Breaking down the offense versus the Jets

By: T. Love

In an effort to get back to talking about football, since every media outlet wants to talk about Michael Vick and speculations, here is a breakdown of the offense for the first game versus the Jets.

Friday night was the official end of the Jim Mora Three Ring Circus Era as Bobby Petrino made his NFL coaching debut with his power spread offense in the spotlight.

Two things were apparent to me in watching the offense take the field. First, the Falcons will not lead the league in rushing for the fourth-straight season and the ball will be flying all over the field.

While Mora was at the helm, the team incorporated the cut-blocking system brought over from the Denver Broncos by offensive “genius” Alex Gibbs. The lineman used the cheap and dangerous cut-blocking technique (not to be confused with chop-blocking) to create backside running lanes and gobble up yardage in chunks. The line was loaded with sub-300 pound bodies, which equated into struggles in goal line and short-yardage situations and pass protection. Petrino is adamant about putting big bodies on the line and bring smash mouth football to Atlanta

Below is a small breakdown of the first game from each position.

Quarterbacks
Joey Harrington’s stats looked good versus the Jets, but he did not impress in his Falcon debut. The former No. 3 pick finished the night 6-9 passing for 88 yards. For his career, Harrington averages 5.7 yards per attempt and that number is a strong indicator of what he does well as he failed to come within “sniping range” of receivers on deep balls. Hopefully he can get that down since the deep throws will be a large part of the offense. Not so bad on the short throws and he likes to get the ball out quick. The receivers did a great job of making tough catches and adjusting routes to help him as well. Not something seen in Atlanta for a long time.

QB Chris Redman didn’t have a terrible night going 8-13 for 61 yards. Redman is currently battling with second-year man D.J. Shockley for the No. 2 QB position and clearly had the better game. Shockley needs to step it up and I’ll devote an entire post to him since he basically made me eat crow with his performance.

Running Backs
Eighty-six rushing yards as a team. That is not impressive at all and it does call for a little concern. Jerious Norwood picked up 29 yards on eight carries and made two grabs out of the backfield for 10 yards. He is currently holding the No. 1 position over veteran Warrick Dunn. Norwood was not strong running between the tackles and looked to get outside as quickly as possible.

Rookie Jason Snelling was strong in his debut picking up 48 yards on 10 carries. Maybe he could be the short-yard back that we so desperately need. He has got some wheels too, a lot faster than I thought.

Despite my concerns, throw Dunn into the mix with these running backs and I think the Falcons will be in good shape. The versatility of each to catch the football will also help out Harrington and take pressure off if we are not picking up yards on the ground. Just watch the Philadelphia Eagles.

Wide Receivers
Laurent Robinson, my guy which I have been saying all along, is going to be a stud. In his NFL debut, Robinson pulled down five balls for 49 yards. Third-year player Roddy White caught three for 38 yards. It would have been four, but he still seems to be suffering from the dropsies. Joe Horn is still solid but might of hurt himself on his on catch and Michael Jenkins was a no show. These guys will be our four man receivers, but in two wide sets I would like to see Horn and Robinson lined up.

Tight Ends and Fullbacks
Alge Crumpler continues to nurse a sore knee and Dewayne Blakely stepped up big in the pass catching department with a 37-yard pickup down the seem for his only catch of the game. Blakely is currently listed at No. 2 on the depth chart and could hold on to that spot if he keeps getting better with his blocking. Martrez Milner and Daniel Fells saw significant time as they battle for the No. 3 spot, but neither recorded a stat.

Fullback Ovie Mughelli is absolutely huge, but I did not see him blowing up any holes in the run game. Six years, $18 million for this guy, which makes him the highest paid at the position in NFL history. I would like to see some people bleeding after going head up with him.

Offensive Line
No push running the football and decent pass protection. Of course, there were really no blitzes, but the one time the pocket collapsed around Harrington he was able to step up and make the throw to Blakely. We need to get stronger up front and blow people off the ball. Failing to convert a third and one is unacceptable in a power based offense.

Analysis
The Falcons offense looks completely different from last season from pre-snap alignment to routes run. I like it. Gone are the days of cut-blocking, 1st down runs up the gut for no yards and less than 20 pass attempts per game. It is going to take this offense some time to get up and running and unfortunately that will come at the expense of the fans. I like what Petrino is trying to do and hope to see more installation next week in Buffalo.

Offensive Player of the Game
Laurent Robinson – 38 yards on five catches in his NFL debut.