(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 defend Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le'Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown. -– D. Orlando Ledbetter)
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
1. STEELERS TAKEOVER?: The last few Falcons home games have been marked by the visiting team's fans coming out in major numbers.
At the end of the Chicago game, it was clearly more Bears fans in the Georgia Dome.
Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter noted that the Falcons had to use their silent count at home.
In the Cleveland game, the Browns fans were out in force.
Pittsburgh’s fans travel better than the Chicago and Cleveland fans put together.
There’s going to be a lot of black and yellow in the building.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
2. I'M NOT EXPECTING JONES TO PLAY: It's not normally a good thing when Falcons coach Mike Smith gives that "we'll see in 48 hours" deal.
My translation is that the initial diagnosis is not good. And they are hoping for a 48-hour miracle recovery from what is likely a hip flexor injury.
It makes no sense to play Jones against the Steelers because the Falcons can reach the playoffs by beating the Saints and Panthers.
It may be wise to let Jones get healthy for the trip to New Orleans.
3. RYAN CORNER: Quarterback Matt Ryan was late coming out to talk after the Monday Night Football game. He came out after deadline.
Here’s what he had to say:
ON THE RALLY: “I thought that everybody battled. We were playing against a really good football team in Green Bay, up here where they play extremely well. We had no quit, but we put ourselves too far behind early on. When you make mistakes going against a team like that it is tough to overcome. Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to make enough plays to overcome what we did in the first half.”
ON JULIO JONES: “Julio played really, really well tonight. He competed really really hard. He showcased on the national stage the kind of player that he is. That kind of production is huge for our football team.”
ON THE PLAYOFF CHASE: "The opportunity keeps coming up for us. I think collectively we need to seize it. We are at the point in the season where it is time. We have to play the kind of football that we are capable of playing for 60 minutes. We are in the mix, but we need to win football games. You have to clean up the four or five plays that kind of cost us tonight, and I think we can."
http://youtu.be/-oSFYxDGKy8
4. PLAYOFFS? DID SOMEONE SAY PLAYOFFS?: The Falcons have a 49.2% chance of making the playoffs and need to win three of the remaining three games to clinch a playoff berth, according to MakeNFLPlayoffs.com.
In the NFC, eight teams control their own destiny with the Cardinals and Packers only needing two wins in the final three games to clinch a playoff spot.
The Bears and Bucs were eliminated after week 14. The Giants and Redskins were eliminated after week 13.
----Win-Division---- -Wildcard
TOTAL 1st Round 1st Round 1st Round Make Record to
AFC Team Name W--L--T BYE HOME ROAD Playoffs Clinch
-------------------- -- -- -- --------- --------- --------- -------- ---------
----Win-Division---- -Wildcard
TOTAL 1st Round 1st Round 1st Round Make Record to
NFC Team Name W--L--T BYE HOME ROAD Playoffs Clinch
-------------------- -- -- -- --------- --------- --------- -------- ---------
-1st-Round-BYE -Host-Wildcard- -Road-Wildcard- Make
Team Name Champ 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Playoffs
-------------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- -------
Atlanta Falcons 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.49223 0.00000 0.00000 0.49223
AtlFal Record Make 1st Round
Final 3 Games Playoffs Playoff Opponent Probability
-------------- -------- -------------------- -----------
3-0 1.00000 MISS PLAYOFFS 0.50777
2-1 0.83329 Arizona Cardinals 0.13510
1-2 0.14582 Seattle Seahawks 0.13177
0-3 0.00000 Green Bay Packers 0.08318
Detroit Lions 0.06519
Dallas Cowboys 0.04916
San Francisco 49ers 0.02054
Philadelphia Eagles 0.00696
Saint Louis Rams 0.00033
5. THE PITTSBURGH WAY: If Chuck Noll were coaching in today's NFL, the only coach to win over four Super Bowls, would have never made it to year four.
Noll coached the Steelers for 23 seasons, but he got off to a bumpy start. The Steelers were 1-13, 5-9 and 6-8 in his first three seasons. Today, he would have been summarily fired on what has become known as "Black Monday."
Bill Cowher, Noll’s successor, went through two losing seasons, but the franchise stuck with him.
Mike Tomlin, who has not had a losing season, is in his eighth season.
Cincinnati Bengals president Mike Brown has talked about showing that kind of patience with his team and coaches and has done so with head coach Marvin Lewis.
Lewis is his 12th season, the second-longest tenured coach in the league behind New England's Bill Belichick. Over time, Lewis, as the drafting has improved, has been able to turn the Bengals fortunes around. They won the AFC North last season and are contending again in 2014.
The Falcons have often talked about building a sustainable winning team like Green Bay, Pittsburgh and New England, but will they have the patience to stick with Coach Mike Smith and his fine coaching staff. Or will they panic, implode and start rebuilding -- in Matt Ryan's prime -- for the sake of selling seat licenses for the new Stadium?
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
6. MATCHUP 1: Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell vs. Falcons LB Paul Worrilow: Bell is having a dynamic season. He has 1,231 yards rushing and is also a good pass catcher out of the backfield. He has 71 catches for 693 yards. Worrilow leads the Falcons in tackles, but has struggled at times in pass coverage. Some believe that Bell is an MVP candidate.
7. MATCHUP 2: Steelers WR Antonio Brown vs. Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant: Brown has 105 catches for 1,375 yards and 11 touchdowns. He's over the 1,000 yards receiving mark for the third time since being picked in the sixth round of the 2010 draft out of Central Michigan. Trufant will likely be matched against Brown when the Falcons play man-to-man coverage. He has 51 tackles and leads the team with 14 pass breakups.
8. MATCHUP 3: Steelers S Troy Polamalu vs. Falcons WR Roddy White: Polamalu is not coming off of one of strongest performances. He was in coverage on Cincinnati's 56-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green and out of position on Andy Dalton's read-option 20-yard run. The secondary has been a liability for the Steelers. They have given up seven passes of 50-yards or more and five in the past four games.
9. DEPTH CHART: The Falcons released their official depth chart for the Steelers' game. If Jones is held out, look for Harry Douglas to start.
OFFENSE
WR 84 Roddy White, 83 Harry Douglas, 14 Eric Weems
LT 70 Jake Matthews, 68 Gabe Carimi
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 25 William Moore, 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
GAME STORY: Falcons' furious rally comes up short
NOTEBOOK: Falcons had no answers for Eddie Lacy
WATCH: D. Led -- Falcons' rally falls short
REPORT CARD: Falcons defense was hapless against the Packers
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