcons 20-3.
“We were able to get an evaluation on a number of guys,” head coach Mike Smith said after the game. “And the best thing about it was that we did leave the game injury free. That was one of the goals of the preseason, to start the season with as many healthy players as we possibly could.”
The first team offense played only one series in the first quarter and after that, rookie quarterback John Parker Wilson came into the game with the second unit and overall had a solid game, completing 13-of-19 passes for 80 yards.
“We were moving the ball well,” Wilson said. “It’s a shame we didn’t score some points as well as we were moving the ball down field. Every time we got in a good position, we just couldn’t finish drives.”
Wilson is competing for the third-string job along with D.J. Shockley, a fan favorite who has held the job for the last three years. But Shockley did not help his case to make the team on Thursday night as he completed 2-of-6 passes for 15 yards. But Smith was pleased with the quarterback play.
“I think all three of our quarterbacks did some good things,” Smith said. “It’s really hard to just make an evaluation when you’re standing on that sideline. You’ve really got to evaluate the tape and that’s something that we will be doing tomorrow and into Saturday with all these guys.
For Baltimore, they had only one known starter on the field and that was Terrell Suggs who sacked Matt Ryan early in the first quarter. Quarterback John Beck played the entire game for the Ravens and threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons completed the 2009 preseason with a 2-2 record. In the four preseason games Ryan completed 27-of-36 passes for 267 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. But with the first regular season game just around the corner, Ryan knows that the Falcons have some work to do.
“I think we’re a better team at this point then at the start of training camp,” Ryan said after the game. Offensively, I think that we did some things well. We’ve tried some new things during the preseason, which I think we will carry into the regular season. Individually I think guys have improved over time and become acclimated to the speed of the game.”
Their first game will be against the Miami Dolphins on September 13 at the Georgia Dome at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FOX.
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