Julio Jones – Page 5 – FalconAlley Football

Falcons In A Fog

Atlanta 7 at New England 23

October 22, 2017

By: Allison Smith

And I don’t just mean the weather. It seems that after the first New England score, the fireworks went up, and the fog came down. From that point on, it was clear that the fog set in on the Falcons as well, taking over 90 minutes to score points from the previous game to just over 5 minutes left in this one.

The game started well enough. The Falcons won the coin toss, deferred to the second half, and put their fast and physical defense on the field. The Patriots had a 5-minute, 9 play drive that resulted in a forced punt short of midfield. At this point, Deion Jones and Keanu Neal both were already amassing tackles and making their presence known. Then, the Falcons offense came out….and….went 3 and out. Again. Then Matt Bosher comes out to punt. Short. Again. Not to be a Negative Nelly, but this is likely when Falcon fans should have turned off the game and gone to bed. We all know, they were going to refer to the Super Bowl 200+ times, so at best, we would be tortured to the end of the game, win or lose.

102217 DeVondre Campbell Sack — De’Vondre Campbell’s Sack of Tom Brady – Atlanta Falcons

On the second Patriot possession, the first play, Tom Brady drops back and is immediately sacked by De’Vondre Campbell. So, you start to think this may go well. On 2^nd and 17, Brady goes deep to Rob Gronkowski, who is called for offensive pass interference. Suddenly, a couple plays later, the Patriots are punting again.

While everything is still looking positive, the Falcons take the field again. Ryan fakes to Tevin Coleman, bootlegs to Julio Jones, who has a stretch run, gaining 16 yards. Devonta Freeman and Coleman are sharing the load already. On a 4^th and 7 near midfield, Ryan drops back and looks, then takes off running to the right and gains the first down. After a short Freeman run, have a play action pass to Mohammed Sanu for 19 yards over the middle. A few plays later after a pass to Andre Roberts is knocked incomplete, Matt Bryant comes on to kick a 37-yard field goal….and Cassius Marsh comes between the left guard and tackle and blocks the attempt. This is for sure your sign. Good news, Ben Garland is in for special teams and ended the play after the Patriots recovered the blocked kick.

Again, first play of the Patriots drive is met with a sack. This one, after a nice spin move by Vic Beasley, Jr., giving him his 3^rd sack of the season. Desmond Trufant stuffs the run, and the first quarter ends in a 0/0 tie.

On 3^rd and 11, the offense draws Brian Poole and a speeding Grady Jarrett into the backfield, now on 3^rd and 16, Brady finds Chris Hogan for 20 yards downfield. And this is how the rest of the game would go. Atlanta NOT converting on third downs, while New England had big gains on third downs. Brady has a pass intercepted by Robert Alford in the end zone, it is nullified by a roughing the passer penalty (similar to last week, not a late hit, but head to head hit) by Adrian Clayborn. On the sideline, Head Coach Dan Quinn asked what they called, and it seemed Claybo was confused on when you can still hit the quarterback, not realizing out of the pocket, he was still seen as a quarterback and could not be touched. Now at the Atlanta 16, two plays later, the Patriots score the first touchdown of the game.

The Falcon offense comes back out aggressive. Ryan fakes it to Freeman and throws a bomb to Julio, but his feet are tangled with the defender and it’s second down. A pass behind the line to Taylor Gabriel, then hit a defender in the helmet, and Bosher is back on for a 49-yarder, where Justin Hardy hits the punt returner immediately.

The Patriots continue their drive, and again the Clemson tandem of Jarrett and Beasley combine for stop. On the 2^nd down, Beasley applies the pressure and causes a 1-yard pass play that Jarrett ends with a solo tackle. Then Neal, watching Brady’s eyes, has a perfect pass knockdown in the end zone, causing a New England field goal.

With under 5 minutes until the half, the Falcons start their comeback drive. Freeman has a nice 11-yard crossing the field gain, gives a little juke and has a great cutback, and then his speed kicks in. The offense goes no huddle, 13 yards to Sanu, a 6-yard run by Freeman is called back with offsetting penalties, then the single target to Coleman is incomplete, and Ryan is sacked. With 3^rd and 20, Julio Jones catches a 14-yard pass for his 8007^th receiving yard (2^nd fastest to 8000 yards). Sadly, the Falcons needed 20 yards, but with 4^th and 6 to go, again, at midfield, the offense stays on the field. A Ryan overthrow of Sanu gives the Patriots great field position with almost 2 minutes to go. Seven plays later, the Patriots have their second touchdown of the game and take a 17/0 lead into the half. The Falcons did have 3 offensive plays, but not enough to get far enough down the field for even a Bryant field goal attempt.

