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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Falcons are what they are
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons won’t be part of any trades before today’s 4 p.m. deadline, according to a team official.
That means, what’s here is what’s here and coaches and players have to figure out how to make something out of these ingredients. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be changes but it doesn’t mean there will be, either.
Coach Bobby Petrino said after Monday night’s 31-10 whuppin’ by the Giants that he would once again evaluate the video before determining if any personnel moves would be made, most notably at quarterback.
Joey Harrington wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t good, as was the case for most of his teammates, especially those who didn’t protect him very well or dropped six passes that could have extended drives.
Byron Leftwich might be called upon to replace Harrington and provide a spark, but the coaching staff felt so little of his game readiness after he missed 1 ½ practices with a mildly sprained right ankle that he was relegated to No. 3 status for the game.
Whether a change at quarterback would make much of a difference has to be something the coaching staff is contemplating.
The offensive line continues to get physically dominated, which has ruined any chance of establishing a running game. That forces the Falcons to pass so defenses bring pressure, which disrupts Harrington and…so on and so on.
Some blame could be passed along to new tackles Renardo Foster and Tyson Clabo but the breakdowns along the line vs. New York were pretty similar to the flaws that surfaced in Game 1 and have rarely subsided.
The coaching staff might also be trying to figure out (again) how to incorporate Jerious Norwood more into the offense. Norwood had just six carries, one of which he took 67 yards for Atlanta’s lone touchdown. With the offense being so anemic, the chances of a big play could increase with the most explosive game-breaker on offense getting his hands on the ball more often.
Defensively, the Falcons had their worst game of the season. The Giants pretty much ran when they wanted to and threw when they wanted to. There wasn’t much resistance in the running game and Eli Manning had pretty much all the time he needed to throw, even under a barrage of blitzes.
DeAngelo Hall made some good plays in the second half to partially offset giving up his share of completions (including a TD) in the first half. OLB Michael Boley also continued to shine, recording another interception while making as many plays as he could (the Giants found OLB Demorrio Williams and ran at him). MLB Keith Brooking also had arguably his best game of the year.
The mood in the locker room after the game was vastly different from the week before, when players were seething after falling to Tennessee. Things were very matter-of-fact, with players giving off signals that they simply weren’t up to the task of beating a better, more physically imposing team.
If that were the case, you live with that. However, if they simply weren’t bothered by losing another game at home to a fan base that seems to be trying hard to keep the faith, then there are some real problems.
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