FalconAlley Football

And Then There Was One

Atlanta 30 at Detroit 26

September 24, 2017

By: Allison Smith

Alone at the top, as the only NFC team to be undefeated. After only 3 weeks into the NFL season, the other 2 undefeated teams lost today. The Carolina Panthers to the New Orleans Saints, and the Detroit Lions to our beloved Atlanta Falcons…..I think.

As Matt Bryant said, we don’t usually have to ask at the end of the game, “Did we win?” But, in likely one of the strangest endings in history – or at least a long time, the Falcons did move to 3-0 in Detroit. Once again, using the full 60 minutes to determine the result. I was at a local sports bar in Charlotte, and several of us Falcons were gathered and determined that this drama was not necessary. But, we will take a win, by hook or crook.

On the positive note, even with 3 turnovers, the Falcons still won. Two of Matt Ryan’s passes were tipped by his intended targets (Tevin Coleman and Mohamed Sanu, Sr.), for interceptions. The Lions were only able to come away with 3 points from those two. The third, was a pick 6, by Glover Quin, who read Ryan’s eyes perfectly and stepped in front of Julio Jones for the pick. The defense did their job as brothers to help the offense out.

The game started off well enough, Owner Arthur Blank on the field, linking arms with the team, between Devonta Freeman and Julio Jones. We received the opening kickoff and marched down the field in 12 plays and just under 7 minutes to take the opening lead on a Sanu touchdown. Unfortunately, it was questionable and while being reviewed, we were unable to get a Bean Dance.

After an 8 play drive, the Lions punted it back to the Falcons and Andre Roberts made an 11-yard return. The next drive included 2 false starts and a sack and ended in a Bryant field goal. The Lions answered with a field goal of their own, to get on the board at 10/3 with 10 minutes left in the half. Then, it became the Free Show. Two of the next 6 plays were to Freeman, then 4 straight handoffs to Freeman, concluding with his 1-yard touchdown run. And this was not even Free running angry as he did later in the game.

The next Lions drive stalled and they were only able to manage another field goal. But their D stepped up and on the Falcons next drive, next play, Quin had his pick 6.

Overall, short of turnovers, the offense looked good. Free was just Free. Julio had 7 receptions for 91 yards on the day. Taylor Gabriel and Sanu finally had touchdown catches, 40 and 4 yards respectively. Ryan disturbed the ball to 7 receivers, Roberts and Austin Hooper catching one a piece, for 12 and 9 yards. Ryan threw for almost 300 yards on the day.

Courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons — Mohamed Sanu, Sr’s 40-Yard Touchdown Reception – Photo by Atlanta Falcons

The defense had a pretty successful day, realizing one touchdown was not on them and when their backs were against the wall, they stood up and held the line. The Lions were 4 for 4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone…until they weren’t. There were a number of missed tackles again and playing more zone than man to man. Takk McKinley had his first sack of his young NFL career and celebrated by pointing and dedicated it to his grandmother then had 2 more tackles on the day. After the game, Takk said that he just did whatever the coaches wanted him to do. He wants more sacks, but it way more about the Brotherhood.

Adrian Clayborn had another good game, one sack, but putting lots of pressure on the line and Matt Stafford. Grady Jarrett got in on the official stats this week with 4 tackles and caused at least 2 offensive holding penalties. To prove his persistence, at one point, Jarrett had a leg tackle to slow the runner down, another Falcon came in for help, Jarrett got back to his feet and made the crushing tackle.

Deion Jones had an early personal foul penalty, then followed it up with back to back tackles, ending the game with 7 in total. Brian Poole lead the team with 9 tackles, making his hits known too. De’Vondre Campbell was disruptive again and garnered 3 tackles, while Robert Alford had 6 tackles this week and good coverage most of the day.

Special teams…wow…much improved. Matt Bosher was perfect, of course. All except 1 kickoff was a touchback, while he had a 43 and 48-yard punt with one 10-yard return. Bryant had successful field goals of 36, 48, and 40 yards. Roberts had returns of 11, 38, 27, and 16 yards and called for a quick fair catch, was hit and got the team moved up 15 yards.