The Falcons received the ball in the 3rd quarter, marched pretty well down the field until being stopped at the 17 (just inside the red zone) and then had Bryant hit the goal post on the 37-yard field goal attempt.

Once again, Brady and team march down the field, passing to Hogan, running behind Dion Lewis, and with a 1st and goal, the defense stands up, allowing the Patriots down to the 1, where Beasley and Kemal Ishmael combine to push Mike Gillislee back to the 3, forcing another field goal.

With a heavy dose of Freeman (who in his 3^rd game that I have notice running really angry), and some help from Jones, the Falcons move down the field. On 2^nd and goal, Sanu makes an awesome catch with double coverage and lands just outside of the end zone, 10 inches to be exact. Then, instead of Freeman or Coleman up the middle, or even Dontari Poe passing the ball, or a Sanu 12 Gauge, Ryan throws low to Jones allowing Malcolm Butler to make a good play on the ball. Then on a jet sweep to Gabriel, he loses 5 yards. This playing in completely questionable, but also, the execution was poor, with the blockers for Gabriel being easily taken down.

With an entire quarter to play, you can already feel the stake to the heart. The Pats drive down to the 20, where Poole makes the stop causing 4^th down and the final field goal of the day. With over 9 minutes remaining, the Falcons use over half of that time, and over 90 minutes since their last score, to finally find Julio Jones in the end zone. Naturally, Ju makes a miraculous catch, snatching the ball out of the air and away from defenders.

102217 Julio Touchdown — Julio Jones Snatching The Ball Out of the Air – Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta has an onside kick, recovered by the Patriots, who graciously only drove to the 17 where they took a knee from the 2-minute warning to the end.

Once again, there has been no offensive rhythm. If Freeman has a few good runs, they pull him out and put in Coleman. While I think they are both awesome running backs, and have crazy numbers, running in tandem, the team needs to pick a starter. Let Freeman, the highest paid RB in the league, earn his money. Let him tell you when he is ready for a break. Use Julio Jones….MORE. Make 3^rd downs shorter. The first half were 3^rd and 11, 8, and 2. Second half had 3^rd and 16, 1, 8, and 9. Successfully on 2 of 9. Then, of course the famous 4^th and 6 and 7s.

Freeman and Coleman combined for 88 yards. Julio was a yard short of 100. Sanu, welcomed back from his hamstring injury, was on fire with 65 yards, while others had 1 or 2 catches only. Once again, the defense was on the field too long, but does allow them to run up stats. Poe and Jarrett were both on the field for 77 snaps, Beasley for 47, Brooks Reed 45. Campbell led the team in tackles with 8 total and the forced fumble on the sack. Ishmael, who came in when Duke Riley went out injured, quickly amassed 9 total tackles, with Jones and Neal just behind with 11 and 10 combined. The Clemson boys had 5 a piece, and of course, Beasley’s sack.

Overall, this game was a complete suck. Even without the Super Bowl revenge, which clearly the team was not buying into, you would have thought they would have put on a better show. Now, we watch, and wait. See what the 3 game road trip holds. They head up to the 3 – 4 Jets, who just got beat by Miami earlier in the day. Then, to Carolina…which at least will be a home game for me, and many, many Falcon fans will make the 85 North trek. Hopefully, the fog will be lifted by next Sunday.

Injury Update: Deion Jones was dinged up, but returned to the game. Duke Riley is having knee surgery and expected to be out at least 4 weeks.

Due to the Riley injury, Sean Weatherspoon is back, bringing a veteran presence and some spunk back to the locker room. Let’s home this helps.

Iron Falcon: If one can continue to be awarded on such a bad loss. De’Vondre Campbell. He tried to set the tone early with a big sack and pressuring Brady all day. Julio Jones, for always being unselfish, getting to over 8000 receiving yards, nearly 100 yards on the day, and his first touchdown of the season, and not even caring because it was in a losing effort.

#RiseUp

FalconAlley Owt

Photos Courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons

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 Déjà Vu….the Bad Way

Miami 20 at Atlanta 17

October 15, 2017

By Allison Smith

First, sigh, shake your head, then relax, and try not to panic. If you have been a Falcon fan since before the 2012 season, you know this is typical Atlanta Falcons football. Take the full 60 minutes and win, or break your heart. Being a fan since the early 1980’s, I got use to this. But then we got spoiled with the Mike Smith winning years, and last year with the Super Bowl run. All is not lost. We have the team to do this year, we just need to wipe out the mistakes.

