Atlanta Falcons-San Francisco 49ers: Falcons Strike Gold

If you listened to the experts this week, the Atlanta Falcons were assumed to not have enough offense to overcome the top-five Niners defense. It goes to show you, the Falcons cannot be underestimated.

"All week we’ve talked about going out to the west coast and taking care of business." said Coach Mike Smith. "We feel like we did a lot of things well today. There are some things we need to do better but we came out here and accomplished the things we wanted to accomplish."

I believe the greatest accomplishment was the statement it made to the NFL. This isn't the same NFL team football fans are used to seeing. In my pre-game write-up, I stated that I felt like this was a statement game and that 476 total yards and 45 points should do the trick.

"Our quarterback [Matt Ryan], threw the ball extremely well." Smith continued. "It was nice to see Roddy White [WR] have the kind of game that he had, over 200 yards of reception. I thought that our defense really applied the pressure from the beginning and did a nice job."

Both Ryan and White had career days. This duo will be a force in the NFL for years to come. On Sirius radio this morning I listened to Adam Schein and Rich Gannon talk with White about Sundays game.

"We came into the game knowing we had to be physical." said White. "[OC] Mike Mularkey put together a great gameplan and we just executed."

That you did.

You executed half the 49ers fan-base. Now, they must go into a bye week and watch that game tape over and over to figure out what went wrong. I pity Shaun Hill for the next two weeks.

According to Darryl Johnston, Kenny Albert, and Tony Siragusa, the Niners just didn't play up to their standards. Little, if any, credit was given to the Falcons offense for the explosion they displayed. It's almost as if the booth crew spent all their time preparing for a Niners victory rather than a Falcons coming out party.

I spent some time this week discussing the upcoming game with 49ers fans on their official message board. One fan in particular, 9ernation94, helped me break down what to expect with the Niners on Sunday. I promised him a shout out and thanks for the help, man.

He expected a much better day from [QB] Shaun Hill. The Falcons defense sent the house at him all day. It may mark the first time that the Falcons defensive coordinator  Brian Van Gorder blitzed in the fourth quarter rather than going to the old dependable, bend don't break prevent. The same defense that allowed the Panthers to mount a comeback in Week Two. 

Another unexpected surprise was third year player Jamaal Anderson. The coaching staff has utilized him more as a defensive tackle than end on Sunday. The difference has been his remarkable play. Several times I saw his jersey in the backfield. The staff may have found a place to groom the former first round pick.

The one thing we haven't covered thus far is the play of Falcons running back Michael Turner. He was three yards short of the 100-yard mark and scored three touchdowns. The offensive line really took its job seriously on Sunday and made a point.

“We knew going in that they were a physical group and they did a lot up front." said guard Harvey Dahl. "We just game planned and played them physical and that is what you have to do when you play a group like that."

"You got to try to match their intensity and their physicality and I think that is what we did. I think this is the kind of game that we want to play. I think we made it a physical game and that is the biggest statement. That we played physical.”

Not only did Dahl get in the head of the 49ers defensive line, he got into the head of the coach. Mike Singletary and Dahl exchanged a few words during the game that both reflected back on later.

"I'll put it this way: I wish I had more coaching etiquette. I don't," said Singletary, an emotional coach who was remarkably composed after watching his much-improved team stumble so badly at home. "I love my players and when someone responds about my players in a particular way, I may do some things I shouldn't do. I have to get better at those things as time goes on. I don't even want to talk about it anymore."

Both Dahl and Singletary refuse to say what they said in the altercation, but speculation has been made it involved Singletary wishing Dahl was playing in the 80s. Dahls response gave offensive tackle and partner in crime Tyson Clabo a good laugh.

The play of the game came when cornerback Dre Bly picked off a Ryan pass intended White and took off down the sidelines. On the Niners 30-yard line, Bly started mimicking his idol and buddy Deion Sanders. It didn't take White long to play catch up and force Bly to fumble the ball back to the Falcons.

"He started show boating five yards in front of me." said White. "All I was thinking was force the fumble and give our offense a chance to recover the ball."

A gamble that paid off. Bly didn't feel he did anything wrong on the play after the game, but on Monday we saw a much more apologetic Bly. Signs that show selfishness will not be tolerated by the Singletary regime.

TOUGH-MAN AWARD

There were a lot of hard hits on Sunday. I predicted Dahl would cause drama and he's always true to form. But no hit stood out more than one Niners running back Glen Coffee at the start of the game.

With 11:08 remaining in the first quarter, Coffee took a handoff and was met at the line of scrimmage. The hit Lofton delivered would knock out your average human being. But Coffee, slow to get up, shrugged it off and went on about his day.

But that hit did set a tempo for the defense that never relented.

JAMAAL ANDERSON LIVES

Taking snaps at defensive tackle, Anderson looked comfortable for the first time that I can remember. He was pressuring the QB and just missed out on two sacks. On one he was beaten by stand-out end John Abraham and on the other Shaun Hill managed to get rid of the ball. It was nice to see some life from the player many Falcons fans refer to simply as—Zombie.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

The Falcons had many players that stepped up Sunday that it's really tough to select only one. The defense as a whole played like they wanted the NFL to recognize their a force to be reckoned with with this season. Michael Turner made three trips into the end zone and came within three yards of going over 100 for the game.

Matt Ryan tossed for over 300 yards and two touchdowns while adding a third on the ground. That particular touchdown produced one of the single ugliest football spikes in NFL history. Still not enough to be the player of the game.

The player that most stood out was Roddy White. He deserves a game ball for not only his coming out party, but also breaking a thirty plus year Falcons receiving record. He also caused the fumble after the interception of Ryan that kept the Falcons offense on the field. At the time, the Falcons were up 21-10 and that turnover could have put the 49ers back into the game.

PLAY OF THE GAME

It's hard to look past White contribution on the forced fumble of Bly. It will replay on Sportscenter highlights for the rest of the week. That said, his 90-yard touchdown run stands out above all. Not only was it the third longest reception in Falcons history, but it showed the speed Falcons fans haven't seen this season.

IN SUMMARY

When you whip up on a team 45-10 there isn't much more you can say. The Falcons turned the ball over three times and still managed to produce the offensive explosion against a quality Niners defense. The 49ers were just out-played, out-coached and physically beaten on Sunday.

Mike Smith has his boys ready and it doesn't get easier this Sunday night against the Chicago Bears. Last season, we all remember that pass with six seconds by Ryan to Michael Jenkins that put the Falcons into field goal range. The rest is history.

More on that to come later in the week with my game preview article.