Bleacher Report - Articles by Jason

NFL Week Seven: Atlanta Falcons Gain Credibility Without Playing?

Jason — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:12:37 -0400

The Atlanta Falcons are the NFL’s version of Rodney Dangerfield and his famous line, “I don’t get no respect!!”

These were the excuses given after each week so far this season.

Week One – Detroit at Atlanta (WIN)

The Falcons dominated the Lions 34-21, but instead of crediting Atlanta offense, most critics argued that Detroit’s ineptitude on defense was the reason for this opening game victory by the home team.

Week Two – Atlanta at Tampa Bay (LOSS)

Matt Ryan struggled in his first game outside the friendly confines of the Georgia Dome, and Michael Turner was held to just 42 yards rushing. Columnists argued that this was the Falcons team everyone expected to see and the learning curve may be too steep for Ryan to contribute immediately to help turn around this franchise.

Week Three – Kansas City at Atlanta (WIN)

Although the home team was favored by 4.5, as opposed to the Lions being favored by four in the first week, this was pretty much the same story as Week One, as far as the experts were concerned. The Falcons took care of the Chiefs by a final score of 38-14, but there was nary a peep heard about how well the home team played. Most of the attention was paid to a failing Kansas City team.

Week Four–Atlanta at Carolina (LOSS)

Given their first opportunity to help validate the 2008 season, Atlanta faltered once again at Carolina and failed to score a touchdown. Nearly everyone stated the Falcons could beat the bad teams, but were ineffective against the better teams.

Week Five –Atlanta at Green Bay (WIN)

A rookie quarterback is not supposed to go on the road and win in the NFL—especially at Lambeau Field. When he should have been rattled, Ryan began going no-huddle in “Peyton-esque” manner, and the Falcons took down the 5.5-point favorite Packers, 27-24. Commentators and columnists alike began to wonder if Atlanta was more than just a team that could beat bad teams.

Week Six – Chicago at Atlanta (WIN)

The Falcons couldn’t have and shouldn’t have won this game; but they did. Bad teams find a way to lose games, but good teams find a way to win them. The Falcons tried to lose the game with a missed Jason Elam field goal and a Chris Houston blown coverage in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, but somehow, a Harry Douglas kick return, a Ryan to Jenkins connection, and a Jason Elam redemption field goal later, Atlanta had found a way to win.

There have been excuses made every step of the way this season, from “the Falcons got some lucky breaks” and “the teams that Atlanta is playing are injured” to “the team can’t win in the NFC South.”

Finally, the Falcons gained some credit this past weekend during their bye-week.

While Detroit and Kansas City displayed just how incompetent they are, the Falcons did what good teams should do when they beat these two teams.

The two Falcons’ losses have been to teams with a combined 10-4 record. Both Tampa bay and New Orleans showed their strength by winning handily in Week Seven.

In addition, Atlanta’s victories over Green Bay and Chicago were validated as both teams pushed their records to 4-3 with victories over Indianapolis and Minnesota, respectively.

So, how many more victories will it take for the Falcons to get some much-due respect in the media?

Right now, the Eagles are favored by 8.5 points at home. If the Falcons keep getting denied the deference that they have duly earned so far this season, they will keep fighting as the underdog until the team is given the respect that they have earned.

It seems as though the team is beginning to get some esteem from the masses, but a victory in Philadelphia this weekend would go a long way to making their statement loud and clear...and begin getting the respect the Falcons have coming their way.

Michael Turner: The Burner Ignites Atlanta's Potential

Jason — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:47:38 -0400

Hot-lanta has become the Disney World of the NFL. There is not a publication that can be found that had the Falcons getting more than four wins for the 2008 season, and now they have become the marquee story of the 2008 season.

The team from Atlanta started the season at No. 32 on ESPN.com’s power rankings. Now the team is up to No. 15 and gaining popularity faster than the skinny girl at fat camp.

The Falcons came into the season “rebuilding” with a first-time, first-year general manager and head coach, along with a rookie quarterback.

In addition, even though Atlanta had a running back with the highest yards-per-carry average of any active player in the NFL (with at least 200 carries) in Jerious Norwood, they decided to pick up—and over-pay, in most experts’ initial opinions—the biggest offensive free agent on the market.

