Gameday Goods – Page 10 – FalconAlley Football

This One is on The O

Bills 23 Falcons 17

October 1, 2017

Cover Photo & Article by Allison Smith

I love our offense, I really do, but they were not firing on all cylinders Sunday while hosting the Buffalo Bills. Granted Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu only played the first half, but overall, the offense was just not that explosive. We put up 17 points, which is obviously only 2 touchdowns, a Devonta Freeman rushing touchdown and a dark horse, Justin Hardy 3-yard catch.

For the second week in a row, receivers were missing balls, tipping balls for interceptions, and this week, Matt Ryan had several wayward passes. Taylor Gabriel was on the field for 60 of the 75 offensive snaps and was targeted 5 times and had no actual catches. That just isn’t right.

The Falcons received the ball to start the game, and we all assumed they would march down the field and score the opening score of the game. Instead, 8 plays in to the game, Matt Bosher was on the field to punt. Damontae Kazee got his first start with Ricardo Allen out under concussion protocol this week and performed well. He’s no Rico, but combined for the second tackle of the day, then followed up with a single tackle a play later. Overall, Kazee had a good day finishing with 8 tackles and a forced fumble. On this same drive, Keanu Neal had one of his patented big hits, Derrick Shelby had a sack on Tyrod Taylor for a 9-yard loss, and Brooks Reed continued to be disruptive. The defense forced a punt, after allowing the Bills to move to the Atlanta 38….and started their second drive of the game at their own one. Thank you and welcome back to Atlanta, Patrick DiMarco. We love you, but downing the punt on the 1 was unnecessary.

The teams traded punts back and forth the entire first quarter and finally, with just over 10 minutes left in the half, the Falcons were on the board with a Matt Bryant 28 yard field goal. Problems in the red zone anyone? Once again, we had a big Tevin Coleman gain of 29 yards, which everyone thought was going to the end zone, but alas, it did not and Coleman was stopped at the Buffalo 16. Ryan did spread the ball around similar to the previous season, including a pass to Hardy, then a short pass to Sanu that he, literally, snatched over the defenders’ head. Unfortunately, this was only to the 10-yard line with a 4^th and 4 and the successful Bryant kick.

The Bills then answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews in a quick 8 play drive.

Another punt for each team, catching the boring theme here, led to the Falcons final drive of the first half. Coleman, quickly becoming a highlight reel, caught a 39-yard pass, got both feet and a knee down before falling out of bounds. This call was challenged, and the play upheld. Nick Williams was active and caught a 14-yard pass. Finally, down to the 5-yard line, we pulled out the 12 Gauge with a direct snap to Mohamed Sanu. Typically, this is called the Wild Cat, but the Falcons and Sanu clearly had to have their own name. I submitted “BeanCat,” but Dan Quinn landed on “12 Gauge.” Ryan went out left, tripping himself on his shoe strings, rolled back up and was ready to block. Sanu received the snap, ran the ball himself for the 5-yard touchdown. Which was reversed, so again, we did not get a good touchdown dance. The next play, Freeman ran the ball in from the 1 and immediately headed to the sideline and gave the ball to Sanu.

The half ended not long after with the Falcons leading 10 to 7, Julio leaving slightly earlier, then he and Sanu not returning in the second half. Jack Crawford was also injured and did not play the rest of the game.

The second half, Bosher booms another one into the end zone and the Bills start at their own 25. Suddenly, Brooks Reed met Taylor in the backfield for a 9-yard sack, lighting up the crowd. Two plays later, the Bills were punting. The Falcons take over on their own 20 and after a couple of passes and hand offs, at 3^rd and 9, Ryan drops back to pass and fumbles the ball, which is returned by Tre’Davious White 52 yards for a touchdown. The play was reviewed and determined to be a fumble, not a forward pass (which not only fans, but the announcers believed) so the touchdown stood and suddenly, the Falcons are trailing.

