AJC > Sports > Falcons > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 17
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A quick look at the Chiefs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Much like the Falcons, the Chiefs have a full-blown youth movement underway. They started five rookies and played 11 rookies in their season opener on the road against New England and are trying to break in a young quarterback Brodie Croyle.
The former Alabama signal caller suffered a separated shoulder in the third quarter of the New England game and didn’t play last week. Veteran Damon Huard took over, but was knocked out last week against Oakland after suffering a dizzy spell. Second-year man Tyler Thigpen, of Coastal Carolina and from Winnsboro, S.C., took over.
Despite getting gashed for 300 yards rushing by Oakland’s Darren McFadden and Michael Bush, the Falcons can’t afford to take the Chiefs lightly. Late in the fourth quarter against New England, they were down 17-10 with the ball on the 5-yard line. They couldn’t punch it in to tie the game.
Whoever ends up at quarterback against the Falcons, he;ll have some superb receivers in Dwayne Bowe and tight end Tony Gonzalez. Running back Larry Johnson is off to a slow start, but is still very dangerous.
On defense, tackle Glenn Dorsey, whom the Falcons passed over to take quarterback Matt Ryan, starts alongside second-year tackle Tank Tyler. They traded their top pass rusher Jared Allen to Minnesota, but still have defensive Tamba Hali, who had 7.5 sacks last season.
Is this a trap game for the Falcons? Will they be able to spring Michael Turner loose in the run game? Can second-year guard Justin Blalock handle Dorsey, who’ll be out to prove the Falcons made a mistake?
