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Post by darkscar on Oct 15, 2014 9:40:16 GMT -5
MFB,
The Lions' defense looks pretty formidable this year. They're giving up something like 12-13 points per game, tops in the NFL. When you have a D like that it makes up for a lot of issues elsewhere. The Lions are favored and I can see why--the game's in Detroit, our best receiver TE Jimmy Graham is out, and we've been inconsistent on both sides of the ball this year, plus the Lions just look like they've got it together. Stafford will always take chances it seems, sometimes that's good, sometimes bad. I like your prediction, I hope it's true, but I'm not so confident.
I'd like to see more balance from the Saints. Brees is great, but throwing the ball 50-55 times a game isn't the way to go anymore. We need to get the run game going, and set up our receivers. If we can find a little more balance I'll feel better about our chances in the division--and in the game on Sunday.
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Post by vladtaltos on Oct 15, 2014 15:20:39 GMT -5
... but the D is the best they have been since Bobby Ross was here... There's a blast from the past, Bobby Ross. He's still highly regarded in ATL for coaching Georgia Tech to a national football championship in 1990. Then he coached the Chargers to a Super Bowl and the Lions to a few playoff appearances. Great coach. I don't think he was ever fired, but left each job after 4-5 years to coach elsewhere or do other things. Strange in the head coaching profession to have several jobs and never be fired.
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Post by darkscar on Oct 20, 2014 10:21:39 GMT -5
Still, I hate facing the Saints right now, they are a wounded tiger. I think the Saints take the game 30-17. Like a wounded tiger without its claws or big, bad teeth, MFB. Well, we flubbed that one. It looks like losing games in the last minute or two is our theme this year. Congrats to your Lions. The running game, where was it? Missing in action. We abandoned it too quickly. We have to get more of a balance. Throwing the ball 45+ times, here again, is fine if you can score 35+ points per game. If you're not getting that, then it's time to try to strike a balance. Until we do that, we'll be inconsistent. And by "inconsistent" I mean losing games.
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Post by mister frau blucher on Oct 20, 2014 14:33:52 GMT -5
Man, a wild game. I saw the last few minutes. I was sure, being a Lions fan for most of my 48 years, that this would end in classic style with a big play by Brees at the end. When he scrambled for 13 yards on 4th down, I could feel it. But somehow the defense held.
I gotta say, that pass interfernce on that 4th down pass from Stafford was bogus. That might not have decided the game, as there was 2 two minutes left and if they held the Saints, they would have had a last chance. But I have been on the wrong side of that too many times not to accept it!
Interesting play on the Brees interception, the look was Cover 1. Quin lined up deep, but he was actually the low saftey - they were doing that to fool Brees. At the snap, Quin stepped up and Brees never saw him, and picked it off. Quin has a reputation for a high football IQ, and the staff trusts him to audible, which he did with the inside-out safety switch.
It is starting to look like our D is for real!
Anyway, my condolences on a tough loss. On the bright side, you guys can still win the division!
Next Sunday we are in London against vlad's Falcs. This has been a bad season for the birds, but they will show up to play. Ryan is a solid QB but he has had no protection or time to throw. Hopefully we can kep up the pressure on him.
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Post by vladtaltos on Oct 21, 2014 11:13:01 GMT -5
Next Sunday we are in London against vlad's Falcs. This has been a bad season for the birds, but they will show up to play. Ryan is a solid QB but he has had no protection or time to throw. Hopefully we can kep up the pressure on him. Before the season started, but after schedules were released, this is the part where I'd go off on the NFL for jobbing my Birds out of a home game. We play 7 games in ATL and this "home game" in London for our 8th. But now, I don't think it really matters. We're getting blown out everywhere we play. The O-line was a sieve against the Ravens, allowing five sacks and Ryan to get knocked down an extra ten times on top of that. Our center went down--he was a third-string center they picked up off the street, so who's snapping the ball this week is a mystery to me. So, in short, we've got a lot of problems. The team went straight to London after the game with Baltimore, no stops in ATL to get grilled by the local media. And yep, they're calling for heads to roll. Matt Ryan and our field-goal kicker are the only ones on the team worth a flip. Take the Lions, lay the points, and enjoy the Shepherd's Pie
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Post by darkscar on Oct 21, 2014 15:04:40 GMT -5
Matt Ryan and our field-goal kicker are the only ones on the team worth a flip. Take the Lions, lay the points, and enjoy the Shepherd's Pie Vlad!?! I would laugh harder at this if the Falcons hadn't beat the Saints! Now, I don't whether to laugh or cry. Look on the bright side--one of the teams in our crummy division has to go to the playoffs! MFB, the interceptions are another reason I'd like to see the Saints get a ground game going. Brees is great, but the team is too one-dimensional. Teams can lay back and play the pass all day when they know we're going to throw 45 out of 60 plays.
