Devonta Freeman – Page 3 – FalconAlley Football

Falcons Not Ready for Prime Time

Atlanta 7 at New England 23

October 22, 2017

By: Allison Smith

Apparently, the Atlanta Falcons were not ready for Prime Time. The long awaited Super Bowl rematch occurred on Sunday Night Football. Except, even with all the questions, story lines, and hype, it truly was not a rematch. The New England Patriots came in with 2 losses and the 32^nd ranked defense. The Falcons came in…off back to back winnable losses and played their worst game of the season.

The Patriots started with the ball, had an 11-play drive, encompassing 5 penalties between the 2 teams. Very sloppy start on both sides. The Falcons defense forces the punt and seem to have a good plan on the night. Then, the offense goes 3 and out. Once again, before the defense can even sit down, they are back on the field after a Matt Bosher 35-yard punt.

That’s right, not only did Bosher have another bad punt this week, Matt Bryant had one field goal blocked and another hit the goal post. That should have really been your clue this game was over early.

The Patriots really did not do anything spectacular, except stay on the field. Which we have found is incredibly affective. You don’t give Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman a chance to explode. You tire out the defense. So, it doesn’t take allot to outscore the Falcons. The defense was able to force 3 field goals.

On the good side, Ju finally got his first touchdown of the season. Which I am sure means more to statisticians than to Julio, it was so late, too late in the game to help. Julio also reached 8000 yards, the 2nd fastest receiver to do so. Defensive positives include a big sack by De’Vondre Campbell for a 7-yard loss on NE’s second drive, a Vic Beasley, Jr. sack, and a Robert Alford interception, which, was of course returned on a defensive penalty.

The story of this week is the question of what has happened to our Falcons?!? The entire NFL seems to be in a vortex of confusion this year. Except for Cleveland and San Francisco (both still winless), everyone else is up and down any given week. If a team started off undefeated, they’ve had 2 losses, if they started off in the hole, they are on a win streak.

So, the Falcons are not out of anything yet, even sitting in third place of the NFC South. Luckily, they have not played anyone in their division…yet. In 2 weeks, they start with the Panthers, who are suffering their own woes. Apparently, both teams’ set of fans are calling for the heads of their respective Offensive Coordinators. Mike Shula, who has been with the Panthers as long as Cam Newton, while Steve Sarkisian is in his first season with the Falcons.

The real confusion seems, we heard that Ryan greeted Sark on Day 1 with a hand shake and the current playbook. Seems that Sark lost that, and Dan Quinn doesn’t have his to share. With all of the offensive weapons at his disposal, Ryan should be able to have more success than he is having so far. Ryan admitted he is not playing his best, yet, and there are some throws he would like to have back. This week, one such includes the incomplete low pass to Jones in the end zone, that allowed the defender to knock it away. In the simplest followship of the playbook, even I can remember that everyone got at least one pass a week. Austin Hooper had 1 catch on his single target, and the former leading receiver, Tevin Coleman had 1 target.

Ryan and Quinn both commented on Monday, that they felt confident in the play calling throughout the game, including two 4^th down attempts near midfield, and the 4^th and inches jet sweep to Taylor Gabriel at the goal line. Only 1 of those was successful. One has to question why you would go for a 4^th and 7 and 4^th and 6 at midfield, and why run a jet sweep to Turbo instead of rushing the best running back in the league up the middle in a short yardage situation. Once again, my personal call for Ben Garland, this time as a full back opening the way for Free. Freeman gained 47 yards after contact and forced 4 missed tackles on a mere 12 carries. How do you not give him the ball at the goal line?

Apparently the issues with the offense is due to execution and inconsistency. Ryan’s errant throws, tipped passes, missed blocks, dropped passes. Without focusing on the run game, they cannot open up the passing game. Once again, Coleman and Freeman did not have 100 yards rushing combined.

So far, in six games, Ryan has thrown for 300 yards, in one game. Jones has had 100 yards, in one game. Follow me here…..Freeman has rushed for over 100 yards….in one game. There is clearly no offensive rhythm. First and second downs are marginal at best, but converting on third down has become nearly impossible, as it is almost always 3^rd and long.

Missed tackles, ill-timed penalties, lack of turnovers, i.e., inconsistency is haunting the defense as well.

I may not know what the answer is, but I think that many of us do not think anyone at The Branch does either. Everyone seems to think they are having great practices, working the process, just need to fix these couple of issues. Except these issues, are different every week. The O did not turn the ball over, and the D had less missed tackles, which is execution. But, are they really coming to the field as prepared as they should be? Are these play calls the best for the members we have?

If so, how are the Atlanta Falcons, with only additions to the Super Bowl team, this chaotic and bad?