So you are clear, this game was going downhill, on the ensuing kickoff, Andre Roberts fumbled, which was recovered by Ben Garland, but 5 plays later a Gabriel tipped pass fell into the hands of Micah Hyde anyway, giving the Bills the ball back at the Buffalo 12. On the positive, it was a bomb, so they were deep in their own territory.

During this next long drive, Kazee forced a fumble, nearly everyone had a tackle on the 19 play drive and the defense stood up and stopped the Bills at the 1-yard line. On fourth and one, the fans about busted the roof off the Benz Nest, causing a delay of game and forcing the Bills to settle for a field goal.

During the next drive, we cheered almost that loudly for a review confirming that Justin Hardy did NOT make a catch, as it was originally called a catch and fumble. After some reliable Freeman running and Coleman catching, Ryan found, that’s right, Hardy in the end zone for a touchdown. It is all tied up with 7 minutes to go and the Benz was feeling good, or at least hopeful again. This is our kind of game…..the kind we pull out and win.

Sadly, that did not happen. The defense, once again, stopped the Bills, causing a 56-yard field goal. Three plays later, another tipped Ryan pass, this time by Williams, and another Bills interception. This is when Grady and I took over. I was screaming, literally,

Grady Jarrett Welcoming LeSean McCoy to The Benz Nest — Grady Jarrett Stopping LeSean McCoy – Photo Courtesy of Grady Jarrett’s Instagram

my lungs out. Grady Jarrett met LeSean McCoy 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage, then 2 yards past the line, then met Taylor at the line for his third tackle in a row. NOW, is when you knew we were going to win. Stephen Hauschka now makes a 55-yard field goal, with Ricardo Allen coming quickly on the left side.

The Falcons get the ball back with just over 3 minutes left in the game. MORE than enough time for a Falcons team to do anything. All we need is a touchdown. There are incompletions, short passes, Ryan scrambling, a sack. Finally, the Falcons are 1^st and 5 at the 14, over throw Gabriel twice, a short successful pass to Austin Hooper. Then, on 4^th down, the final chance, another overthrow to Gabriel and the game is over. The final salt in the wound, during that last play, Buffalo only had 10 defenders on the field. Apparently none of the Falcons realized this to take advantage, so the Bills kneeled twice and the game, and the suffering was officially over.

And think we can all agree with Dan Quinn this week…..”Missed opportunities….first thing is ‘the ball’.”

Some notable stats, Tevin Coleman led the team in receiving and rushing with 65 and 79 yards respectively. Freeman had 58 rushing yards, a long of 16. Ryan completed passes to 9 receivers, Hooper had 5 for 50, Julio 3 for 30.

Takk McKinley had good pressure on Taylor, and while he did not register a tackle, he was disruptive and pursing. Dontari Poe and Grady Jarrett were both being double teamed much of the day, as big and strong as they are, that is all you can do to stop these guys. Yet, still, Poe had 5 tackles and Jarrett ended with 7. Deion Jones led the team with 8 tackles and a sack, Kazee also had 8 tackles and a forced fumble, De’Vondre Campbell followed with a solid 5.

Good news, it is the bye week, which originally seemed early, but possibly came at the perfect time, providing rest for the injured and reflection time for all. I don’t think we should be in full panic mode, but definitely need to get some stuff cleaned up and even more definitely need people healthy. We were stacked at offensive weapons and defensive depth. Now our top 2 receivers are injured, defensive line is down from 12 to 8, with 3 away games, including New England coming quick. Defense has been keeping us in 3 of the 4 games, but that depth is depleting quickly.

Injury Report: From Buffalo game: Julio Jones – hip flexor, not expected to miss the Miami game. Mohamed Sanu – hamstring, expected to be out 2 to 3 weeks. Jack Crawford – IR with bicep injury. Lingering injuries: Vic Beasley, Jr – hamstring, still to be determined based on practice next week. Ricardo Allen & Ryan Schraeder – still under concussion protocol. Courtney Upshaw – ankle, tbd. Terron Ward – neck, tbd.

