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Friday, October 10, 2008
Defense has to get after Orton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons offensive line, which played well last week, will be front and center against Chicago’s rugged defensive front.
The Bears are getting back Tommie Harris this week after he served his one-game suspension. Alex Brown is beast, too.
“They are very salty,” Falcons offensive coach Paul Boudreau said. “As far as their front goes, they are very similar to Tampa and Carolina. They are going to stop the run and get you in those third down situations and try to get some sacks. We’re going to have to make our money on first and second down for sure.”
This might be the game that the Falcons have to see how far Matt Ryan has progressed. They’ll need to pass on first down instead of waiting to third down. Instead of running Michael Turner to set up the passing game, Ryan must be efficient passing in order to open things up for The Burner.
Also, the Bears know that Roddy White gets most of the passes. So the other receivers, Michael Jenkins, Harry Douglas and Brian Finneran will be on the spot. This would be a good game to have a pass catching tight end. Big Ben Hartsock, the pride of Chillicothe, Ohio, may need to be a factor in the passing game. Just a couple of seam routes to keep the Cover Two safeties honest.
The Falcons defense need flip the table on the Bears and get after quarterback Kyle Orton. He’s been hot over his last two games, but the jury is still out on him. The secondary can’t keep giving up 300 yards passing.
So how do you see this match-up? Can the Falcons rattle Orton? Will the Burner be able to get loose against his hometown team? Is Ryan ready to pass the Falcons to victory? Oh yeah, there’s that little issue of the receivers not dropping passes, too. Can they hold onto the passes?
Should be an old-school, knock down, drag out game.