Overall, there were too many penalties, especially in the final drive of the game, giving up too many free yards. Two sacks were allowed by the new right side combo of Wes Schweitzer and Ty Sambrailo. Both had false starts and Schweitzer added a holding penalty. Ben Garland anyone??? While Desmond Trufant had 2 tackles on the day, those were early, but he also committed 2 late penalties. On the final drive of the game, Tru had an unnecessary hold that overturned a Rocky interception at the goal line, then a pass interference penalty on a 3^rd and 10 that gave the Lions a 1^st and 10 on the 1-yard line.

Special note, for my loyal readers from my previous seasons, you know Paul Worrilow has been my favorite Falcon for the last 4 years, so I was watching Paul this week as well. He had 4 tackles, the first tackle of the game, on Freeman, and not long afterwards tackled Julio. He was also one of the guys in pursuit of Turbo on his touchdown, which we all know would be impossible for anyone to cover. Congrats and good game.

Injury Update: Ricardo Allen is undergoing concussion protocol due to a tackle late in the fourth quarter. Rico did leave the field with assistance, but walked to the locker room on his own. Julio Jones jammed his back on the final offensive play of the game, gaining 11 of the 12 needed yards. Julio will flipped, but afterwards he and Dan Quinn reported the injury not to be serious. Julio said he would have gone back in if that was not the final offensive possession.

Devonta Freeman’s First Run of the Day – Former Falcon Paul Worrilow on the Tackle. Photo Courtesy of Atlanta Falcons

Iron Falcon Award: Brian Poole – leading tackler for the game, on a Stafford run, Poole seemed to let up slightly, waiting for Stafford to slide, which he did not, so Poole laid him out. Poole also ended the game with the touchdown saving tackle. Devonta Freeman – time and time again, Free had 3 back to back runs, ran angry, ran fast, blocked for teammates, ended with 21 rushes for 103 yards and a long 18-yard run, and 3 receptions for 32 yards. Free even tried to fight when Julio was hurt.

#RiseUp

FalconAlley Owt

Photos Courtesy of Atlanta Falcons

It Was Over From the Start

September 17, 2017

Allison Smith

Green Bay 23 at Atlanta 34

No, really. We lost the coin toss and Green Bay made their first mistake of the day. They gave Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman the ball…..first. I felt good at that point, then 9 plays later, I knew it was already over as Free ran in his 1-yard touchdown. Which also answers the question of, “Who will have the first official touchdown in Mercedes Benz Stadium?” Free. Who else!?!

What a way to open Mercedes Benz Stadium. A Sunday night prime time, national game, hosting Green Bay, for the third time since last Halloween. Same two teams, same result. The Benz Nest was electric, the crowd loud, the roof, open.

Within 5 minutes, the Falcons were up 7-0 and did not look back. The Packers did drive back down the field to tie the game at 7 all with a 1-yard touchdown run of their own. From that point on, it was Atlanta scoring and Green Bay punting. On the Falcons next drive, Freeman had his second touchdown of the day, and celebrated with a jump shot into a net created by Andy Levitre. NOW, this is fun. We still need Mohamed Sanu or Taylor Gabriel to score, so we can get a good touchdown celebration, but we will take this for now.

Free Running Free – Leading to the first Touchdown in the Benz Nest

Sanu did have 5 catches on the day, good, over the middle, hit taking, stretching catches for 85 yards, yet no touchdown yet. Turbo had 2 catches for 14 yards. Which means, that Julio Jones was not the decoy, but the lead receiver for the day. Ju finished the day with 5 catches for 108 yards, including a big 34-yard reception, where he fought for those additional yards.

In the second quarter, “Money” Matt Bryant easily kicked a 51-yard field goal, followed by the first official receiving touchdown in the Benz Nest, a 3-yard catch by Tevin Coleman.

Don’t you worry, it was not all offense Sunday night. Healed and on his return tour, Desmond Trufant had an interception to stop a Green Bay scoring drive near the end of the half. In true Falcon style, with 47 seconds on the clock and 36 yards to go, Matt Ryan ran for 8 yards, passed over the middle to Sanu for 21 yards, had a short pass to Austin Hooper, then the touchdown pass to Coleman. The Falcons took a 24 to 7 lead into half time….to the ROAR of the crowd.

