Home opener

By: T. Love

“Ocho-Cinco” comes to the Georgia Dome on Monday when the Atlanta host the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. I’ll be honest, I am pretty damn excited that football is back on and this “Ookie” bullshit has gotten completely old.

The Atlanta starters will play into the third quarter so that will make the game somewhat entertaining to watch. This game will also give an indication of who will start on Sept. 9 in Minnesota.

Here are a couple of things to watch for.

Dunn back in the starting role
This guy just doesn’t give up. 11-year veteran Warrick Dunn will get the start after missing the first two games for surgery on a herniated disc. This will be the first time to see Dunn in the offense and there will be a new batch of plays use since Dunn has the ability to get between the tackles or bounce a play outside. The 1-2-3 punch of Dunn, Jerious Norwood and Jason Snelling needs to chew up at least 75 yards of rushing in the first half.

Demorrio Williams
OLB D. Williams makes his season debut, but he will have to earn his spot back as rookie Stephen Nicholas will open with the first unit. Williams tore a pectoral muscle during the offseason and was just cleared for practice. Williams signed a one-year tender in March and his battle with Nicholas for time on the field will give clarity D-Mo’s future with the team.

Joey Harrington
Get into a rhythm. Manage the game, throw the ball further than 10 yards and get a TD. Thank you.

Halftime Adjustments
For the past three years, we have watched our team go into halftime, whether winning or losing, and not make any adjustments in the second half. Since the starters are scheduled to play into the second half, Petrino will call as close to an actual game as possible and should work on adjustments. Will he attack weaknesses shown in the first?