I rewatched the game and wrote down some things I found interesting: Kick Returns Return 1: Ted Ginn meets first defender at 13 yard line Return 2: Ted Ginn meets first defender at 12 yard line Return 3: Ted Ginn meets first defender at 13 yard line Return 4: Patrick Cobbs meets first defender at 14 yard line Return 5: Patrick Cobbs meets first defender at 19 yard line The blocking was terrible. Only once was a returner even able to make it past the 15 before having to dodge multiple defenders. This had nothing to do with who we had returning kicks. WildPat Here are the results from the four plays with Pat White in the game: Play 1: Ronnie run up middle, 4 yard gain Play 2: Pat White run to left, 0 yard gain Play 3: Pat White incomplete pass, 0 yard gain Play 4: Ted Ginn busted play, 1 yard gain So in four plays with Pat White we gain 5 yards. In the plays where White was involved we gained 1 yard on three plays. Farthest Pass in the Air For those debating Pennington's arm I tracked how far his deepest passes traveled in the air. His farthest pass was in the 4thQ to Bess and traveled 21 yards in the air. His 2nd farthest pass was to Ginn and traveled 16 yards in the air. His 3rd farthest pass was to Camarillo and traveled 15 yards in the air. These were the three farthest passes in the air by Pennington all game including incomplete passes. PLAYER TIDBITS * Will Allen's pass interference on the first 3rd down of the game was awful. It was 3rd and five and he felt the need to try to aggressively break up the pass when the receiver was 3 yards shy of the first. * When the Falcon's first drive ended it was because Philip Merling drilled Matt Ryan in the chest on 2nd and 3rd down. * On Pennington's fumble Ronnie had to block and went for the DE's legs which would have been enough since the play was clearly a quick pass by Chad had to hold it because he had nobody to throw too. * Also on that fumble play, for some reason on 3rd and 5 we had both Ginn and Camarillo running crossing routes 3yards in front of the first down marker. * Matt Ryan was under pressure all day and was knocked to the ground over 7 times. * On the first TD pass to the fullback Channing Crowder was running towards him but then strangely looked behind him at a covered Tony Gonzalez and when he looked back he drifted away from the fullback. By the time he recovered the throw had already been made. * On Solai's second play in the game he drove the center back 2 yards on a run play, disrupting the play for no gain. On the play after that he drove the center 5 yards straight back into the pocket on a pass play. * Jake Long stopped that first fumble return from being a touchdown. * 2 straight fullback dives to start the second half? * On Hartline's PI he literally ran straight at the corner and run blocked him for a couple yards before turning around for the pass * Pennington's interception was bad. Peterson read it all the way and was in a zone right next to Fasano. * On Ronnie's big 14 yard play he had to juke twice in the backfield because of penetration and then destroyed a DB at the end of the run. * On the TD pass to Fasano that was called back Pennington was 2 yards over the line of scrimmage but they didn't call it. * Pennington was extra awful on 2nd and long. He was 5-7 for only 27 yards. He had one first down and one interception. His yards per attempt was 3.8. * Ronnie had a fantastic block for Ricky where he took out two defenders. Enjoy.
The only thing I'd add is the Falcons missed no tackles for most of the game, when there was a one on one opportunity to make a tackle, they simply made the play.
That's true. I can't really remember a broken tackle on our side. It was also funny that right before Bell missed that tackle on Gonzalez, the camera showed him and the announcers mentioned what a good tackler he was.
Good stuff. I guarantee the Falcons would have challenged Penny being over the LOS on that TD if there hadn't been a penalty. I wonder if the Special Teams (or lack thereof) is especially awful with the departure of Brandon London. While he underachieved as a WR, he was excllent on ST and a good blocker.
I noticed the Ginn short crossing route a few times, and guess what? They were all on 3rd and short. Same thing as last year. They really need to come up with some new plays because I'm noticing a trend based on the down and distance, and if I notice it, you know damn well the defense does too. It's simple for me. The basic offense needs to be more aggressive. They need to have a lot more variety, and they need to get the ball to the play makers.
Even DBess is who is waterbug quick did not shake a single tackler and there were normally 2 red jerseys around every Phin who caught the ball and they also gang tackled really well, as I've said, they just looked fresher than we did in that game. And the pressure came on key downs we would reach makeable third down territoy like 3rd and 5 and the pressure would force CP to move and then check down and when we finally did get some offensive flow going, we either A) brought in the WildCat or B) We would commit a turnover. Fasano's fumble and the perfect bounce for the long return was a back breaker, inside the 20, we were moving the ball 2 minutes to go in the half...just fugly.. On one reception and run I did see Akin A do his typical Hit/Slide off/try to ankle tackle bit, and of course it did not work.
We couldn't break tackles which really killed us since on third down we rarely threw past the first down marker.
Based on what the defenses know about Penny, it's not surprising that they clamped down on those short yardage situations. Since we can't stretch the field with the threat of a deep ball, you don't see soft spots or holes like you do when watch say, New England or New Orleans play. This is why the running game is so key. We need to establish it to setup playaction for Penny. That is truly the strength of his game and why we were successful last season.
Our offensive philosophy rarely calls for throwing the ball past the yard marker, the idea is the player is supposed to carry the ball across the first down line or end zone. As for Ginn's drag route, that is where Joey Haynos should shine, 6'8 is a nature mismatch.
It's such stupid philosophy. Why rely the run after the catch if you can just throw the ball past the yard marker.
Well, the guy who catches the ball is supposed to be our most talented player(s) Ronnie Ricky Ginn Bess, and the defense generally collapses to the yard marker making it a contest between our guy and their guy to pick up the yardage. My complaint is that Penny does not hit the receiver in stride giving them forward momentum to pick up the first down or what have you.
If the defense is collapsing towards the yard marker then why don't we grow some balls and throw it past the yard marker. If it's 3rd and 7 we should throw an 11 yard pass. I also have noticed that for someone who is often coined "the most accurate passer of all time" he is not that good at hitting players in stride.
Because there is less chance of a turnover throwing the ball underneath the coverage. A part of that is we are not a good Screen offense we just do not have the sense of timing required to make a screen pass work, a swing pass sort of works on the same principle but typically Penny throws the ball while the receivers back is to the defense which negates alot of the advantage of momentum moving toward the tacklers
I remember 2 plays from last year (not dolphins) where I thought the same thing The rule states that every part of the QB's body has to be over the line of scrimmage, so Penny's toe might have made it a legal throw
not enough zip on the ball. Goes back to arm strength, he can make the throw, it just takes longer to get there.
Of the falcon's 4 scoring drives the first and longest was longer than the other 3 combined! We got beat by shooting ourseleves not by Atlanta, so say the stats.
