The Schedule Begins

There haven't been any posts about the Dawgs so far for a couple of reasons. The first is that we had yet to encounter what I could call a serious enough challenge to merit posting. The schedule thus far has required only that we play with mediocrity to win. We've played to that level or better so far and head in to our actual schedule 4-0 and are facing real challenges for the first time. The second reason is that there is no glory in beating who you should beat. You simply throw it in the W column and move on.

So Saturday our schedule begins in earnest. We face an overly cocky Alabama team on Saturday in the Classic City.

Here is why I'm not really that worried about the Crimson Hefelumps.

(a) We beat this same squad last year in OT at their place at night on ESPN

(b) We've improved on both sides of the ball particularly at WR, LB, DB since we last played them.

(c) We will be jacked up from having ESPN Gameday on campus for the first time in a decade

(d) We will be jacked up from playing a night game at home

(e) We will be jacked up because of the Blackout

(f) We will be jacked up because their coaches are idiots and mocked our Blackout

(g) They can't throw the ball and we can stop the run

(h) Our game plan last year was to slip/screen/bomb them and it worked modestly. With an obviously matured MoMass and super-frosh AJ Green along with a much smarter and developed QB we're going to take chunks of yardage at a time.

(i) Saban will try to change up and Knowshon goes wild in the 2nd half.

(j) JPW will choke and throw two easy picks. It's just what he does.

(k) I was able to compile 10 reasons why I'm not worried without thinking too hard...

What Have We Learned After 3 Weeks?

The Falcons, much to the chagrin of almost everyone, are 2-1 after 3 weeks. Normally, this would lead to some measure of optimism, but the two wins have come against two 0-3 teams (Lions and Chiefs) who have looked absolutely awful so far. I think a better measure of how good a team we are comes from contrasting our wins to our one loss.

Lesson One: If we can consistently run the ball, we can put up some points. In the two games Turner went over 100 yards, we scored over 30 points. In the game he did not reach 100 yards, we only scored 9 points.

Lesson Two: Our success is inversely related to the number of pass attempts Matt Ryan has. In the two wins, under 20 attempts. In the one loss, 33 attempts. That doesn't mean that Ryan is awful, but he's not at the point in his career that he can beat a team without a good running game. He's a rookie... what can you expect?

Lesson Three: Our secondary isn't nearly as bad as I expected. Kitna only got numbers because they were down early and had to abandon the run. Griese didn't really do anything. And we dominated Thigpen. Now those three QBs aren't anywhere close to being considered elite, but they have still equipped themselves well. I don't think they'll get absolutely abused by the better QBs of the league.

Lesson Four: Our run D needs Grady "Fat" Jackson. We got killed by the Tampa running game with Jackson injured, and they were only throwing Dunn and Earnest Graham out there. With Jackson in the lineup for the two wins, we were able to contain the running game either completely (Lions) or until we had a large lead (Chiefs).

Lesson Five: It's good to be home.

So the question remains, based on these lessons, how will the Falcons do over the next few weeks? Answer: We're going to lose the next three weeks.

We're on the road for the first two games. Against the Panthers, they are going to put 8-9 guys in the box, stuff the run, and force Ryan to beat them; which he won't be able to. Against the Packers, we will be able to run the ball, but, while our secondary is decent, we don't have enough quality cornerbacks to keep up with the 3-4 wide receivers sets of the Packers. Finally we will be at home against the Bears, but they are only giving up 71.3 rushing yards per game. I mean Tampa abandoned the run and had Griese throw 67 times this past week against the Bears. We have no chance to win if Ryan has to throw 67 times.

So everyone get ready for three losses and three posts about how Ryan is learning from the losses.

Well That's Good News

On Sunday the Falcons will be taking on the mighty Kansas City Chiefs whose last victory was October 21, 2007.

Oh, but it gets better!

It was announced yesterday that the Chiefs will be starting 2nd-year quarterback Tyler Thigpen. Everybody join me in saying, "Who?" That's right! THE Tyler Thigpen from football powerhouse Coastal Carolina! "Which Carolina?" you ask. Easy! The one with the coast!

This start is notable because Matt Ryan will officially have his first NFL start in which he is the more accomplished passer. Here's the breakdown on career stats:

Ryan 22-46 for 319 yards, 1 td, 2 ints for a rousing 60.0 passer rating.
Thigpen 16-39 for 192 yards, 1 td, 2 ints for a robust 44.0 passer rating.

That's right folks, it's going to be a shoot out of epic proportions! Set your TIVO now!

