Football is finally back as Falcons open preseason with mixed reviews
By Don Stone - Football Atlanta
Like the title says, football season is upon us. Maybe the
games don't count yet, but for the diehard fan, half of the fun is the game
day experience. Getting together with friends, maybe doing a little
tailgaiting. Just the jabbering back and forth about how good your team is
and what they'll do to the other guy when they finally meet is better
conversation than how hot its been this summer.
The games don't count, but a lot does, especially for the new guy trying
to make an impression on coaches and teammates. Playing time is precious for
the player who's been untested at this level or in this uniform. He has to
make the most of it. For the fan who keeps track of those types of things, a
must view is HBO's "Hard Knocks," this year focusing on the Miami
Dolphins. Rumors had the Falcons as this year's team, but it didn't
materialize. That would have been fascinating. Maybe next year.
For some,
that is a good thing with the sentiment being that the team doesn't need to
deal with all of the distractions of network cameras following every player
and coach's every move.
Probably right. After the disappointment of the embarrassing
24-2 loss to the Giants in the first round of the playoffs last January, the
Falcons brass has ruffled their collective feathers and made some
substantial changes.
On the offensive side of the ball, there's a new Offensive
Coordinator in Dirk Koetter, who joins
the team after five years in the same position with Jacksonville. And, his
counterpart is new as well. The new Defensive Coordinator is Mike
Nolan with 14 years of NFL experience. He got
out of Miami just in time to avoid the HBO cameras.
Koetter gets a brand new Offensive Line coach in Pat Hill,
who led the Fresno State Bulldogs to 11 bowl games and a 112-80 career in
his 15 seasons there.
As always, a core of rookie draft choices are on board headed by guard
Peter Konz, taken in the second round
from Wisconsin. Many consider him the best center prospect in the draft. He
is joined by Badger teammate, FB Bradie Ewing,
OT Lamar Holmes from Southern Miss,
and DE Jonathan Massaquoi, who played
locally at Central Gwinnett High School before moving on to college at Troy.
Rounding out the rookies are a few SEC players, safety Charles
Mitchell from Mississippi State and DT
Travian Robertson from South Carolina.
Along with draft choices, a team improves itself within free agency.
They did so with a pair of acquisitions. The secondary will be much better
with the presence of cornerback Asante Samuel.
The 10 year pro is a two-time Super Bowl winner . He refers to pass breakups
and interceptions as "making money" and labels the Falcons as a "mean
defense now."
New safety Chris Hope also brings
Super Bowl experience to the team. The 11 year veteran likes the players
he's lining up with on defense. "We have three of the best corners in the
game in Asante, (Brent) Grimes and
(Dante) Robinson," he said. "When you
have corners as good as those guys it allows the safeties to be more
effective in the defense."
At the first preseason game against Baltimore, Atlanta certainly looked
impressive on their first few opening drives. Matt Ryan
hit Julio Jones
almost at will connecting on six passes for
109 yards in literally just a few minutes of play. Roddy White
grabbed a few himself for another 46 yards.
An interception and a few batted balls were the only problems.
"I thought the first couple of drives, especially the first drive;
we got out to a good rhythm," said Ryan as he assessed how things went. "We
were in the no huddle in the first series, and it was good for us to work
that package. We made some mistakes, but we did some good things, too.
There's going to be a lot for us to improve on, but it's a very good start."
That it was...for the starters. But, for those backups that
we mentioned who were trying to impress, many didn't. They were given a 14-0
lead by the big guys and got outscored 31-3 from that point on. You'll see
headlines that the Ravens routed the Falcons. But, the reality is that the
players who will likely be on the field when it does count next month did
pretty well. Certainly Mike Smith and staff have a lot of analysis to do in
dealing with the team's depth chart, but they have to be happy with what
they saw from the primary players.
Another down note was from injuries. Akeem Dent left early
with a concussion. And Ewing, who ws drafted to compete with Mike Cox at
fullback, left with a bad knee injury, carted off the field.
Yes, it was a preseason game, but the main offense moved the ball well against
one of the best defenses in the NFL, a team that has been to the postseason
the last four years and a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Ravens have
made a few changes themselves with its fourth Defensive Coordinator in the
last four years in Dean Pees after
Chuck Pagano left to head coach for
the Colts. They also lost defensive end Cory Redding,
who left to play with Pagano at Indianapolis, and LB Jarret Johnson
to free agency, who is playing with the Chargers. Adding to the headaches is
the absence of 2011 AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Terrell
Suggs, who suffered an Achilles injury this
spring. He may miss the whole season.
But, the fans had fun, at least until the reserves showed up. How
could they not? Its
football, it's the Falcons and it's the Georgia Dome. A lot better than
hiding inside this summer to avoid 106 degree heat. Just a month away and
three practice games from playing for real in the September 9 season opener
at Kansas City.
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