Iron Falcon Award: I think we all know, Grady Jarrett is getting this one. Through the game, Jarrett was double teamed, still disruptive, managed 7 tackles, 3 of which were back to back to back to single handedly force a 55-yard field goal attempt late in the game.

#RiseUp

FalconAlley Owt

Falcons Fall Into October

Bills at Falcons

October 1, 2017

Photo & Article By: Allison Smith

Well, no one really expected the Atlanta Falcons to go undefeated, BUT, it is hard pill to swallow even against a solid Buffalo Bills team. You simply cannot hand a team like the Bills the ball 3 times. The defense did play a bit off early in the game, but stood up and made the big stops when necessary, causing 2 long field goals, and only gave up 16 points.

After over 300 passes with no interceptions, in two games, there have been 5 interceptions and a fumble by Matt Ryan. Agreed, these were not all on Ryan, 4 of the 5 interceptions were tipped by our receivers. Point is, catch the ball or don’t touch the ball. It did seem that this week’s passes were a little off, as the receivers were stretching or falling for these and other passes. And it isn’t a single receiver that we can get to and shake, it seems to be something in the locker room they are passing around.

Not sure if Ryan is back to his old days of trying to do too much and getting a little pass crazy, or we are just having some bad luck. Clearly, it did not help with Julio Jones and Mohammed Sanu not returning for the second half, but we have enough receivers to make up those spots…not BE Ju or Sanu, but to catch some passes. I think the biggest issue was the size difference and Ryan is not use to throwing to smaller receivers and couldn’t lay the ball where it needed to be.

Tevin Coleman and Andre Roberts both fumbled, but the ball was recovered by the Falcons, otherwise we could have lost the ball 5 times in a single game. I am sure that “ball control” will be on the top of Dan Quinn’s list of topics this week. Along with “missed tackles.” There were too many of those as well, allowing the Bills to gain too many extra yards. Some are growing pains with the young guys, some are due to being down several starting defenders, Vic Beasley, Jr., Courtney Upshaw, Ricardo Allen, and mid-game, Jack Crawford.

The defense, overall, held up well, especially when the game was on the line. On the final two Buffalo drives, the defense forced a 56 then 55-yard field goals. Kudos to Stephen Hauschka for making these field goals, but as far as they were, they were kicked low, so I would like to have seen one or two of the giant tight ends in the middle trying to block these field goals. Robert Alford had good pressure on the edge for one, but there was not enough pressure to stop either of these field goals.

There were many reasons for this loss. So many missed opportunities. A loss to a good team is acceptable, but when you helped the opposition so much and know you could have won, it is a little harder to swallow. Included with the turnovers, the allowing too many extra yards….there were two questionable plays that went against the Falcons. As fate would have it, the football gods were not smiling on us. According to the announcers, and anyone with eyes, the “fumble for a touchdown” was clearly a forward pass knocked out of Ryan’s hand. And the Nick Williams tipped pass (note, he was laid out reaching for the ball) that hit the ground as Micah Hyde caught it for the “interception.”

The capping blow of the day was the ending drive. After the defense had two great stops near midfield, the offense drives into the red zone, Ryan has 4 straight passes, one a completion to Austin Hooper, but three bad passes over Taylor Gabriel. I don’t know that anyone is sure why, even with limited time on the clock and no time outs, why you would not double up with Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman behind Derrick Coleman and just run the ball in. Heck, let them run behind Dontari Poe or Ben Garland. Try anything better than 3 errant passes. Except for a few times on the day, the running game ran pretty smoothly….even behind the right side. Which again allowed Ryan to take quite a beating.

Buffalo controlled the tempo of the game and it never felt like Atlanta had a rhythm, even when leading. Buffalo was easily doing whatever they wanted with running game. They were doubling up on both Grady Jarrett and Poe and able to knock them back into the linebackers, and some of that was with uncalled holding calls, but that doesn’t matter now. Falcon defenders were never really in space, they were constantly locked up with Bills.

