AJC > Sports > Falcons > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 27 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPlay defensive coordinator
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Great stuff on the offense. I knew it would be. Like I said, you guys are really in tune with the game and the team.
Now, let’s play defensive coordinator — not GM. Based on the way things look, it doesn’t appear the Falcons are going to be able to go get Roy Williams or Brian Dawkins, so any changes you suggest to the defense should be with players on the roster.
We know the run defense has been shaky, but against the Jets, who really didn’t try to run much, the Falcons looked good. The defensive line was awesome, even though Antwan Lake started at tackle for Chad Lavalais. At times, three rookies — Chauncey Davis, Jonathan Babineaux and Darrell Shropshire — played together. Would you change anything along the front, personnel, tactics?
The jumbled linebackers also looked good, particularly Demorrio Williams. He appears natural on the weakside, where Keith Brooking typically plays. Brooking, meanwhile, has been solid in the middle, showing he can play just about anywhere. Rookie Michael Boley is so athletic that for most of the final quarter against the Jets, Atlanta was able to stay in its base defense and not go to nickel because he could play in coverage.
If Ed Hartwell comes back from his Achilles’ tendon injury next season, the Falcons are going to have some tough decision to make at LBs because it could be hard to keep Boley or Williams off the field.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall is a playmaker, even if his coverage, particularly when the ball is in the air, still has a ways to go. Hall, who has four interceptions, seems to really want to play aggressive coverages most of the time and appears to not like playing off receivers in zone defenses — but that’s often the call.
Jason Webster might not be great in coverage but he arguably is the best tackler in the secondary and that will keep him on the field. At nickel, Allen Rossum is still the choice, although Leigh Torrence seems to be coming on.
Comments
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By johna
October 27, 2005 04:14 PM | Link to this
The front line needs more rotation. Keep your starters on the field, but get the backups in to keep them fresh. Lake played an excellent game. He needs to be on the field more. With the right rotation these guys should be solid up front.
By Jeff
October 27, 2005 04:38 PM | Link to this
1.Blitz more and let D-Hall play more man. Give Jason Webster plenty of help.
By Jeff
October 27, 2005 04:40 PM | Link to this
Blitz more, and let D-Hall play more man.
Give Jason Webster plenty of help.
Hope that Liegh Torrence can play. If so, keep Rossum away from the opposing team’s WRs. He can’t cover anybody.
By larry w.
October 27, 2005 06:59 PM | Link to this
The Falcons linebackers are very athletic and fast, so I would design a sophisticated blitz package that involves sending one or more of the linebackers on every play. Keep the offensive line guessing as to where the pressure will be coming from next. I have noticed that our defense relies heavily on the four man rush to create pressure and that has killed us at the most crucial times. No pressure on Hasselbeck and Seattle throttles us in the second quarter of that game. No pressure on Brady and he has a field day against our secondary. But when we come with pressure (Eagles, Vikings, Bills, Jets) we are very successful. One of the most successful defenses that the Falcons has had, was the Gritz Blitz defense of the 70’s. We will be burned sometimes, but we will also create a lot of havoc (fumbles, interceptions) on the defensive side of the ball.
By Jeff
October 27, 2005 07:00 PM | Link to this
Here’s what Jason Whitlock said about Vick
Monday night I couldn’t decide which was more embarrassing: Michael Vick’s performance or Jim Mora’s coaching.
Never has a team that produces four sacks, an interception, a 155-yard rusher and a 20-0 second-quarter lead been as unimpressive as the Falcons were against the Jets.
Don’t get me wrong. I liked everything about the Falcons except Vick and Mora. Vick simply cannot pass, and I couldn’t figure out late in the third quarter and throughout the fourth why Mora was allowing Vick to attempt to throw the football.
The Jets could’ve easily rallied and won that game, thanks to Vick’s Frerotte-like passing. If Vick ever plays quarterback in a Super Bowl, I’ll be shocked.
The solution to Atlanta’s No. 1 receiver problem spells his name M-I-C-H-A-E-L V-I-C-K.
link is http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=whitlock/051027
By William Kitchens
October 27, 2005 07:16 PM | Link to this
Steve… you mention Hartwell coming back and forget to mention Beck!
Beck will add to the depth we have.
If the draft were held tomorrow, my guess is the Falcons go for the safety position with the first pick.
