Falcons week 1 review: The good, the bad & the ugly

September 8, 9:05 PMAtlanta Falcons ExaminerRichard Palmer

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The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Did You See What I Saw?

After three hours of sleep Sunday morning, I jumped on a flight from Philly to travel back to Atlanta for the game.  I was excited to see what I would see, but had no expectation I would see what I saw.  We all know the Falcons won so here’s the good, the bad and the ugly of what I saw from my seat.

The Good:
I saw a disciplined team – While we did have around seven penalties, only three of them were on the offense.  False start in the third quarter, Illegal block above the waist (I think it was a block in the back) and a hold by Roddy White which unfortunately nullified a Norwood TD.  Given the new players on this offense, the new offense and so on, I would have fully expected some illegal formation, or illegal procedure penalties as players struggled with the formations and plays.  Most of the other penalties were pass defense penalties, some of which were questionable, but when you are trying to defend the likes of Calvin Johnson you’ve got to be aggressive.

I saw creative play calling – With over 300 yards rushing, you wouldn’t think it was that creative, but it was.  There was one play that was nullified by a false start where our QB wasn’t even on the field, specifically a direct snap to a RB.  Another where we ran a mis-mis-direction reverse.  Roddy White lined up wide right, went in motion at full speed behind the formation to wide left, there was a fake handoff right and then reverse left.  We also ran an attempted flea-flicker by Norwood.  The play got blown up by the defense so Norwood kept the ball and bashed ahead for a few yards rather than flip it back to Ryan who was surrounded by the D-line of Detroit. 

I saw a RB with vision – Many of Turner’s big runs were cutbacks where he was going left or right and the opposite side of the line just parted like the Red Sea and he had the vision and quickness to cut it back.  Obviously anybody is impressed with 200+ yards from a RB, but I was very impressed with how he got those yards.

I saw “Velcro” blocking and tackling – Our offense got on their blocks and stuck to them until the whistle stopped blowing.  Our defense wrapped up and brought them down.  Out of the 308 yards by Detroit, only 68 were on the ground.  I couldn’t find a stat on yards after the catch, but I’m confident it was low.  Just a side note -- this type of blocking and tackling also goes back to my first observation of discipline.

The Bad:
I saw a rookie QB – Mike Ditka or someone said “given a choice of luck or talent, I’ll take luck in the NFL.”  Ryan played well and most importantly he didn’t lose the game.  He had some great plays where he looked like a poised veteran; some plays where he got very lucky and some plays where his inexperience came through and he looked like a rookie.  All of this is to be expected, I’m not disappointed in any way shape or form, but sometimes he will not be so lucky and the rookie moments will come at times when we are down 14 points instead of up by 14 points.  In the end it is inevitable, he is a rookie and he must get the experience. 

I didn’t see a lot of pressure – If the last Super Bowl taught everyone one thing, it was the value of an aggressive and relentless pass rush.  Unfortunately we do not have that. While Abraham did record three sacks, with at least one in a critical situation, we were unable to consistently get pressure on Kitna.  Why Detroit didn’t pass more often and earlier in the game, I don’t know, but like I stated earlier… luck vs skill, I’ll take luck.

I saw one bad offensive line – Our offensive line is indeed offensive.  They attack the defense.  Watching this reminded me of a famous quote from a Marine General during the Korean war.  “Hit quickly, hit hard and keep right on hitting!”  I think his name was General Holland M. Smith and I’m confident our O-line coach is related, if not by blood, certainly by philosophy.

The Ugly:
I saw the Fan Code of Conduct in the cupholder of every seat in the Georgia Dome – While it may be a good thing overall, I was likewise shocked to see that you could send a text message with the row, seat and section of someone who was breaking the “fan rules” and they would be removed from the stadium.  After Ryan’s pass to Jenkins for a TD on our first drive, I was afraid I might be thrown out of the stadium for jumping up and yelling “&*#@ Ya!”

I saw a team – Yes, it was beyond good, it was such a beautiful thing to see, it could only fall under the Ugly category.  I saw a team that played like a team, supported and when necessary disciplined each other.  I saw veterans leading by example and rookies fighting to meet the expectations of their teammates.

I don’t know how far this team will go this year, but for right now, I’m happy with what I saw in week one.  How about you?