We all know about the call that cost the Falcons a chance to win yesterday. But the bottom line is that officials make mistakes, and Atlanta was stuck in a sticky situation without any timeouts. Rather than re-hashing the intricacies of the NFL replay rule or debating why officials decided Adam Jennings touched the ball, I think it’s best that we discuss the game itself; a game where the Falcons showed off their swagger, heart and belief once again, but also revealed a few weaknesses that future opponents will surely take note of. Here’s quick review of what we saw Sunday.
THE GOOD
The Falcons had a chance to win this game. And that’s really all anyone could have asked for.
Brian VanGorder’s defense dominated for the first quarter and a half. The front seven blitzed Donovan McNabb and forced him into several bad throws. Meanwhile, the Eagles only had four first downs before their touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. The hot start for the D has been a theme for the team all season long, and it gave the birds a chance to get off to a quick start and quiet the road crowd (although the offense failed to take advantage).
Another positive is that the team refused to give up. The Eagles led 17-7 with second-and-goal on the Atlanta 1-yard line with under 10 minutes to play. McNabb and Co. had been dominating the Atlanta defense for the entire second half. But they didn’t quit. Keith Brooking took down Bryan Westbrook on second down, and a host of Falcons stopped McNabb on a sneak on third down.
The offense easily could have been demoralized after turning the ball over on the Philly 1 in the third quarter during its only extended drive of the half. But Ryan and the team battled through adversity, converting on two third downs and another fourth down later in the drive. Matt Ryan found Roddy White for an 8-yard score with 4:01 to play, pulling Atlanta within 20-14.
The Eagles opened up the next possession with an 8-yard pass to set up second-and-2. The Falcons defense held strong, yielding just 1 yard over the next two plays to get the offense the ball back.
The controversial call against Jennings followed. Still, you couldn’t help but be impressed with Atlanta’s resolve, as the Falcons fought valiantly on the road through a situation that looked bleak at best early in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we kept fighting, and that’s a sign of a good football team,” said Ryan. “Everybody continued to play hard, and when you have that, you have a chance. And I think we have a chance the rest of the year.”
THE BAD
If the Atlanta offense figures out how to move the ball at midfield, then the Falcons probably could have had a sizable lead in the second quarter. The Falcons had the ball in Philadelphia territory on their first three drives, but saw all of those drives stall before they could even get into field goal range. They also started a possession at their own 44 after Curtis Lofton forced a McNabb fumble. That possession netted just 1 yard in a three-and-out.
“We really had some chances early in the game to score, but did not get it done,” said White.
If the Falcons expect to win these types of games, then they need to finish the deal and put points on the board. We’ve seen them stall in the red zone and revert to Elam field goals far too often this season, but yesterday they continually failed to move the ball from just outside of field goal range.
Meanwhile, the defense experienced a gigantic drop-off after the Falcons took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Philly scored on five of its final eight possessions (excluding their final “possession” that consisted of McNabb taking a knee to run out the clock). That included scores on three consecutive possessions after taking the lead, which completely killed Atlanta’s momentum.
The Falcons defense has gotten off to a good start in every game this season, giving up just 14 total points over the first 15 minutes. Yet the unit is 22nd in the league in scoring defense. That should tell you just about all you need to know. Until they can play four quarters, they are making things very hard on an offense that is still finding its way.
THE UGLY
Let me preface this by saying I have been a huge fan of Mike Mularkey as the offensive coordinator. His playcalling has been simply fantastic, as he continues to put players in position to succeed with creative play selections. But I think all Falcons fans took issue with the decision to throw a fade to Roddy White from the Philly 1-yard line in the third quarter. With Michael Turner (who has proved to be unstoppable in short yardage situations), in the backfield, why not just hand the ball off? There was really no reason to get cute on the goal line and try to throw the football. I think we can all agree that the Falcons would have closed the gap to 17-14 if they had just given the ball to their big back.
Look, it’s no secret that Adam Jennings was fighting for his job during training camp. And he escaped with the No. 1 punter returner job after stepping up big-time late in the preseason. But after struggling last year, he is 19th in the league in punt return average so far in 2008, and that includes three fumbles already this season.
As for yesterday’s “muff,” Jennings probably shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. If he calls a fair catch, Atlanta has the ball with good field position and plenty of time to score. Instead, he sprinted full speed towards the ball, and then pulled away from it at the last second.
To be fair, Jennings did avoid the ball. But if the ball takes a Philadelhpia bounce, his indecisiveness costs Atlanta valuable field position. We’ve heard a lot about Jennings’ big-play ability thanks to his blazing speed, but he has yet to show it this season, and it’s beginning to cost the Falcons’ offense dearly.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
It was a big day for New Orleans and Carolina in the NFC South, as they both won while their two division counterparts went down to defeat. The Saints’ offense reappeared in London, dropping 37 on San Diego (what in the world happened to that defense?). That’s not good news for the rest of the division. When it’s firing on all cylinders, the Saints offense is as tough as any in the league to stop.
As for Carolina, they kept rolling along with a nice 27-23 victory over Arizona (playing teams from the NFC West makes things a lot easier, doesn’t it?). That team is healthy on offense for the first time in forever with Jake Delhomme running the show. The Panthers have also benefited from the presence of wideout Muhsin Muhammad, who gives them a major threat across from Steve Smith.
Tampa Bay went down 13-9 in Dallas. But it’s the Cowboys I’d like to share my two cents on. When did everyone forget that they still have playmakers on both sides of the ball? Sure, they lost Tony Romo, but he’ll be back after the bye week and Dallas is still right there in the NFC East. I’ve never seen so many people jump off a team’s bandwagon when it was just one game back in a division race.
Everyone loves to build up the Cowboys like they’re world beaters when they’re winning, and pile on like they’re the Detroit Lions when they lose. The reality is that they’re somewhere in between: a solid team with several holes (secondary, run blocking, etc.) that will make winning a Super Bowl difficult.
HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD
Remember fans, this blog is about YOU. I would love to hear your comments. So feel free to drop me a line at any time with questions, comments or concerns you may have about the Falcons, the NFL, or anything else you might have on your mind.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com
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