Falcons start preseason 0-1

By: T. Love

Head coach Bobby Petrino and the Falcons made their 2007 debut, sans Michael Vick, on Friday night with a 31-16 loss to the New York Jets. So this is what the Falcons are going to be like without Vick.

On Friday I posted my game preview and I was able to observe everything that I wanted and more.

Pass Rush
Well, there wasn’t much pressure generated by the first unit and that was because Jets QB Chad Pennington never threw the ball. So no pass rush, but for the game, the Falcons defense gave up 146 rushing yards. Not good. Last season, Atlanta finished 9th in rushing defense (103.6 yards per game).

John Abraham was ineffective, but the rookie Jammal Anderson picked up a solo tackle and an assist. He really didn’t show any flashes of things to come this season. Just played and made plays that came to him. I want to see a little more out of him next week. He was the eighth pick in the draft.

Jerious Between the Tackles
Not so much. He did bust up the middle for a 10-yard score, but that was his only effective run between the tackles. On a third and one play, the offensive line failed to get a push, fullback Ovie Mughelli did not clear the lane and Norwood was stuffed. We are going to need to get better at third and ones if we want to be a “power” football team.

Rookie Jason Snelling ran hard to finish with 48 yards on 10 carries. Snelling was a little quicker than I thought he was and can catch too. Maybe just maybe he and Norwood could make a nice 1-2 punch for this season. See there are some positives.

The run calls were creative so I expect to see big plays out of Norwood this season… especially since I bought his jersey last week.

Tight End Play
Besides the 37-yard grab that bailed Joey Harrington and made his numbers respectable. Not much to see here. Maybe they did well on blocking, but I don’t have TiVo right now so I can’t breakdown it down.

Free Safety Battle
Jimmy Williams was on the field a long time and he was never around the ball. He had three tackles which is great, but he was not good getting over to help the corners. Guy has a lot of work to do. I liked the nickel packages defensive coordinator Don Zimmer is incorporating with DeAngelo and Lewis Sanders on the corners, with Crocker playing the slot receivers and Williams at safety. However, when any of the routes went deep, Jimmy wasn’t helping. The rookie out of Maine, Darren Stone (pictured right), looked good on special teams and stuck his head into the action a few times for four tackles. Not bad.

Receivers
Laurent Robinson had a nice night with 49 yards on five grabs. This has been my guy since we drafted him and he didn’t disappoint in his first showing. Roddy White had two grabs early on hitch routes. QB Joey Harrington threw it nice and soft for him. Roddy dropped a slant pass that hit him right in the hands later on. Three catches for 38, not terrible but you are going to have to do a lot more. Jenkins is a possession receiver. He might be someone to pickup for all you fantasy geeks out there.

Bobby Petrino
I like the way the offense looks and I like the playcalling. It is a totally different look from last year. The use of multiple packages will keep defensive coordinators guessing quite a bit this season. I just don’t think we have the personnel right now to do what Petrino has in mind. I sure would love to see how awesome a certain quarterback would look in this offense.

All and all, not a terrible showing by the Falcons. The defense needs to get tough, the offense needs to be more aggressive and special teams might get us killed this season. I’ll break down each unit in separate post.

Comments, Criticism, Applause?