Michael Turner, a career back-up out of Northern Illinois, has arrived. Not only has Turner arrived, but he has helped transform a franchise and a city.

After backing up and learning from LaDainian Tomlinson, arguably the most complete running back in the NFL, Michael “The Burner” Turner has put up LaDainian-esque numbers through the first six games of the 2008 season.

The Burner has 597 yards on 128 attempts for a 4.7 yards-per-carry average and five runs of more than 20 yards. That includes sharing 41 carries with his dynamic backfield teammate Norwood.

The Falcons’ coaching staff has done a tremendous job with this young team, and they are using Turner efficiently while making the most of his explosive play-making abilities.

Currently, the team is 13th in the NFL in total points scored. However, this statistic is a bit misleading because Atlanta leads the league in field goals made with 16, while only having 12 offensive touchdowns.

During the bye week, the Falcons will be implementing new red zone schemes and working to improve on the current plan.

This team has been in the red zone 20 times in the first six weeks of the 2008 season, but they have only scored a touchdown eight times. At 40 percent, the Falcons are ranked 28th in the NFL in percentage of touchdowns scored in the red zone.

With the progress this coaching staff has made with this young Falcons team in the first third of the NFL calendar, expect Atlanta to come out of the bye week with a renewed vigor and the same excitement they have shown so far.

Oh, and you can expect The Burner to keep right on running people over and making big plays in the running game. Rarely has a free agent come in to a team and been able to contribute so much, so quickly.

Third-String Quarterback Starts, Shows Georgia Tech is Only Two-Deep

Jason — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:42:12 -0400

Paul Johnson's offense works. It just didn’t work on Saturday.

In a “cupcake” game against FCS opponent Gardner-Webb University, Georgia Tech’s players walked off historic Grant Field letting out a deep sigh that was only a notch lower on the totem pole of relief than a pair of 22-year-old unmarried college kids hoping only one pink line shows up on the First Response pregnancy test they bought 30 minutes earlier at the local Wal-Mart.

All week long, the local sportswriters and radio broadcasters tried to compare the drumming Gardner-Webb was going to take to the Cumberland College massacre of 1916. They tried to goat coach Johnson into saying that the Jackets would put up 100 points on the lowly Runnin’ Bulldogs.

Coach Johnson knew he could not expect to hit the century mark starting third-string quarterback Calvin Booker, but there’s no way in his brilliant offensive mind that he could foresee a 79-yard rushing effort in Georgia Tech’s future.

Johnson was not the problem on this lackluster afternoon in downtown Atlanta, but the fact that his first- and second-string quarterbacks were unfit to play almost gave a black eye to a Georgia Tech team on the upswing.

Starter Josh Nesbitt dressed out, but his strained hamstring kept him out of the game for a second straight week. Meanwhile, shifty backup quarterback Jaybo Shaw did not even bother to put on pads while recovering from a concussion suffered in the previous week’s 27-0 beating of Duke.

Because of Booker’s shocking lack of speed and quickness, coupled with severe problems pitching the ball outside in the triple-option offense, Gardner-Webb just set up outside and let the Tech quarterback’s ineptness aid the defense.

While Jonathan Dwyer came in averaging an ACC-best of over 109 yards per game, the ill-timing of Booker’s pitches seemed to throw off the star running back all game long. As great players do, however, Dwyer showed his raw talent and athletic ability during the second quarter, when he took a short pass 79 yards to the end zone for Georgia Tech’s sole touchdown of the game.

If Calvin Booker is going to be so ineffective in the passing game, why not put a running back or wide receiver at quarterback and let them run the option?

There is a moral to this past Saturday’s showing on “The Flats” at Georgia Tech, and the message is that the Yellow Jackets can rely on a veteran defense to be the constant when the offense is sputtering (or in this case, stalls out completely) and should have both of their effective quarterbacks healthy and ready to head up to Clemson this weekend.

Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech triple-option offense will be ready to redeem itself in Clemson, South Carolina this weekend, so the Tigers better be ready for a Jackets attack that will be coming full-throttle.