The second half started with the Packers receiving the ball, since they had chosen to give us the ball in the beginning of the game. Aaron Rodgers hands off for a quick 5 yard run by Ty Montgomery, who was quickly greeted by Deion Jones. THEN, the real excitement began. As Rodgers dropped back, Vic Beasley, Jr. sacked Rodgers, causing a fumble, which Trufant collected and ran in for a touchdown. Instantly, the Falcons now lead 31 to 7.

The teams then traded field goals, including Money’s 53-yarder. Finally, the Packers find the end zone again, go for the 2-point conversion, which fails. To be sportsmanlike, the Falcons ran some time off the clock, allowed the Packers to score another touchdown, have a successful 2-point conversion, then called it a game, running over 4 minutes off the clock and giving the ball back with just a minute and 2 seconds to go. The game ended with a Robert Alford tackle of Geronimo Allison.

De’Vondre Campbell had his first NFL sack and tallied 8 total tackles. Brian Poole started off hot once again this week, having the first and fourth tackles of the game, constantly swarming the ball carrier and ending the game with 6 total tackles. Grady Jarrett caused another couple of holds this week. Overall, the defense had many less missed tackles this week, which please Head Coach Dan Quinn, as there were double digit missed tackles in week 1. While there were only 3 sacks in the game, Rodgers became familiar with many of the Falcons defenders as he was knocked down all day, including getting to introduce himself to rookie, Takk McKinley.

Special teams was on fire once again, with Bryant tallying his 200^th field goal as a Falcon, Matt Bosher had touchbacks on all 7 kickoffs, punts of 50, 45, and placement punts of 38 and 32 yards. Andre Roberts had one kickoff return of 15 yards.

Overall, it was a great game. The only negatives were the injuries. Ryan Schraeder left early in the game with a concussion, and is in concussion protocol this week, therefore unlikely to play against Detroit. Courtney Upshaw was also injured with an ankle injury, which looks to be a sprain. Upshaw had an MRI and is out against Detroit. And finally, the most devastating, possibly more as a fan than to the team overall, was Beasley. DQ reported Beasley’s injury as a hamstring sprain and is out for this week, but will be week to week after that. Early reports and rumors defined Beasley’s injury as a tear and expected to be out 4 – 6 weeks. I’m going with DQ. Beasley may be out for a couple of weeks, then we have the Bye, so we may not see Vic until after that.

As we know, DQ loves versatility and depth, so we should be ok for a few weeks with the above injuries. Recently signed, Ty Sambrailo came in and did a good job for Schraeder. Brooks Reed, Adrian Clayborn, and Takk McKinley will step in and up for Beasley. With no defender playing all of the defensive snaps anyway, splitting Beasley’s and Upshaw’s snaps should not be a problem. Campbell can also step in to provide line support, as he has been playing multiple positions already and proven himself to have really stepped up his game this season.

Iron Falcon Award: While many are giving the MVP of the game to Trufant, and I do love Tru, my Iron Falcon goes to Adrian Clayborn this week. If you were at the game and watching, Claybo was SO close to Rodgers all night. And for a big guy, he’s got moves. He was all over the backfield, chasing Rodgers from side to side, out of the pocket, and while he only had 1 sack, Claybo was definitely disruptive.

#RiseUp

@FalconAlley OWT

The Brooks Reed Road Show

Atlanta 23 / Chicago 17

By: Allison Smith

Brooks Reed maybe didn’t do it all, but he certainly stepped up all game and sealed the win to give the Atlanta Falcons their first win of the season. Reed had an early pursing sack, 5 solo tackles, and the sack that basically ended the game, leaving 3 seconds on the clock and the ball back in the Falcons’ hands for the final kneel down to conclude the game.

The opening game in Chicago was a little rough, but in the end, we won and that is all that matters. Also, we came out with no injuries. The defense looked good early on, fast and physical, but seemed gassed later, which is unexpected with the constant change and depth. The offense was also not overly impressive, but did enough to get the job done.

091017 Hooper 88 yards — Austin Hooper in the middle of the Chicago C with his 88-yard Touchdown. Photo Courtesy of NFL.com

The unexpected star of the offense was Austin Hooper. Apparently with all the big named stars, the Bears’ defense forgot about our Tight End. He was left wide open early in the 4^th quarter for a pretty easy 88-yard touchdown. He did have a pretty nice stiff arm on a defender, and most of the receivers were running and blocking for him. On the next Falcon possession, Hooper hauled in a 40-yard pass that led to the final points of the game, a Matt Bryant field goal.