That being said… who are the free agent safties and DB’s next year?
By larry w.
October 27, 2005 07:16 PM | Link to this
Okay Jeff. And your defensive scheme would be?
By larry w.
October 27, 2005 07:20 PM | Link to this
Excellent point as usual William! Beck will add tremendously to the wealth of young, fast, and aggressive linebackers that we have. My guess would also be safety as our first draft choice. At least I hope and pray that it will be.
By Chris S
October 27, 2005 07:54 PM | Link to this
If the safety crop is anything like this year, we may not draft one high next year either. It is one of those positions, like guard, where only the most exceptional players go high!
By Steve Wyche
October 27, 2005 08:02 PM | Link to this
William,
Thanks for the catch. Jordan Beck was a heck of a player in the preseason and was also a HUGE special teamer. I love the way he flies to the ball and makes contact upon arrival. He reminds me of Zach Thomas a lot. Ed Donatell is going to have an interesting situation with all those linebackers next season.
As far as what the Falcons would draft in the first round, I doubt it would be a safety. Unless a Roy Williams-difference maker comes around, safeties usually aren’t taken in the first round. However, if the Falcons are picking in the late 20s, a safety could be their best bet. I think they’d go for CB, DL or OT. You never know, it could be another WR…..
By larry w.
October 27, 2005 08:46 PM | Link to this
Hey Steve, If the season progresses the way I envision, we won’t be drafting in the late 20’s, we will be drafting in the early 30’s!!
By William Kitchens
October 27, 2005 09:45 PM | Link to this
Steve.. I agree which is why my post draft thought regarded the Free Agent list for safety and DB next year around the league.
In fact a list of high profile FA’s would make make a nice bye week blog.
That’d give us something to rant and chew on.
By Jason Whitlock
October 27, 2005 10:54 PM | Link to this
Can somebody take the shampoo bottle out of my a*? I dont know how it got there. O well, I’ll just rip on the Falcons again. Mike Vick does nothing but win games, but since hes not conventional my lame Midwest a* dont like him.
By jack
October 28, 2005 09:20 AM | Link to this
I would use Stropshire more in the nose position. He’s the biggest DL we have. Everytime he was in he occupied two OL which kept them off Brooking, who I beieve is in his last year with the Falcons. Brooking has to stop guessing on which gap he’s responsble for. It cost us against NO and the Jets. I would line DHall up on the best reciever and let him play man to man. If he’s a shut down corner let him play that role. As for next year, Hartwell might want to play a good game more than talk it. A MLB with 31 tackles in five games, what a joke. I think we need a 330’er at the nose to give our fast LB’s more room to run. Let’s not forget that Dunn is getting up in age and Duckett is not the everydown back that we need. Maybe Griffith is. I love our future if Vick can hit a wide open reciever in stride. If that can happen. How exiciting will the Falcons be not just Vick.
By Johnny C.
October 28, 2005 11:50 AM | Link to this
Jefff, who (besides you) gives a s—t what Jason Whitlock says/thinks? Remember what they say about opinions…
By dannycardwell
October 28, 2005 12:08 PM | Link to this
hartwell is gone after this year. we didnt need him to start with. trade him in the off season for a draft pick. we need to pick almost entirely on defensive backs next year. as much as i love brooking, i wont be surprised to see him traded to make room for more speed. speed kills. williams, beck,boley. the front four are fine. the guys filling in are doing very well when you consider they are rookies.
By Andy
October 28, 2005 01:45 PM | Link to this
Being a DC in this respect is a little harder because you tend to want to be GM looking at FAs or focus on the draft. For me, I’d like to see Ike play some SLB in a sub package. He is a hard hitter and a play maker as long as you don’t ask him to cover anybody. I’d also like to see Ronnie Heard play some Safety to see if he is a hard hitter. For some reason, Scott isn’t hitting like used to. Aside from that, a few more man to man calls would be nice, but I think with so many young guys on D, the goal should just be to play the current scheme correctly and focus on run D from the D-line back.
By Andy
October 28, 2005 01:47 PM | Link to this
From USA Today’s Inside Slant
Looking for ways to breathe some life into a passing attack ranked 28th in the NFL, quarterback Michael Vick suggested the Atlanta Falcons run their two-minute offense more frequently.