Vince Young Loses Mobility Due to Aching Vagina

According to ESPN , Vince Young is hurting inside and out and it's making him feel sad and he doesn't want to play anymore. Apparently when the going gets tough, VY gets going. It must be tough to play QB and have to be accountable for team leadership, knowing the playbook, scouting teams, and not turning the ball over twice as much as you score. I'm sure he longs to go back to UT where he could just run around because he was way more athletic than 80% of the people he was playing against.

The Titans, for their part, are pretending that they care. I'm sure it has more to do with them selecting him so high in the draft than it does him actually being needed on the field. After all, Kerry Collins led them to a win this past weekend once VY's Bajingo started bleeding.

This story comes after he insinuated he was ready to retire in the spring. It's pretty telling that he's a little bitch when reporters are interviewing his mom about his mental state. To hell with the pocket protection, he needs a womb.

Apparently He Has Docs on the Bajingo Hall

From Peter King's MMQB:

"I tried to apologize to him,'' Bernard Pollard said over the phone from Foxboro. "But I'm not sure he heard me. He was screaming.''

If you watched even 30 seconds of sports coverage yesterday you probably are aware the Pollard accidentally rolled up on Tom (Jan) Brady's knee and Brady is likely out for the year with a torn ACL. Instead of understanding he plays a violent and physical sport, however, Brady was determined to prove to the world that his time in the spotlight has made him a little bitch.

When Trent Green got KFO (knocked the f- out) last season he didn't blame the other player. Every week a lineman goes down with an injury like this and no one bats their eyes. Reporters say "it's a part of the game" and the players agree. Unless you are Brady. Then you should get to wear a green jersey and never be hit.

Pollard went on to say:" It was an accident. It's tough. It's football. I'm sorry it happened, obviously. I can't do anything but apologize to him."

He could have said "tough shit, that has happened to just about every player ever. I guess he didn't learn what happens on the field while riding the bench at Michigan. Ask Rodney Harrison how often he's done it to other players, then get back to me." But he didn't. That makes him a nice guy in my book.

We should all thank Brady who has proven that Boston sports are the new New York sports. Congratulations, you're whiny, petulant, little bitches. You earned it!

re: the image. it's a picture of a little cat and he's done for the night! look at that visual metaphor!

Must... Contain... Optimism...

In case you missed it, the Falcons played better than anyone could have imagined. The offensive line was dominant, Turner could not be tackled, Ryan got a TD on his first throw, and Abraham got three sacks (6 ball).
But the wild amounts of optimism stemming from this victory have to be tempered by the fact that the Lions defense is AWFUL.

I can guarantee our o-line will not be that dominant all year long. But if they play half as well as they did on Sunday, I think we should be fine and Ryan will make it through the year in one piece.

Relatedly, I can also guarantee that our running game will not gain over 300 yards every week. I think Turner and Norwood will be great, but not that great. The Mikes (Smith and Mularky), however, know that our best chance at winning is through the running game, so they will be feeding those two guys the rock again and again. It was good to see an offensive coordinator that knew how to effectively use two running backs, however, after seeing Norwood languish on the sideline last year.

Finally, in this logical string, with the running game not able to churn out 300 yards, Ryan will not be able to get away with just 13 pass attempts. I'm glad that he got his first TD out of the way, but overall Ryan looked like a rookie QB. He was very conservative in his reads, most of the time looking to dump it off. He had several passes that were off the mark, including one that was tipped up by his receiver and should have been picked off. Any significant third down was either picked up by our running game or wasn't picked up at all. Our offense will struggle when Ryan has to throw more. That's just the reality of a rookie QB starting.

I was most surprised though that our secondary held up pretty well. Granted they were playing from ahead the entire game and could sit back in a soft zone, but they covered and tackled one of the most athletically gifted pair of receivers in the game in Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams. One note from Williams' TD catch in the corner of the endzone at the end of the first half. Since Grimes is so short he either needs to pull a Darrell Green (hit the ball out of his hands on the way down) or just shove him out of bounds. The NFL killed the "force-out" rule, so Grimes should have just shoved Williams once he touched the ball. No way he would have landed in bounds.

Find Something Better To Do On Sunday

Because the Falcons probably won't be on TV. According to Sporting News, the Falcons are scrambling to avoid blacking out the game by lowering ticket prices. I'm betting this won't be enough to entice enough people to go to the game. So either listen to it on radio, go to the local bar, or make alternate plans. Or I guess you could go spend $35 per ticket plus parking and food to go watch a craptastic game.