As expected, Julio Jones was a decoy much of the day, which Ju is always happy to be. He was blocking, running downfield, and decoying to allow others to get open. Mohammed Sanu had the most receptions at 6 for 47 yards. Taylor Gabriel hauled in 3 for 36 yards, while running backs, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman also combined for 6 catches for 22 yards. While they had more rush attempts, again combined, they only tallied 53 yards. Heck, Ryan had a 13 yard run, for nearly a touchdown early in the 2^nd quarter. Yes, I was holding my breath when Ryan tucked it and ran, but he handled it well and seemed energized after that run. That set up the FIRST touchdown of the season! Who had their money on Freeman for the first TD??? With just over 4 minutes left in the half, Freeman ran in a 5 yarder while everyone pulled to the right, Free used the rest of the field to run into the left corner of the end zone.

Unfortunately, as high as we were after that Freeman touchdown, the Bears marched down the field in 7 plays and matched our touchdown and went into the half tied at 10/10.

If you want to improve your game, apparently the answer is laser surgery. De’Vondre Campbell was on fire Sunday. Campbell had 6 total tackles, and played multiple defensive positions and was all over the field, making plays with much improved closing speed. Rookie Duke Riley was also impressive and involved in 5 tackles, and definitely eyeing the ball and ball carrier. Also disruptive, without the official stats, Grady Jarrett, having 2 offensive penalties called on offensive linemen trying to block him (and several more could have been called). Vic Beasley, Jr. and Brian Poole both had sacks on the day. Ricardo Allen and Robert Alford both had some good pass break ups on the day and 3 tackles a piece.

As mentioned earlier, even with the defense in and out so much, they looked gassed late in the game and were playing a little far off and giving up too much. They did cause 2 fumbles and had 4 sacks on the day, but overall had too many missed tackles. Throughout most of the game, however, there were not many yards after the catch, as the D was there when the ball arrived. The biggest problem with the defense on Sunday was Bears running back Tarik Cohen. He had 4 rushes, one for 46 yards, caught 8 passes, one of which was a touchdown, and returned 3 punts, a long of 17 yards. Yes, he apparently does everything. Kudos to the rook out of North Carolina A&T, glad we don’t play him again.

Special teams fared pretty well. Of course, the Matts performed as expected. Bryant hitting all 3 field goals and 3 extra points. Bosher with 3 punts, a long of 62. Andre Roberts showed well returning all punts and kickoffs. The opening kick, he took back 63 yards, but a penalty was called, placing the ball back on the Atlanta 8. At least Roberts was showing what he can do. He had a long of 11 yards that did count, and a punt return of 15 yards. There is a spark there, he just needs a little help.

Overall, a good start to the season, al biet a little frustrating for us fans. We did start 0-1 at home last season, so I am sure there will be some changes before opening our new home to the Green Bay Packers this weekend. I know one change, the offensive line will shape up. Matt Ryan gave him a piece of his mind Sunday, “you’re going to get me killed” out there. Akiem Hicks had 2 sacks and a late hit on Ryan, who was hit several other times on Sunday as well. Don’t be married to that o-line as it stood on opening day.

Side note…Mr. Decoy….Julio Jones, had his 500^th catch Sunday. This ties him for the quickest to 500 catches in only 80 games. He is tied with Anquan Boldin for fewest games to that 500.

091017 Game Winning Sack — Brooks Reed’s Game Sealing Sack of Mike Glennon Photo Courtesy of Atlanta Falcons

Iron Falcon Award: Obviously goes to Brooks Reed this week, but note, it was a team win, but Brooks stepped up at the end when we needed a stop the most. His first sack on the day, Brooks chased Mike Glennon, put his hands up to force Glennon to pull the ball back down, then pursued on to the sack. The game winning sack, Brooks shed his blocker and chased Glennon down for a 9-yard loss and sealed the win.

Featured Image is courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons

And Then, There Were 53

090517

Added LB Jordan Tripp (from Green Bay) to the 53
G Jamil Douglas fills final practice squad spot

090417

– LaRoy Reynolds LB – placed on IR with pectoral muscle injury.

