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I think Chris Long won on points, you could see Jake was struggling with his outside speed on his bum ankle.
Awesome post. He legitimately got a pressure or two, and that's about it. Don't think you can hope for much more given the circumstances.
Judge ye, from what has been shown... Jake with a BUM ankle, which from what I heard from Jim Mandich this PM on WQAM, played extremely well against the quick Chris Long... Anyways, Mad Dog said that 99% of the NFL players would probably not have played on the kind of ankle that Jake showed him last Sunday...Mad Dog said his ankle looked like the size of a large ball... after the tape was removed..
Id say Jake won the battle as well. He kept chris at bay most of the game, there were a couple times when he got by, once when he hit pennington after he had thrown the ball already. Chris did have a sack, but it was on a broken play where pennington was running for his left to his left... so i cant really pin that on jake.. all in all, i thought he did well out there yesterday on the bad ankle and all.
Ever since week one some posters here have had ridiculous expectations of him. I've noticed it's seeping into every thread as well with other players. Even the guys who play fairly well either don't get their due or are mentioned to be replaced at the end of the year. It's quite annoying to be honest.
Theres nothing to complain about, hes the most important, valuble commidity at his position in the NFL. I cant wait til next year when we see him lined up at fullback.
I don't know...that was very true in the first quarter, but Jake seemed to be holding his own from there on...just had to get the tape loosened up a little on that angle...either way you look at it, the fact that he played as well as he did on that ankle bodes well for the next time they meet...
Yes, it seemed to me Jake was struggling keeping his balance, Chris seemed to be around Chad a lot. There were a few plays you saw Jake go down to his knees when putting weight on it. There was no doubt the injury was bothering him.
One of the plays that Chris got to Pennington on it was clearly Alleman's fault because it was his blocking assignment. Chris Long came to the inside and Jake took on the OLB. Chris went right around Alleman and got a hit on Chad as he released the ball resulting in an Incompelte pass. After that play you could see Alleman Clap his hands in disgust because he knew he looked like a turnstyle on that play.
lol. i put 'no.' to njfinsfan's first post because i was in a hurry and my answer was all that was needed to be said. his post was false. pretty cut and dry, true or false, even yes or no.
I agree that we drafted the correct Long. I've been really impressed with Jake. He's made mistakes, but nobody's perfect. However, in hindsight, I think we probably shoulda drafted Matt Ryan. I was never sold on Matt Ryan as an elite QB prospect. Boy was I wrong. Matt Ryan's the real deal.
Not true, not that Matt Ryan isn't the real deal, but not true that we should have drafted him. QBs can be found in free agency. We did or could have signed, Drew Brees, Matt Hasselbeck, and Chad Pennington. Name one LT of their ability that has been a free agent. Cassel is going to be a free agent next year. Also, we don't know what Henne will be. I think we made the right choice. As for the Longs debate, imagine Chris playing Roths position. Our D would be great. I still think we made the right choice. Jake has been more than advertised, and he was the number one overall.
There are no truths when dealing with opinions. With the exception of Drew Brees, when has a young, elite QB been a free agent? It doesn't happen. There's no way a Jay Cutler, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Ben Rothlisberger, or Aaron Rodgers will become FA's, just like Joe Thomas and Jake Long will never become FA's. Give me an elite QB over an elite LT any day of the week. I love Jake Long and I wanted us to draft him, but Matt Ryan looks like something special...at the most important position on the field.
I think we won't know until we see Henne play for a year or two, if he plays as good as he has looked in his very limited action, you could say we got Jake Long and the QB we have been looking for, to me that would be better than just Matt Ryan. I will be the first to say that it seems I was wrong about Ryan, he is playing way better than I thought he would.
I think Jake, on a bad ankle, clearly outplayed Chris Long. I still dont know how anyone could think we didnt make the right choice.
I'll add that I don't know if there really was a "right choice". I think both of them have potential to be stellar All Pro players. We would have done well either way.
Don't forget that the Falcons drafted both Matt Ryan and Sam Baker, who's playing really well right now. Yes, you must always wait a few years before judging a draft class, but this Ryan kid is impressive. He's having the best rookie QB season since Dan Marino!
I wouldn't say he clearly outplayed him, I notice Chris Long around the QB quite a bit. I thought Jake played really well considering the ankle but Chris Long gave him a lot of trouble.
Ben started 13 games and played in 14 games He went 196/295 for 2621 yards with 17 TDs and 11 INTs Ryan, has started all 12 games. He went 203/333 for 2625 yards with 13 TDs and 6 INTs Marino played in 11 games, starting 9 games. He went 173/296 for 2210 yards with 20 TDs and 6 INTs
Which tells me dan is still the best, of course. Forever. And that while Ryan's stats are comparable, Ben's team did better. Ryan has been stellar no doubt, but Ben was just as good, and his team was better. Considering from where ATL was last year, it's amazing, but that has a lot to do with the FO/coaching as well. Remember when everyone said they were screwed, especially because Parcells snubbed them? We went 1-15 and almost ever power ranking before the season had them dead last, even behind us.