#RiseUp

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Falcons, Their Own Worst Enemy

Miami 20 at Atlanta 17

October 15, 2017

Photos & Article by: Allison Smith

The game started off a little sluggish. The Falcons received the opening kickoff, but once again were not able to score a touchdown, held to a 50-yard field goal. By the time it was 17/0, I felt better and confident and assumed the second half would be a repeat of the first half instead of a repeat of previous games. The Falcons did not score a point in the second half, and actually had limited offensive snaps. Offensive Coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, was in the box for the first time this week, supposedly able to see the field and plays better and therefore make quicker adjustments.

The opening drive did have a few good plays, one of which was by Julio Jones. He was not credited with the catch as he was blanketed with a defender. Note though, that Julio, while completely hugged, did catch the ball on the sideline and likely would have been credited with that 12 yard catch. Unfortunately, a few plays later, at 3 and 1, Matt Ryan tossed several yards back to Tevin Coleman, who ran up, but still lost a yard. This forced the first Matt Bryant field goal of the day. Of course it was successful, even at 50 yards. Bryant was listed earlier in the week as sitting out some practices with back issues, we did not see those Sunday.

Deion Jones was on fire Sunday, nearly collecting 3 interceptions. One was almost, one was an interception, and a third was an interception that was negated due to a penalty. Whatever “get the ball” speech was given last week took for Debo at least. And other defenders were definitely reaching for strips allot on the day. Keanu Neal was back to the power hitting he is known for.

After Debo’s near interception and a big stop by Neal, the Falcons moved the ball quickly between Taylor Gabriel and Jones, who refuses to be tackled. Then, Marvin Hall, who was on the practice roster Saturday morning. Active roster Saturday afternoon. End zone Sunday. Just before the end of the first quarter, Ryan hit Hall with a 40 yard pass for the first touchdown of the game.

We start to see the game turn around now. Jay Cutler has 3 errant passes, caused by pressure from the Falcons D line and a good Brian Poole break up. The Dolphins punt, thinking they are trapping the Falcons deep, but expert returner Andre Roberts puts a linebacker block on the gunner ensuring the ball drops into the end zone and the Falcons O starts on the 20. Then instantly, an Andy Levitre has a false start and they start on the 15. And, here we go. The beginning of the end. Julio now tips the ball, but not for an interception. Coleman and Devonta Freeman both had unsuccessful runs. Well, stopped deep in their own territory, the ever dependable Matt Bosher comes on to punt. And kicks it out of bounds near midfield.

On the Dolphins next drive, the defense stepped up. Poole knocked the air out of Cutler, Robert Alford his the runner so hard, his own helmet came off. Miami then, disrespectfully goes for it on 4^th and 3 at the 39. And Dontari Poe, the big man in the middle knocks the pass back to Cutler.

Energized by the big stop, the offense comes out hitting on all cylinders now. Freeman goes for a big 44 yard gain, as he gets in the open field, the jets turn up and as he feels the defenders, he double wraps the ball. Free is so smart and aware and loves to eat. A couple of plays later Coleman stretches for the end zone, crosses, fumbles, recovers and the Falcons are now up 17 to 0. I think everyone (in black and red) in the Benz Nest now feels better about the game and safe and ready for a quick half time break.

With just over 2 minutes until halftime, much drama ensues. The Dolphins have already been a little chippy all game. Which continues, including Takk McKinley and Poole. I personally would pick another Falcon to fight before Takk, but to each his own. Some shoving and talking. De’Vondre Campbell gets a personal foul for a “late hit” on Cutler, Desmond Trufant almost gets a pick himself. After the 2 minute warning, Grady Jarrett gets a big tackle. Debo knocks one down, along with the crowd, the impending defensive look causes a false start. Then suddenly, the Deion Jones interception on the day!

With limited time remaining, the offense drives quickly, with the benefits of the stars, Freeman and J Jones making big plays, then with 2 seconds remaining, they try a 59 yard Bryant field goal. The ball falls short, a Dolphin under the goal posts runs the ball out and takes a pretty vicious hit from Bosher. With that miss, the half ends and the scoring for the Falcons ends.

The second half started well enough. The Dolphins received the ball, Cutler isn’t getting his feet set on pass attempts due to the Falcons rush. Jarrett almost gets a sack on Cutler, then he and fellow Clemson teammate Vic Beasley, Jr. combine for a tackle. Had to be in the middle of that. The D keeps standing up, causing 4^th downs, then on a 4^thand 1, allow a 3 yard gain. Neal continues his hitting streak, the defense starts tipping balls of their own, Beasley almost making a pick of his own. While almost doesn’t count, but at least the effort is there, just not the full execution. Then, possibly my favorite play of the game. The D has a false start, Cutler recognizes the free play, as he drops back to lob up a big pass, until he notices TAKK coming strong. Cutler immediately downs the ball.