Week Six, Atlanta Falcons Email Dialogue: Daniel and Jason Talk It Over

Jason — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:24:43 -0400

Wednesday, Oct. 8 – Jason to Daniel

Three wins. I did not see a preseason publication that predicted the Falcons win total at any number higher than four. I'm not saying that these young birds are going to win the Super Bowl, but going into Week Six of the NFL season with a 3-2 record is pretty incredible.

Apparently the odds-makers in Vegas agree with me because, including this week's game at home against the Bears, the Falcons have been underdogs against-the-spread in five of their first six games.

Through five games, Atlanta's Michael Turner is leading the NFL in rushing yards, John Abraham is the NFL leader in sacks, Roddy White is third in the league in receiving yards, and rookie quarterback, Matt Ryan, looks more like Peyton Manning in his fifth year than a first-year quarterback.

With these individual achievements has come some recognition that the Falcons haven't had in a while, national critics are starting to take notice—check out the ESPN Power Rankings where the Falcons have gone from No. 32 in week one to No. 20 in the current Week Six scale, and Pat Yasinskas (ESPN.com's resident NFC South expert) has gone from saying, "The Falcons are throwing rookie QB Matt Ryan into the fire. He'll need a lot of help from the defense," (in Week One) to, "Matt Ryan won at Lambeau Field. That means he can win anywhere" (in Week Six).

Come on Pat! Get on the Falcons' bandwagon that Matty Ice is driving for us!

Oh, and R & R doesn't stand for Rest & Relaxation in Atlanta any more. It represents the next great quarterback/wide receiver tandem in the NFL...Ryan to Roddy, get you some R & R!

Wednesday, Oct. 8 – Daniel to Jason

R&R—I love it! I think we just found the Ryan to White nickname. I may have to use that one.

I just heard that the Dome is sold-out for Sunday's game against the Bears. That's really nice news and in this post-Vick era (and in light of last season's debacle) something that I don't think was expected so quickly.

This game is starting to feel like one of real importance. If last week's win, on the road, against the Packers established Atlanta as relevant, a win over the Bears, making the Falcons 4-2, would catapult the birds up everybody's "Power Rankings" and get more folks talking about them.

It is still early, but if you peek ahead, this is what's coming up: A bye in Week Seven (which will be needed after what is expected to be a tough game with Chicago), a tough, yet winnable game (especially if the health of Westbrook remains in question) in Philly, at Oakland, home versus the Saints, home versus the Broncos (a tough game if the secondary remains in the shape it's in—speaking of the secondary, where is Foxworth?), home versus the Panthers, and at San Diego.

It's still a tough schedule, but I think it could be manageable. After the game at the Chargers, three-quarters of the season will be over. Beat the Bears at home Sunday, and split those next six games and the Falcons are sitting at 7-5, which is beyond respectable.

Regardless of what happens, I think it's safe to say that this season, the Falcons exceed expectations and are a team on the rise. Smith and Dimitroff provide a bright future for the Falcons community.

We've come a long way in a year.

Wednesday, Oct. 8 – Jason to Daniel

R&R it is. It would be cool to get a shirt with one of those old railroad crossing signs and come up with a cool emblem for them. I'll let you work on that, since I came up with the nickname.

Hopefully the Falcons can use reverse-karma to find astrological strength in the fact that they avoided a (local television) blackout because blackouts haven't had much success in Georgia lately.

My Falcons' season tickets were $250 each, and a single upper-level end-zone ticket for the Bears game this weekend were going for more than three times the $25 face value. If only I didn't love the dirty birds as much as I do …

D. Orlando Ledbetter at the local Atlanta Journal-Constitution answers your question regarding Domonique Foxworth's whereabouts. Apparently Foxworth is mentoring our young cornerbacks instead of getting on the field, and he's not exactly pleased with the situation either.

It has to be tough for him, but the system is completely different than the scheme he was used to in Denver—and the Falcons did acquire him a mere five days before the beginning of the season.

However, I expect him to be in the lineup and contributing if the Falcons are going to have any chance of slowing down Philly, New Orleans (twice), Denver, or Carolina's passing attacks.

