(Welcome all! With the NFL becoming more of a passing league, the “Cover 9@9” blog will become all of the rage. You can read it here every Wednesday at 9 a.m. throughout the season. We’ll try to get to everything about the Atlanta Falcons from the Hometown Huddle to how the Falcons are going to try to run the ball against Arizona's third-ranked run defense. -– D. Orlando Ledbetter)
1. BOWLES AUDITION?: Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles will be one of the hot names when NFL head coaching vacancies come open this offseason.
The Falcons likely will be watching closely when he brings the Cardinals’ defense to the Georgia Dome on Sunday.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
The Cardinals recently gave Bowles, who was the defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Morehouse in 1997, a contract extension through 2017.
Arizona head coach Bruce Arians said on SiriusXM NFL Radio recently that the deal was done, in part, to allow Bowles to be selective if he’s approached about jobs.
The rationale was that he can stay on in Arizona if he doesn’t like the job offer or is not comfortable with the team’s current status.
However, if the Falcons' spot comes open as advocated by Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley , it will be one of the most attractive positions in the league. Atlanta, San Francisco and Miami would be the most intriguing and desirable head coaching jobs because they have quarterbacks in place.
Bowles was hired as the Cardinals defensive coordinator on Jan. 21, 2013 after spending the 2012 season with Philadelphia Eagles.
He’s a 14-year NFL assistant who has also coached with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins during his career.
In his first year in Arizona, the Cardinals had the NFL’s 6th ranked defense and No. 1 ranked run defense. They allowed the fewest rushing yards in team history for a 16-game season (1,351 yards), had 47.0 sacks (3rd in team history) and 30 takeaways (tied for 6th in NFL), including 20 interceptions (5th in NFL).
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Bowles played defensive back in the NFL for eight seasons with the Washington Redskins (1986-90; 1992-93) and San Francisco 49ers (1991).
He played collegiately at Temple (1982-85) where he was a team captain under head coach Bruce Arians in 1985 and played with Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong (running back/defensive back 1983-86).
He was a member of the 1987 Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXII championship team.
Currently, the Cardinals are giving 339.1 yards per game, which ranks tied for 2nd in the league. They are giving up 84.5 yards rushing per game (3rd) and 254.6 yards passing per game (25th).
They are giving up 17.7 points per game, which is tied for second and have a plus-10 turnover differential, which ranks third in the league.
2. DEFENSE LAST IN THE LEAGUE: The Falcons are giving 409.9 yards per game, which ranks 32nd in the league. They are giving up 125.8 yards rushing per game (24th) and 409.9 yards passing per game (32nd).
After yielding 162 yards on the ground to Cleveland, the Falcons have given up more than 100 yards in seven games this season and more than 120 yards in four games.
Overall, they gave up 475 yards to the Browns.
“It was just a horrendous performance by the defense,” said NFL.com analyst Brian Billick.
It was the fifth game this season that the Falcons have given up more than 470 yards.
3. WOULD SHAUN PHILLIPS HELP?: The Tennessee Titans released Shaun Phillips, an 11-year veteran.
They took a gamble on an old pass rusher, but he failed to make an impact in the first 11 games.
Phillips, 33, had just two sacks and 28 tackles with Tennessee. In his previous 10 season, he had 79.5 sacks. He played nine seasons with the Chargers and one with the Broncos.
Phillips had 10 sacks last year in Denver. He was named a Pro Bowler in 2010 with the Chargers.
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4. PLAYOFF CHANCES: The Falcons have a 42.9% chance of making the playoffs and need to win 5 of the remaining 5 games to virtually clinch a playoff berth, according to the website makeNFLplayoffs.com.
If the Falcons finish 5-0, they’re in.
If they finish 4-1, there’s a 95 percent chance they are in.
If they finish 3-2, there’s 64.6 percent chance they make the playoffs.
If they finish 2-3, their chance dwindle down to 15.1 percent
If they finish 1-4 , there’s and .00156 percentage of a chance.
At 0-5, there’s no chance.
This is the website’s seventh year providing statistics on each team's chance of making the NFL playoffs.
----Win-Division---- -Wildcard
TOTAL 1st Round 1st Round 1st Round Make
AFC Team Name W--L--T BYE HOME ROAD Playoffs
-------------------- -- -- -- --------- --------- --------- --------
-1st-Round-BYE -Host-Wildcard- -Road-Wildcard- Make
Team Name Champ 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Playoffs
-------------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Atlanta Falcons 0.00000 0.00003 0.00216 0.42657 0.00000 0.00002 0.42877
AtlFal Record Make 1st Round
Final 5 Games Playoffs Playoff Opponent Probability
-------------- -------- -------------------- -----------
5-0 1.00000 MISS PLAYOFFS 0.57123
4-1 0.95042 San Francisco 49ers 0.09969
3-2 0.64572 Arizona Cardinals 0.08382
2-3 0.15067 Seattle Seahawks 0.07771
1-4 0.00156 Dallas Cowboys 0.06851
0-5 0.00000 Philadelphia Eagles 0.03797
Detroit Lions 0.02543
Green Bay Packers 0.02498
Chicago Bears 0.01012
Saint Louis Rams 0.00040
Minnesota Vikings 0.00011
BYE 0.00003
New Orleans Saints 0.00000
Carolina Panthers 0.00000
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
5. COMMUNITY CORNER: Cornerback Desmond Trufant provided a catered Thanksgiving meal to 124 men from the Shepherd's Inn, the men's facility of the Atlanta Mission on Monday.