Throwback Black Jersey Game — Repping Grady Jarrett

It was black jersey, throwback day, so maybe, hopefully, it was just a throwback type loss for the Falcons. Long time fans know, it can be very nerve racking and frustrating to be a fan from the 1990’s. Close games always went the bad way back in the day. I was repping my brand new black Grady Jarrett jersey, but because of my long hair, you couldn’t see the name, so I took it as a great compliment when someone yelled “Kerney” at me.

Good news on the day, the Benz Nest was packed with over 71,000 in attendance, al biet too many Bills fans made it in as well. It was a beautiful, breezy day for tailgating. The crowd was loud, excitable, and stayed until the end. If there is anything a Falcons fan knows, if it is close at the end, the game could go either way.

And, as a nice Brotherhood story, after running the “12 Gauge” (the Falcons play call for the Wild Cat), Sanu lined up under center, ran the ball in for a touchdown, was ruled down at the inch line. On the ensuing play, Freeman ran in the touchdown and promptly gave the ball to Sanu. We may be down, but we are never out when we are together in our Brotherhood. Note that Rico was coaching as best he could from the sideline as he was usually lined up close to the defense on the field.

#RiseUp

FalconAlley Owt

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

That Defense Though…..

Jacksonville 13 at Atlanta 7

August 31, 2017

Allison Smith

So, clearly our defense is not going to be our trouble this year. With many of the first teamers not playing at all in Game 4 of the Preseason, the guys that did play, were fighting hard to earn their spot on this roster. Last week we had “Fumble Central,” this week was an “Interception Clinic.” The back-up Falcons defense had 3 interceptions in the first half alone. Blidi Wren-Wilson and Sharrod Neasman, tipped by Chris Odom, both had interceptions in the end zone to stop Jacksonville drives. Jermaine Grace hauled in an interception as well and has played with good speed and has really been showing some good skills.

Noting that neither Matt Ryan nor Matt Schaub stepped foot on the field, the offense had another rough night. After a quick 3 and out, Jacksonville was able to score quickly with a 43-yard pass for a touchdown. Matt Simms was sacked twice in a single drive and Alex Torgersen threw an interception and was sacked late in the game. Meanwhile, Matt Bosher had 6 punts, averaging 43 yards.

Chris Odom Sack Photo Courtesy: Atlanta Falcons

The defense caused many long field goals and punts for Jacksonville. Lots of speed, energy, and effort by the young guys Thursday night. Odom finished with 6 tackles, an assist, a sack, a quarterback hurry, a tackle for loss, and may have played himself into a coveted roster position.

A few offensive stand outs were Deante Burton with 2 catches for 44 yards, Marvin Hall with a 65-yard gain. Kelvin Taylor had a nice 24-yard catch from Simms early in the game, and Darion Griswold recovered a fumble for a touchdown, then later had a 51-yard catch from Alex Torgersen. Overall, Sims showed himself well in all the preseason games. So, all is not lost, even for our 3^rd to 4^th string team.

Reggie Davis returned one kickoff 22 yards, while Hall had an 8-yard punt return. Punt coverage for the Falcons was better, or Bosher’s kicks were just too good. But the kickoff coverage allowed 20 and 21 yard returns.

In the grand scheme, game 4 was pure evaluation for the bubble and not-even bubble guys. We came out of training camp and preseason with no injuries (Devonta Freeman was fully dressed Thursday). Head Coach Dan Quinn noted that he and Thomas Dimitroff have “Difficult decisions ahead regarding the roster.” DQ said it will be a difficult, but exciting weekend ahead. They both are really happy with the new rule to have a full roster through the end of preseason, to give more guys more chances to make a roster or show off their skills for other teams.

As for the most heated competition of the preseason…..Ben Garland and Wes Schweitzer at right guard, DQ commented that “both played at center and guard…pretty much have decision down…could see both playing,” which is what Allison said weeks ago….It will be interesting to see if Coach names a starter or just release the roster or cut list.

While we may not be winning in preseason, we have seen good speed on all 3 phases of the game, lots of team play, effort, and learning.

So now, we wait.

#RiseUp

Featured Photo: Courtesy of Atlanta Falcons – Brotherhood celebrates