– Courtney Upshaw will be featured in nickel package with loss of Shede. Jack Crawford and Dontari Poe will step in on other defense packages.

– Ty Sambrailo will play both LT and RT. And practiced over the weekend.

– Starting RG is Wes Schweitzer due to more consistency.

090417: Ra’Shede Hageman released.

10 of the 11 Practice Squad Announced

RB Jhurell Pressley

WR Deante Burton
WR Marvin Hall
TE Josh Perkins
TE Alex Gray
T Daniel Brunskill
DE J’Terius Jones
DT Joe Vellano
DT Taniela Tupou
S Marcelis Branch

090217: And Then There Were 53

So, apparently there was some big secret going on at The Branch today as 4pm came and went and it was after 5pm ET before we got the Final Falcons Roster. I didn’t see any huge surprises, especially on the release list. Several lists with, waived for this and that, injured, suspended, etc. Jalen Collins is still on the team, al biet suspended for 10 games, but that gives us a buffer for later in the season. Another surprise, maybe only to me, was Ra’Shede Hageman. He is on the commissioner’s exempt list. Which is, I just learned, a holding pattern. Shede’s domestic abuse charge from August of 2016 was wrapped in the courts, but continues to be reviewed in the league. So, Shede is on the team, but can’t play right now….don’t get me started on this.

Congrats to everyone that made the team. I will mark up my roster from earlier in the week, as I think it is going to be pretty close – short of the traded additions I didn’t anticipate. Of note, RB Brian Hill made the roster, WRs Andre Roberts and Nick Williams, BEN GARLAND is the starting RG!!! LBs include LaRoy Reynolds and undrafted rookie Jermaine Grace that earned his spot in Thursday’s game for sure. Another guy that solidified his spot Thursday was Blidi Wreh-Wilson at CB.

Andre Roberts is the official returner for now, and I am sure he will get some help from Justin Hardy and Nick Williams along the way.

Practice squad will be announced later, so see who earns a spot there.

Below is the current roster. Again, congrats to everyone…new and old….welcome to The Brotherhood.

53 Man Roster

Mack, Alex

Alford, Robert

Goodwin, C.J.

Kazee, Damontae

Olatoye, Deji

Poole, Brian

Trufant, Desmond

Wreh-Wilson, Blidi

Clayborn, Adrian

Crawford, Jack

McKinley, Takkarist

Reed, Brooks

Shelby, Derrick

Jarrett, Grady

Upshaw, Courtney

Coleman, Derrick

Garland, Ben

Levitre, Andy

Schweitzer, Wes

Bryant, Matt

Grace, Jermaine

Jones, Deion

Reynolds, LaRoy

Harris, Josh

Poe, Dontari

Harlow, Sean

Pasztor, Austin

Beasley, Vic

Campbell, De’Vondre

Riley, Duke

Sambrailo, Ty

Bosher, Matt

Ryan, Matt

Schaub, Matt

Coleman, Tevin

Freeman, Devonta

Hill, Brian

Ward, Terron

Allen, Ricardo

Ishmael, Kemal

Neal, Keanu

Neasman, Sharrod

Matthews, Jake

Schraeder, Ryan

Hooper, Austin

Saubert, Eric

Toilolo, Levine

Gabriel, Taylor

Hardy, Justin

Jones, Julio

Roberts, Andre

Sanu, Mohamed

Williams, Nick

And….So It Begins….

The proverbial ax has begun to fall, taking the Atlanta Falcons from a full roster, down to the required 53 by 4pm Saturday. So far, the add of Sambrailo and release of DJ have already messed up my roster. I will have a marked up version once the official roster is complete, see how close I was in the end.

I will update here as news drops….newest transactions will be at the top.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

QB Alek Torgersen
WR Anthony Dable
WR Josh Magee
RB Kelvin Taylor
FB Tyler Renew
C Travis Averill
C Larson Graham
T Andreas Knappe
T D.J. Tialavea
DE A.J. Jefferson
CB Jarnor Jones,
CB Akeem King
LB Jack Lynn
K Mike Meyer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Falcons agreed to trade 2018 5th round draft pick to Broncos for Tackle Ty Sambrailo