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Post by vladtaltos on Oct 27, 2014 9:12:33 GMT -5
I like Mike Smith and the coaching staff of the Falcons. They've been the most successful in team history, winning over 60% of their games. A great % by NFL standards. This includes their current losing trend of 6-18 in their last 24 games.
When he's fired at the end of the year along with his assistants and GM, the game against the Lions, and in particular the time management errors and play calls in the last 2 minutes will be pointed to as the nails in the coffin.
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Post by darkscar on Oct 27, 2014 13:29:54 GMT -5
That's a tough one, vlad. Losses like that are tougher to take than blowouts, and as a Saints' fan of 40+ years, I've been on the wrong rooting-side of blowouts more than I care to remember.
I know the NFL prides itself on changing/tweaking the rules of the game every year. Something that deserves to be looked at is the penalty by the Lions at the end of the game that benefitted...the Lions!?! They missed the field goal on the last play of the game--Falcons win right?-- but hold everything, the Lions delayed the game, so put the ball back five yards and they get to try it again. WTH? Every kicker in the NFL can kick the ball 60+ yards (so moving it back from a 43 yard to 48 yard FG is nothing), giving them another chance at it is like giving them one "practice swing." So, he adjusts his kick on the second try and it sails through. Amend the rule to read that on such a penalty, if the offense goes ahead and snaps the ball and kicks it, the defense has the right to decline the delay of game penalty.
In other news, the Saints finally did it! 32 passes and 31 rushes, the balance I've been asking for. And what happens, they roll up 44 points on Green Bay and win by three touchdowns. If we can get it together on the road, maybe, just maybe...
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Post by mister frau blucher on Oct 28, 2014 9:40:02 GMT -5
Yeah, tough game, vlad. Definitely a weird ending - after watching the Lions' mistakes cost them big time for decades, this is about the first time I have seen one benefit them. I'd hate to see Mike Smith lose his job, he is a solid coach and has really raised the bar for theorganization. But Arthur Blank's comments after the game were pretty ominous.
The bright side is, you are in the NFC South, which is still up for grabs even with a 2-6 record. But the bad news is the Saints are starting to come around...
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Post by vladtaltos on Oct 28, 2014 10:16:54 GMT -5
That would be a rule worth considering, darkscar. I'd also like to see this fairly recent tactic of the defensive team calling a timeout a split-second before the snap on such field goals made obsolete by an unsportsman-like conduct penalty.
MFB, unfortunately, the Birds are significantly behind the Saints and the Panthers are far as present talent on the O-line and defense is concerned. Against the Lions, we used our 4th center of the season. I am surprised Ryan is still in one piece. They say change is good. I think Bird fans will see change real soon.
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Post by darkscar on Nov 25, 2014 15:57:53 GMT -5
vlad, 11 games in and we're tied for first place. Isn't it great?
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Post by vladtaltos on Nov 26, 2014 9:37:59 GMT -5
It's exciting, pulse-pounding stuff. The resistible force meets the movable object. It may come down to the Saints-Falcons game at the end of the year, winner takes all, and heads into the playoffs at 6-10?! Crazy. Watching the Saints on Monday, I'd say you still have the advantage. You looked better vs. the Ravens than we did. We learned nothing about time management in the loss vs. the Lions, we turned around and did the same thing vs. the Browns. Coach has cost us two wins--games in hand if you just milk the clock and don't throw <CENSORED> passes in the last minute of the game. I could rant forever, but I'll spare everyone. 'Tis the season after all.
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Post by ednote on Nov 26, 2014 19:03:25 GMT -5
It could be worse. You could be a Titans fan. (Where's my bag...)
Ed
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Post by vladtaltos on Nov 27, 2014 9:52:36 GMT -5
It could be worse. You could be a Titans fan. (Where's my bag...) Ed Yeah, it's been a tough season for the Titans (we Falcon fans are well-acquainted with tough seasons). It looks like none of the teams represented here are during well except for MFB's Lions. They'll have to carry the torch, representing the board, into the playoffs...and beyond?!...
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Post by mister frau blucher on Mar 10, 2015 17:55:55 GMT -5
Wow. I did not see the Graham trade coming at all. Maybe I should have, though, as the Saints are having cap issues, and I guess no one is safe.
Not official yet, but Suh will be a Dolphin. I was worried the Lions' front office would throw all the money in the world at him and hurt the team with not being able to put a decent cast around him. I hate to lose Suh, but I am glad we let him walk for what he is asking. I like the Ngata(sp) trade. That dude is solid and we can put quality peole around him. Be interesting to see if we resign Fairley, or if we actually switch to a 3-4.
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