Did you know that Domonique was born in Oxford, England? That's a sweet little nugget of info for you to drop when he does get in the game. I was thinking of saying, "He looks cheeky" or "It's about bloody time" when they do start playing him.

If Dimitroff ran for president with Coach Smitty as his VP running mate, I would gladly blaze the campaign trail with them. Another good t-shirt idea for you.

Friday, Oct. 10 – Daniel to Jason

Okay, let me start by saying I'm going to need help setting up down at the gulch when I print the R&R shirts. So maybe you can help out with at least that.

Did you notice the line of Sunday's game is only two-and-a-half points in favor of the Bears? Something seems off about that. Now, I know the home team get a few points just for playing at home, and I'm certainly not much of a betting man (I did win last year's squares game at the Super Bowl though) but I feel like Vegas knows something we don't.

I hope you enjoy your upper-level seats. I'll enjoy the game from the comfort of my couch. The season tickets are incredibly inexpensive (hopefully they'll stay that way for a while—though I doubt it, and I probably missed my second window of opportunity to purchase tickets without a waiting list), but it's just not something I can swing right now—the newborn son thing and all.

I trust Coach Smith's judgment (Dimitroff/Smith ticket is what I may write in on Election Day), but this Foxworth thing is still curious to me. I hear what they're saying about familiarity with the system, but he's a third-year player (a veteran in the NFL's book), you'd think he'd have familiarized himself by now.

He played well in Denver and you can't help but think he'd offer that young secondary some help if he actually found his way onto the field. The plays that Grimes is giving up are starting to make me nervous.

Roddy White is currently listed as questionable for the game. I guess he ran into Milloy with his head at practice on Wednesday. Laurent Robinson is doubtful. If both of those players are not in the game Sunday, I feel doubtful about the Falcons' chances.

Georgia Proves You Can Teach an Old Dawg New Tricks

Jason — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 08:43:29 -0400

Damon Evans is a genius amongst his peers, a man amid boys, a riding lawnmower surrounded by push mowers.

While other Athletic Directors in the SEC whine and complain about how tough the conference is, how easy the Pac-10 is, and how their respective schools have to schedule “cupcake” out of conference games, the University of Georgia AD went outside conventional thinking and set a precedent that other SEC schools should line up and follow.

The article “The Dawg Genius Behind the Georgia/Arizona State Game” refers to the 2008 UGA schedule and the foresight of the Georgia Athletic Department. The reasoning behind the article is the “Genius” idea of Georgia’s long-term insight into how they could influence the thought process of the voters and affect the BCS rankings through clever scheduling changes.

In the 10 years since the BCS commenced in 1998, there have been nine different national champions from five separate conferences. Four of the champions have been from the SEC, while the other six trophies are divided amongst the ACC (two), Big 12 (two), Big Ten (one), and Pac-10 (one).

After watching an undefeated Auburn team play an out of conference schedule that included such cupcake teams as Louisiana-Monroe, The Citadel, and Louisiana Tech, and not make the BCS Championship game in 2004, what did the Georgia AD do? He learned what not to do and how to influence the pollsters by taking UGA football outside of the Southeast.

**Side Note** It seems as if almost every non-conference team that Auburn plays against sounds something like the South Central Louisiana State University that Bobby Boucher plays for in The Waterboy.

Really, Auburn? If you can’t schedule any teams that are more challenging than the SCLSU Mud Dogs, then maybe the voters were right in leaving you out of the championship game.

Other than the Big Ten, Damon Evans has attempted to schedule games with each of the other conferences represented by all of the past BCS champions.

While the reputation of the ACC has taken a harder hit than Charlie Weis' knee this season, Georgia Tech always plays Georgia tough, and Clemson will be added to the slate in 2013 and 2014.

The Big 12 is on the schedule too, as UGA travels to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State during the 2009 season, and in 2010 the Dawgs visit an improving Colorado program.

Not to leave out the West Coast, the Bulldogs have four games against Pac-10 teams in the coming years, as they battle Arizona State in 2008 and 2009 before heading up to Autzen Stadium to play Oregon in 2015 and hosting the Ducks in 2016.

The Dawgs even have a home and home in 2011 and 2012 with Louisville of the upstart Big East.