Unfortunately, that bit of fun was not enough and the Dolphins continued their drive and scored. The Falcons O, goes 3 and out. Another unusual short, Bosher punt up to the 49. And it is all downhill from here for sure. Jones has another interception, runs all over the field for limited yards, but was trying at least. Two flags are seen. One is the expected block in the back, with so much change of direction. The other, a roughing the passer call, which was before the interception, therefore nullified the interception, giving Miami the ball back deep in the Falcons territory leading to another touchdown.

Now, I know this is a crap call because I check my twitter feed and they say this call is on Grady Jarrett. Just because he is so big and fast, does not make him dirty. Jarrett clarified the call on Dukes and Bell on 92.9 The Game this week. He chatted with the referee making the call, it was not a late hit, the ref felt like Jarrett hit Cutler too high. Sadly, besides this call being hogwash, it was a game changer. The Falcons having the ball vs. the Dolphins keeping the ball with a short field.

As the 4^th quarter begins, the Falcons drive up to midfield, then implode. Jake Matthews gets a holding call. Freeman gets no yards. Ryan is sacked. THEN the capping blow. Bosher doesn’t even have a chance for a bad punt because Josh Harris has a low snap, Bosher runs for a yard or two and Miami has the ball at the 50.

The defense has had a minute off the field, but come back on, Jarrett causes a 2^nd bad throw. It’s 4^th and 2 at the 44, and the Dolphins gain 9 yards. Campbell, who has been impressive and active all day, knocks a Cutler pass back at him forcing a field goal to tie the game.

The offense goes 3 and out again, but thankfully Bosher hits his usual (55 yard) huge punt finally. Poole starts to step up to the Poole we know and snaps up a fumble and heads down the field, with whistles blowing to signal a downed play. The defense is really going after the ball late in the game. Campbell knocks down another pass, forcing another field goal, giving Miami the 3 point lead, with over 2 minutes to go in the game. MORE than enough time for Matty Ice to bring out another miracle.

The Falcons quickly march down the field as Miami was giving up the run and under passes, but nothing over the top. Miami was playing for the tie. With 47 seconds to go, I turned to a neighbor and said, “Just put Money (Matt Bryant) out there and tie this up and let us have a few minutes break. Coach did not listen to me, the drive continued, until, you guessed it, an interception. This was not a tipped ball, if that makes it any easier to swallow. Austin Hooper should have caught the ball, however, this game is not on him. First, he was being tackled and the ball knocked out by another Tiger, rookie Cordrea Tankersly. Reshad Jones caught the ball for the final real play of the game. Miami, who had been fighting and cheap shotting all day, now storm the field, run around like they won the super bowl, received an unsportsmanlike penalty, which backed them up for the final snap and kneel down of the game.

Ryan finished the game 24 of 35 for 248 yards a single touchdown and a single interception, his 6^th of the season. The Falcons have moved too far away from the running game, with Freeman and Coleman combining for 82 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown (by Coleman) in the first half. In the second half, they had six rushes for 18 yards combined. The offense had 54 plays on the day. The Dolphins controlled the tempo of game most of the day. Coleman, the leading receiver before Sunday was targeted once on 37 passes.

Ricardo Allen led the defense with 7 solo tackles. Debo had 11 combined and an interception, followed by Neal with 8, and Campbell’s 4. Campbell is excited to go against Rob Gronkowski next week. He definitely has the size to handle Gronk.

The Falcons had 6 penalties for 73 yards, again, at the worst possible times.

Overall, I do not think this is a Super Bowl hangover, or another choke job. If you’ve been around long enough, you know this is how the Falcons play sometimes. Doesn’t make it any better, just an observation. The defense still looked gassed early in the 3^rd quarter, offense is still not clicking or using all of their weapons.

While, this is very frustrating, I will always support my team and pick myself back up for Sunday night’s “Super Bowl Rematch.” Let’s go ahead and figure out our over/under on the number of times the Super Bowl is mentioned. Remember, we may have given up the biggest lead ever, but we also took the great New England Patriots with Tom Brady to OVERTIME.

Dan Quinn may have very well been playing possum these last two weeks, just to get the biggest revenge of them all. We all know that is unlikely, but wouldn’t that be a worth it couple of losses?

I am expecting a big win this week and the season to go up from there.

Iron Falcon Award: Two 2nd year defenders this week. Deion Jones should have been credited with 3 interceptions and was active all day. De’Vondre Campbell for knocking down numerous passes and being very disruptive in the backfield.

#RiseUp

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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

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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

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Photos Courtesy of Atlanta Falcons