He served food, signed autographs and took photos.
Established in 1938, Atlanta Mission provides overnight shelter, job attainment programming, long‐term residential discipleship programming and transitional housing for more than 950 homeless men, women and children daily.
Also, the Atlanta Falcons rookie club served Thanksgiving lunch to homeless at Crossroads Community Ministries for the sixth straight season on Tuesday.
Each year, Crossroads Community Ministries serves over 74,000 meals to over 4,300 homeless men, women and children. Since 2009, the Atlanta Falcons Rookie Club has visited Crossroad Community Ministries to serve Thanksgiving lunch.
Also, the special teams were active.
Kicker Matt Bryant, punter Matt Bosher and long snapper Josh Harris provided a catered Thanksgiving meal to 300 women and children from My Sister’s House, the women’s and children’s facility of the Atlanta Mission, on Tuesday.
The players served food, sign autographs and took photos throughout the evening.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
6. KEY MATCHUP NO.1: Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald vs. Falcons CB Desmond Trufant: Fitzgerald missed last week's game in Seattle with a sprained knee. It was the first game he's missed since 2007. Fitzgerald suffered a grade two sprain of the left MCL last week. He didn't practice and was listed as questionable for the game. Will follow his progress throughout the week. The Cardinals have to release their first injury report of the week today. Trufant made a spectacular interception against the Browns and had a solid day while in coverage against All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon. Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic wrote, " A sprained MCL often keeps players out two to four weeks, so it's possible the Cardinals could be without Fitzgerald this Sunday in Atlanta." Fitzgerald has played in 110 consecutive games.
7. KEY MATCHUP NO. 2: Cardinals WR John Brown vs. Falcons NB Josh Wilson: With Fitzgerald out, rookie John Brown played a bigger role against Seattle. He caught three passes for 61 yards. He has 37 catches for 529 yards and leads the Cardinals with five touchdown catches. The Cardinals picked Brown in the third-round out of Pittsburg State. With injuries to Robert Alford and Robert McClain, Josh Wilson was pressed into duty against Cleveland and gave up more than 90 yards in coverage. The veteran will have to bounce back against the Cardinals.
8. KEY MATCHUP NO. 3: Cardinals NT Dan Williams vs. Falcons C James Stone: The Cardinals defense is stout with Williams anchoring the operation from nose tackle. The Cardinals posted seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss, while holding Marshawn Lynch to 39 yards on 15 carries. Stone, the third Falcons starting center this season, has been solid and will get help from the guards to help with controlling the disruptive Williams.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
9. DEPTH CHART: Safety William Moore, who could return to action this week from his shoulder, is not listing on the team's official injury report that was released for the Arizona game.
OFFENSE
WR 84 Roddy White, 83 Harry Douglas, 14 Eric Weems
LT 70 Jake Matthews, 68 Gabe Carimi, 65 Cameron Bradfield
LG 63 Justin Blalock, 69 Harland Gunn
C 62 James Stone, 69 Harland Gunn
RG 75 Jon Asamoah, 69 Harland Gunn
RT 73 Ryan Schraeder, 68 Gabe Carimi, 64 Jonathan Scott
TE 80 Levine Toilolo, 86 Bear Pascoe
WR 11 Julio Jones, 17 Devin Hester, 19 Drew Davis
QB 2 Matt Ryan, 13 TJ Yates, 12 Sean Renfree
RB 39 Steven Jackson, 32 Jacquizz Rodgers, 24 Devonta Freeman
FB 42 Patrick DiMarco
DEFENSE
DE 71 Kroy Biermann, 50 Osi Umenyiora, 90 Stansly Maponga
DT 99 Tyson Jackson, 77 Ra’Shede Hageman, 98 Cliff Matthews
DT 96 Paul Soliai, 91 Corey Peters
DE 95 Jonathan Babineaux, 94 Jonathan Massaquoi, 93 Malliciah Goodman, 54 Tyler Starr
LB 55 Paul Worrilow, 52 Nate Stupar, 97 James Anderson
LB 53 Prince Shembo, 59 Joplo Bartu
CB 23 Robert Alford, 28 Javier Arenas
CB 26 Josh Wilson, 27 Robert McClain, 28 Javier Arenas
S 36 Kemal Ishmael, 30 Charles Godfrey
S 20 Dwight Lowery, 41 Dezmen Southward
CB 21 Desmond Trufant, 28 Javier Arenas
SPECIALISTS
K 3 Matt Bryant
KO 5 Matt Bosher
P 5 Matt Bosher
KR 17 Devin Hester, 14 Eric Weems
PR 17 Devin Hester, 14 Eric Weems
LS 47 Josh Harris
H 5 Matt Bosher
FALCONS FAN MAILBAG: We take your questions from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
ICYMI: In case you missed it
SIDEBAR: In the end, Falcons defense collapses
FALCONS' QUOTEBOARD after loss to the Browns
Roddy White speaks his mind: Falcons were "confused" and didn't "attack" the Browns
Tony Dungy on Falcons' clock mismanagement
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