AJC > Sports > Falcons > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 05
Friday, December 5, 2008
Falcons ready for big NFC South weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just finished looking at the Pro Bowl ballot on NFL.Com.
Fan voting for the Pro Bowl concludes on Tuesday. Falcons players, because of the lack of nationally televised games this season, will likely need a bigger voter turnout to push them over the top.
Fan voting counts for one-third of the total, along with voting from players and coaches. NFL players and coaches vote on Thursday and Friday.
The online ballot is in alphabetical order so Roddy White is at the bottom of the receiver list.
Running back is going to be competitive for Michael Turner with Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, Washington’s Clinton Portis, Dallas’ Marion Barber and New York’s Brandon Jacobs. You get to vote for three.
Matt Ryan has a shot at quarterback. You get to pick three.
John Abraham should be a lock at defensive end with his 12.5 sacks, second in the NFC. Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware leads the league with 15 sacks, but he’s listed as an outside linebacker.
Center Todd McClure should get some consideration. He hasn’t given up a sack this season and has anchored the resurgent offensive line.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall and tight end Alge Crumpler were the last Falcons to make the Pro Bowl back after the 2006 season.
The Falcons didn’t enter the season with a national profile, but there are still getting some national attention on the pre-game shows.
Pam Oliver from Fox was at the Branch on Wednesday working on a Falcon related package.
Our buddy Steve Wyche, NFL.Com Senior Writer, stopped by to do a piece on Roddy White, where White credits Joe Horn and the Petrinos — Bobby AKA as “Mr. Happy” and Paul - for saving his career. Here’s the link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80d04e20&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
Also, it looks like Tampa Bay is taking the Falcons pretty seriously according to Chris Harry’s Inside the NFL column in the Orlando Sentinel, “The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play their first Monday night game in more than two years next week when they go on the road to face the Carolina Panthers. That means the Bucs will get an extra day to prepare._Jon Gruden and his staff put it to good use Monday. They began advance work on the Atlanta Falcons.Seriously.” Here’s the link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/football/orl-nflinside0208dec02,0,7485139.column
The Falcons can help their Pro Bowl bids by beating the Saints in the Superdome for the first time since 2002.
With defensive end Will Smith out and the Saints on the smallish side at defensive end, the Falcons should be able to run the ball with The Burner.
The key will come down to containing the Saints passing attack again. I don’t know if the Falcons can get another 15 pass breakups, three interceptions and one sack on Saints QB Drew Brees. But it will take another mercurial effort like that to pull this one off. Also, Reggie Bush will be playing his second game since knee surgery. He didn’t play in the previous game.
A big thing to watch for is if rookie Thomas DeCoud has to start at free safety. I expect Erik Coleman to be ready, but if he can’t go all out with his quadriceps contusion, DeCoud will get to show his talents.
Should be a big NFC South weekend, with Tampa Bay and Carolina playing on Monday Night Football. A lot of Falcons fans wanted to know how they should be rooting for in this one. Carolina is the team to root for. Theh Falcons have a win over the Panthers and need Tampa Bay to come back to the pack. Carolina also has a tougher schedule down the stretch with games against Denver, the New York Giants and New Orleans.
Who are you voting for in the Pro Bowl? Which Falcons deserve to make the trip to Honolulu? Ready for Sunday’s big tilt in the Big Easy? Can the Falcons basically eliminate the Saints from the playoff race? Who needs to step up to stop Reggie Bush in this?
Also, I plan on getting to the Dome early on Sunday and posting a pre-game report and will try to get to your questions at halftime.