UGA Football’s Non-Conference Opponents in the Coming Seasons

2008: Arizona State (away), Central Michigan (home), Georgia Southern (home), Georgia Tech (home)

2009: Arizona State (home), Oklahoma St. (away), Tennessee Tech (home), Georgia Tech (away)

*2010: Colorado (away), Georgia Tech (home), open, open

*2011: Louisville (home), Coastal Carolina (home), Georgia Tech (away), open

*2012: Louisville (away), Georgia Tech (home), open, open

*2013: Clemson (away), Appalachian State (home), Georgia Tech (away), open

*2014: Clemson (home), Georgia Tech (home), open, open

*2015: Oregon (away), Georgia Tech (away), open, open

*2016: Oregon (home), Georgia Tech (home), open, open

* Signifies that this is the tentative schedule.

This variety of early season matchups with power conference teams allows the University of Georgia the opportunity to have “statement” games.

The same teams have been (for the most part) in the top 10 of the polls or in the upper echelon of performance for the past six to eight years, so this scheduling allows voters the opportunity to make a direct comparison of how one contender handles an opponent, as opposed to how Georgia manages against the same team.

If the Dawgs go in and beat the Sun Devils in 2008 by 35 points, and the University of Southern California comes in later in the year and wins a close game, this single degree of separation will force the pollsters to take notice and reward the Bulldogs for their ease of victory.

Along the same lines, if Georgia can beat up on Oklahoma State next year and Oklahoma struggles with the Cowboys, it will allow the voters to make an informed decision, should it come down to these two teams, about who they should choose to put in the BCS Championship Game.

While a schedule that is set up like UGA’s for the next few years could include a loss they would not have endured while playing against the Mud Dogs of SCLSU, the opportunities that will present themselves from Damon Evans' novel thinking could be the difference between being an also-ran and receiving a BCS Championship bid.

Georgia Tech's Scary Good Defense Joins an Offense With Options

Jason — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:32:01 -0400

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are back.

OK, so maybe they're not all the way back, but there hasn’t been this much excitement at Bobby Dodd Stadium since the days before Bobby Ross left to go coach Natrone Means and the San Diego Chargers.

New head coach Paul Johnson is everything that Chan Gailey wasn’t. He’s straightforward about his team and his players, speaks his mind (almost to a fault) with the media, and he has brought an option attack to Jackets the likes of which have not been seen since the wishbone days when Danny Myers and Randy Rhino were roaming the Flats in the mid-'70s.

Like their first opponent Jacksonville State’s coach, Jack Crowe, said, "There's just too many issues with this offense for people to deal with. We had two and a half weeks to deal with it. The rest of these folks will get two days. Good luck, ACC."

Paul Johnson has done something that most coaches (attention, Rich Rodriguez) can’t push their ego to the side and attempt. He is a system coach that has adapted his successful approach to the players that he has adopted in his first year, and not the other way around.

While the basis behind his triple-option attack has stayed the same as he makes the most of tailback Jonathan Dwyer’s speed and elusiveness, he is also utilizing Josh Nesbitt’s passing ability in an attempt to throw the ball down the field.

While the approach is encouraging, Nesbitt has not had his receivers be as successful in actually catching the balls thrown their way as Tech would like. However, as Nesbitt familiarizes himself with Johnson’s option attack, those passing yards will become nice little bonuses to an efficient and effective rushing attack. Judging by his 151 yards rushing against a stout Virginia Tech defense, Nesbitt seems to be acclimating himself to the triple-option quite nicely.

Jon Tenuta may have departed for South Bend and “Touchdown Jesus,” but, fortunately for Ga. Tech fans, the former defensive coordinator left the Yellow Jackets with one hell of a defense.

With future clear-cut NFL first-round picks in cornerback Morgan Burnett (two interceptions this year) and defensive lineman Michael Johnson, along with a wealth of other experienced talent, the Tech faithful will not have to worry if the offense has trouble putting a considerable amount of points on the scoreboard. This defense will rank among the NCAA's best by year’s end.

With a consistent defense, an offense that is transitioning but can score from anywhere on the field, and an energetic new coach, bowl-bound Georgia Tech should have no trouble getting to seven or eight wins by the time they go up against Georgia between the hedges in Athens on November 29th.