Vick believes the approach would help him gain confidence that was lacking in a 27-14 win over the New York Jets recently. He also knows the two-minute would force opponents to run more standard alignments and do less exotic shifts before the snap.
“It gets you into a rhythm,” Vick said Wednesday. “Not just trying to out-tempo the defense, (but) it gets you into a rhythm as a quarterback. You get a couple of easy throws. Somebody gets a checkdown and the defense is basically in a generic cover-2 or what everybody does around the league, but you’re just working against zones, picking and choosing your spots. Pass protection and then things kind of open up.”
Coming off an inconsistent performance in which he completed just 11 of 26 passes for 116 yards and three interceptions, Vick hopes offensive coordinator Greg Knapp will open up the playbook more to include more opportunities for receivers.
“It’s one thing to do it in practice, but when you do it in a game, it’s totally different,” Vick said. “We can run a pass concept in practice 10 straight times and I can go to 10 different spots, but if we don’t call it in a game, then it don’t help me out none. It don’t help the team out as far as what our record and is all that.”
Knapp only smiled when told of Vick’s comments.
“He probably suggested that because on Saturday night I presented to the offense how well we had done in two-minute this year compared to last,” Knapp said. “We had five possessions that really counted in the two-minute drill, we scored four field goals, including a game-winner last week. Every Saturday night during the season, I’ll hit on a part of our game _ four-minute, two-minute, short-yardage, goal-line, running, passing _ and I’ll offer some kind of praise or need area.”
Vick and Knapp forged a respectful relationship a couple of weeks after the coordinator arrived with first-time head coach Jim Mora 22 months ago. Player and coach seem genuine in their mutual respect, though Knapp’s experience working with established egos in San Francisco â€â€? consider his first year with the 49ers, 1995, when the offense had Terrell Owens, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Brent Jones and Ricky Watters _ and he considers Vick a joy to work with.
“He doesn’t need praise any more than the next guy, and he takes criticism very well,” Knapp said. “He was the one who said on the last pick, the one he threw to Alge but a little bit behind him, he said, ‘I should’ve just thrown that one away.’ I said, ‘You’re right.’ “
What excites Knapp and Vick is that Atlanta has struggled at times to establish the pass, but a 5-2 record gives the team some margin for error and lessens pressure.
“We feel like we can be a dominant team, but we’re not where we need to be,” Vick said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, man, on both sides of the ball. Everybody around here feels the same way. If they don’t, they’re lying to themselves. We’ve just got to come back in the second half (of the season) and be better than we were in the first half.”
Good peice…just proves that Vick wants to improve those passing stats as well..back to the defensive conversation…
By Brian Hunt
October 28, 2005 07:04 PM | Link to this
The necessary changes to the defense have already been made. Moving Brooking to the middle allowed Demorrio to play his natural position and Boley will be fine on the Strong side. That gives them more versatility than they had with Hartwell. They now have three three down linebackers on the field at all times. The only other thing I would do is have Ronnie Heard available and a short leash on either Carpenter or Scott.
By Big D
November 1, 2005 12:37 AM | Link to this
the correct thing to do is get rid of brooking, he was pretty good a few years ago, but the league has become to fast for him, he would make a great 2nd team linebacker, hartwell was great before he was injured because he really filled up the middle, like a plug, at this point we are stuck with brooking till the end of the year, therfore, brian scott is going to have to come up and make big hits, similar to lynch, we need to pick up another db to complement d.hall on the other side, the defensive line is great, we need to keep them fresh by constantly rotating them… the falcons will make it to the super bowl……and I hope Brookings proves me to be wrong about him…….
By Keep it real
November 1, 2005 10:31 AM | Link to this
make sure d-linemen line up in gaps stop run and pass on first and second down keep teams in 3th and long. Must put pressure on QB . must make tackels . cb’s need to play tight on recivers. We must beat tampa bay buc. and carolina MUST!!!! Our best defence is to keep vick on the field moving the ball. no team score more than 18 points we win!!!!
By dray
November 6, 2005 07:45 PM | Link to this
“Brooking, meanwhile, has been solid in the middle, showing he can play just about anywhere.” Steve, what game are you watching man????? Hopefully you have heard the collective voices of the 20/20 blog team. Even those who say they “love” him realize he’s not making plays, and not contributing. He’s in the wrong spot, always tied up, and rolls into his tackle stats — after the fact.