Falconsroach7
Starter
Well. That's a way to start a year. We saw both the good and the bad of the falcons today, and hopefully the former is present much more often this year because it got ugly, and it got ugly quick. After opening up 17-0 in the 2nd quarter, the Falcons looked great. The offense was in sync as Matt ryan connected with rookie Avery reed and all-pro WR Julio Jones for TD's and the defense limited yards and forced rivers into an interception. Things unraveled quickly as the chargers scored 28 unanswered in the 2nd off of two ugly matt Ryan interceptions to jump to a 28-17 halftime lead. The defense took control for the rest of the game, allowing 0 points and limiting Phillip rivers productivity as Matt Ryan engineered a TD drive to cut the deficit to 3 as Tevin Coleman took a 30 yard sprint to the house to solidify a week 1 victory. It was certainly a great test for atlanta, as the chargers look to be much improved from a year ago. A couple of notes:
-matt ryan looked good until his two picks. Perhaps it's a new scheme, but it just looked like some great defense combined with some questionable decision making. He'll have to cut these out of his game.
-balance came from this offense. No one player dominated, and the team looked efficient doing so. Coleman had 17 rushing attempts, ball had 6 and rookie bensly taylor 4. Likewise, Julio Jones only had 4 receptions while Marvin Jones had 3 and avery reed had 6. The biggest takeaway here? Each receiver had a TD catch.
-the offensive line struggled to open up holes and allowed 4 sacks. While the chargers are stout along the line, this will have to be reversed if Atlanta expects to win games.
-outside of the 2nd quarter, the defense looked great. Brooks reed adjusted well to MLB, notching an int as Brent Grimes also nabbed an int and forced a fumble. A great game from the returning vet. Also, outside of Matt Ryans two picks that set the chargers up deep in Atlanta's territory, the defense only surrendered 14 points. The scoreboard doesn't always tell how the game was, and this is one of those cases where the defense played a ton better than the final suggests
-matt ryan looked good until his two picks. Perhaps it's a new scheme, but it just looked like some great defense combined with some questionable decision making. He'll have to cut these out of his game.
-balance came from this offense. No one player dominated, and the team looked efficient doing so. Coleman had 17 rushing attempts, ball had 6 and rookie bensly taylor 4. Likewise, Julio Jones only had 4 receptions while Marvin Jones had 3 and avery reed had 6. The biggest takeaway here? Each receiver had a TD catch.
-the offensive line struggled to open up holes and allowed 4 sacks. While the chargers are stout along the line, this will have to be reversed if Atlanta expects to win games.
-outside of the 2nd quarter, the defense looked great. Brooks reed adjusted well to MLB, notching an int as Brent Grimes also nabbed an int and forced a fumble. A great game from the returning vet. Also, outside of Matt Ryans two picks that set the chargers up deep in Atlanta's territory, the defense only surrendered 14 points. The scoreboard doesn't always tell how the game was, and this is one of those cases where the defense played a ton better than the final suggests