The Boston College Ceiling of Expectations...or Lack Thereof

Jason — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:29:57 -0400

While the Boston College defense looks eerily familiar to last year, the offense appears to be looking for an identity.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. A team doesn’t quickly recover from losing its star player, quarterback, and captain to the NFL. Chris Crane is no Matt Ryan, and now it is up to Jeff Jagodzinski to find a manageable offensive game plan.

Coach Jags needs to board up the offensive line and get something going. While the GA Tech defensive front may be one of the best they face all season, three sacks (including a safety) and two interceptions by Crane is not going to get the job done.

Jags will have to use his expertise on the offensive side of the ball to vary the game plan from last year because, without Ryan at quarterback, the Eagles will not be throwing the ball over 46 times or averaging 28 points per game.

If they want to be successful this year, the Eagles will have to rely on Crane’s mobility, as well as the inexperienced Jeff Smith and freshman Josh Haden at tailback to set the tone and use up some clock. This will allow the impressive BC defense to do what they do best and shut down opposing offenses.

Boston College returns six starters on defense, but their biggest gain will be getting a former five-star recruit in linebacker Brian Toal, who sat out last year with a medical redshirt, back into the starting line-up (not to mention that Toal led the team in rushing touchdowns in 2006 with six). His leadership on defense and in the locker room will keep this team in games late.

The loss of sophomore defensive end, Alex Albright, is a substantial one, and the only way the 2008 Boston College team will be successful is if the veteran defense is able to impose their will on opposing offenses while keeping up the morale of the Eagles inexperienced offense by continuously giving them a short field of scoring opportunities.

Already at 1-1 after beating Kent State in their opener and losing to Georgia Tech in Week Two, Boston College will have their work cut out for them this season if they even want to be eligible for a bowl bid this year.

The Eagles should have three more guaranteed wins on their schedule (Rhode Island, NC State, and Maryland), however the defense will need to win at least two more games against a tough ACC Schedule and Notre Dame.

The ACC seems to be abnormally weak this year, and unless they can surprise the critics, Boston College is not helping to strengthen it up.

The Dawg Genius Behind the Georgia/Arizona State Game

Jason — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:12:33 -0400

A lot has been made in NCAA football this year about how difficult UGA's schedule is going to be this year. Everyone is right. The critics, the analysts, the fans, the haters. They're all right.

After two cupcake victories and a win over perennial headache, South Carolina, the Dawgs travel to Tempe to play Arizona State. UGA then gets to play four of their next seven games against teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll (as of Sept. 14)—with three of those four games being away from the comfortable confines of Sanford Stadium. That's a strength of schedule that cannot be rivaled, even by other schools in the SEC.

With all of those games on the schedule, an objective viewer might say that UGA's biggest game could come this weekend when they travel across the country to play against the Sun Devils. The reason is simple. This is a statement game.

During the first small portion of this season, the majority of college football analysts have determined that the major players who could be in the BCS title game could be Southern California, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Wisconsin—with outside shots (meaning theses teams would need to win the remainder of their games to have a shot) being given for Texas Tech, BYU, South Florida, East Carolina, Ohio State, Penn State, and Oregon.

Only one team on UGA's schedule this year is against a mutual opponent (outside of SEC competition) of any of the major BCS national championship contenders. This week's opponent, Arizona State, will play against USC and Oregon after dealing with UGA.

Damon Evans, Georgia's Athletic Director, has provided the nation and pollsters with a statement game. By traveling to Tempe and playing against Arizona State, UGA has the opportunity to give the voters a single degree of separation to USC (and to a lesser degree Oregon). This will allow everyone to compare how UGA plays against Arizona State and how USC handles the same game when they get ASU three weeks later in Los Angeles.

Especially if UGA loses to an in-conference opponent during the previously mentioned gauntlet of games, this game could keep the Dawgs alive for the BCS Championship game.

Expect Coach Richt to unleash his offense on the Sun Devils on Saturday evening. Not only will UGA win, but they will run up the score as much as possible to make their statement that they belong in the national championship as much as any team.