Clearly we all know, the untimely penalties are killing us. There were 6 for 73 yards this week. A couple on offense to back us up, and of course the “roughing the passer” penalty on Grady Jarrett (clearly that is hogwash) that negated a Deion Jones interception late in the game. In stadium, we never got to see the replay, but I think we all know that Grady would not hit someone late. If Jay Cutler was just standing there, he’s gonna get hit. Jarrett is a big guy, he can’t stop on a dime.

One note that likely everyone did not see, there was a defensive encroachment, so Cutler knew he had a free play, however, as he dropped back and scanned the field, preparing to throw, he saw a quickly closing Takk McKinley and downed the ball. Cutler must have seen Takk fighting linemen earlier and decided not to take that on himself.

Also, turnovers, not helping so much. At least this week, Debo had a couple of picks and if you watched, the defense was definitely aggressively going for the ball. On many of the gang tackles, because that is often what it took to make a tackle again this week, the defenders were actively reaching for the ball. The Falcons offense ended with only 1 interception this week, but at the worst possible time. Near the end of the game, driving for the win, a low pass to Austin Hooper was knocked out and intercepted by Georgia boy, Reshad Jones. Hooper possibly could have fought harder for the ball, but Clemson boy, rookie Cordrea Tankersly made a good play to knock the ball out. I am not less annoyed, but it not being yet another tipped pass for an interception is a slight positive.

I said, with 47 seconds left, and the ball on the 29, to let Matt Bryant do his thing and take the tie and see what overtime holds. With the recent turnovers and red zone woes, I still think that would have been a good, logical idea. Clearly, the Dolphins were playing for the tie, as they were not letting anything over the top.

Dontari Poe and Grady Jarrett were being double teamed again this week, but, along with others, getting major pressure on Cutler. Many passes, he was not able to set his feet and you could tell with is passes. Jarrett had 4 tackles, 1 combined with Clemson teammate Vic Beasley, Jr., while Poe only had 1 tackle, but also a key knockdown as well. Who knew Poe could jump like that?!?

On a happy note, highlight reel, Marvin Hall was moved to the active roster on Saturday and had a 40-yard touchdown reception on Sunday. Sadly, he was only on the field a few more snaps
and did not have another reception. Maybe, Hall would have been a good target on the day?

When you really knew the game was going downhill……early in the second quarter, the Falcons receive a punt, on 1^st and 10 Andy Levitre has a false start, backing the offense up. They go 3 and out, and I said, “At least we have Bosher, he will….oh crap.” Before I could finish my sentence, he hits a 37-yard punt that goes out of bounds at the Miami 44. Later, Bosher had another short punt, 26 yards to the Miami 49. We all know this is very unusual. To add insult to injury, Josh Harris has the first horrible snap I can even remember, causing Bosher to try to run the ball…all of this happening at midfield.

In the end, the Falcons had 54 plays on the day and the Dolphins really controlled the tempo of the game, especially the run game, both sides. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combined for 18 carries and a total of 100 yards, exactly. Freeman had one of 44 yards and Coleman a long of 20, so take those big runs away, and our rushing game was 36 yards. THAT is not our kind of running game.

Again, within the fan base at least, there is question as to the use of Julio Jones. While we realize he is often double teamed, Ju can catch nearly anything anyway. On the opening drive, Julio was interfered with, i.e. tackled as he was attempting to catch a 12-yard pass on the sideline. The PI was called and enforced, and if you noticed, Julio still caught the ball and would have come down with the pass anyway. Julio caught 6 of the 7 times he was targeted, so he is healthy and reliable as ever.

With Mohamed Sanu still out with his injury, we finally got to see some good targets and catches for Justin Hardy and Taylor Gabriel, both of who stepped up and did a good job, combining for 73 yards. I thought early on, this was going to be the Turbo Show. Sadly, this still did not open up the much needed running game however. And the Falcons scored no point in the second half.

I’m no coach and never played, but the defense comes out after half time looking gassed to start. I thought we were so fast and physical and deep. I don’t know if running in and out is causing more trouble than letting guys play more consecutive plays. But, I do know, we have too much talent on this team for missed tackles, tipped balls, and 17 points against a wayward Miami team. Cutler had an all-star game compared to the entire first 4 games of his 2017 season.

I am always Falcon Faithful, but that doesn’t mean I am not frustrated right now. Mark down my prediction for Sunday Night Football…..34/0. I haven’t made up my mind if it goes to the Falcons or the evil Patriots….but I feel a blow-out coming one way or the other. Forget the Super Bowl rematch, too much has happened and changed for both teams since that ill-fated night in February.

#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