Atlanta Falcons: Off-Season Review

ATLANTA FALCONS
By: Benjamin Martin

Sorry for the lengthy delay, business had to be taken care of (if anyone knows the best way to get rid of hooker blood send me an email ASAP).

The Atlanta Falcons surprised many a football fan this past year going 11-5 and making the playoffs as a Wild Card. They’re in the division that claims each team is supposed to have a chance at winning every year, or the “bottom finishes at the top” division. I say that is poppycock. Teams win for a reason, not just because they finished in last place the previous year. And the reason the Atlanta Falcons turned it around is the ground game, plain and simple.

Michael “The Burner” Turner. He’s the new Michael Vick-esque player in Atlanta. Except he actually has talent. Vick wasn’t talented. I like to think of talent as being able to bring your skills together and deliver, whereas Vick just had a diverse skill set. He couldn’t pass the ball. At QB. Put DeAngelo Williams at QB, and he’ll rush for just as many TD’s and throw just as many. You’ve got to realize when it’s time to switch positions. How can you throw the ball a mile, but not hit a 10 yard in?

Enough about Vick. The ground game saved this team. Or resurrected it, because it was dead for a long time. Their O-line really showed up, which was nice to see. The left side is made of day one players from the last two drafts, and the other side just exceeded expectations. Roddy White also showed up, which helped open up the box. So basically you just had a bunch of offensive players coming into their own at the right time. Sam Baker will be healthy this year after being the Falcons’ first round pick last year, so that’ll be an added boost.

I’d like to take some time to talk about Turner though, because he’s special. It’s been said before about someone else but since you won’t remember and you probably have never heard it before I’m going to adapt it: Michael Turner runs like he caught somebody beating up his mom. This guy right now is one of the top running backs in the league. If I was to build a team tomorrow and had to pick one running back, I’m taking this guy. The speed and power that he runs with are unparalleled. Adrian Peterson goes to bed at night and wishes that he could be Michael Turner when he wakes up. It’s not like it’s his first year either. He had a 5.5 yards per carry average over his four years in San Diego as a spell back for LT, and that includes big games of 100+ yards that he posted when he got to see a near-feature role in the offense. He’s the real deal, and in my opinion the best running back in the league right now. But I have a boner for big, fast workhorse running backs. I’ll take Michael Turner’s manhood out of my mouth for a moment so I can mention Jerious Norwood, who is as a dynamic number two/compliment back as there is.

I don’t know if I can make this clear or not, but the Atlanta Falcons’ success had little to nothing to do with “Matty Ice”. If anything, they benefitted from his youth and inexperience and desire to not embarrass himself attempting throws he shouldn’t. Frankly, I think Matt Ryan is and will always be a par to sub-par quarterback. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl with the Ravens and Brad Johnson won one with the Buccaneers. Those teams were anchored by their defenses, but they were also supported by a quarterback whose job was not to screw anything up. Turner and the running game opened up the field by forcing teams to crowd the box, making the necessary throws that much easier. Matt Ryan was inconsistent at Boston College with a sub-60% completion percentage. It doesn’t even list how many interceptions he threw on the official Boston College athletics website. His claim to fame came after leading his shitty team to a victory with two touchdown passes in the final two minutes over a shittier Virginia Tech team. Ah, there we go. 31 TDs vs. 19 INTs. Accuracy is overrated.

Enough about how much of a joke Matt Ryan is, it’s time for the defense. I’m going to be honest: when I think about the Falcons’ defense my mind just goes blank. Not exactly good, but it means they weren’t someone you could walk over. They seemed to get the job done at least some of the time since the team finished with a great record.

In terms of additions, the Falcons seemed to get the job done very well. On offense they’re obviously pretty set. They’re a relatively young team, so the only thing they need is time. They went out and traded for Tony Gonzalez though, which is a pretty excellent move. Gonzalez is still a great option, he keeps himself in great shape and he will add a wonderful outlet for Matt Ryan to increase his completion percentage, completed passes and will make people actually think he’s good. There’s nothing like a good TE to dump the ball off to. Gonzalez, however, is not the best tight end in the league right now contrary to what Warren Sapp thinks.

On defense, the Falcons made noise. They spent their first 5 picks in the draft on defense, including a first round pick on Peria Jerry, DT. Even if I hadn’t been talking about Michael Turner before, then I would definitely be moist by now. The next two picks went to the secondary, with Williams Moore, S, being taken 2nd. He’s an intriguing prospect, and is supposed to be good value after being regarded as an upper-tier player until injuries in his final season slowed him down.

The Falcons D-line gets upgraded nicely with Jerry, and he will help free up John Abraham and Jamaal Anderson to make even more plays at DE. My favourite move that the Falcons made this offseason was the addition of Mike Peterson. He’s always been a terrific player and only lost face because he had a falling out with Del Rio in Jacksonville. Now he’s in Atlanta, behind a tremendous front 4, ready to make plays. The secondary is young and led by Erik Coleman but they’ll get better with every game played, and that’s not a good thing for other teams. The Falcons are a prime example right now of building through the draft and being frugal in free agency.

Frankly, if it weren’t for the Panthers being in their division I would guarantee that you’d see these guys in the playoffs again. It’s a tight division, but I don’t think New Orleans has enough to make it happen and that the Panthers are still the better team right now. There’s another team, but it speaks volumes that I don’t know who they are off hand. Hahaha, it’s the Buccaneers. Oh Tampa…