Falcons-Lions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Although the Dirty Birds took a loss to the Detroit Lions, there were some bright spots for the Falcons throughout the game.

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you the good, the bad, and the ugly, a series of post-game notes that I will post after each of the four preseason games.

The Good

The Falcons first and second team offense was pretty effective for the first preseason game.

DT Thomas Johnson did well at getting penetration and got a very clutch sack.

Although his stats don't show it, Peria Jerry did pretty well. There was a play when he jumped of the line of scrimmage so fast that he forced the opposing LG and C to double team him and the rest of the D-line were able to get pressure (hopefully that will happen consistently throughout the season).

Michael Turner looks like he can carry another 376 balls (although that will never happen again).

Roddy White played very well.

Christopher Owens may have had a the best game out of everyone. He was consistently around the ball and was a beast on run plays. He tackled better than our linebackers.

Many fans are saying that Mike Peterson looked a lot like Keith Brooking during the game (slow to react and looked "old" at times), but i think he looked pretty impressive. There was a play where Peterson went on a blitz, got blocked, and still ran Culpepper out of bounds when he tried to scramble. Brooking would have let him run for 30+ yards and maybe a touchdown.

Eric Weems may have an early lead for punt return duties. He caught the ball consistently and even returned one for a pretty nice gain.

Thomas Brown ran the football very effectively and showed some promise.

The first team offensive line was quite effective on pass blocking.

Tackle Jose Valdez could be a future starter and could even take over as soon as next year since Tyson Clabo will be a free agent. But he'll have to make it passed Garrett Reynolds first.

Jamaal Anderson didn't get any sacks, but he did hurry the quarterback on a couple of plays and had some impressive plays against the run.

The Bad

Jerious Norwood didn't have a good game overall. He had one run for about seven yards. I think he may be more effective running from toss plays and catching passes in open space.

Thomas Brown on kick returns. Eric Weems may end up being the primary kick returner also.

Chris Owens coverage on deep routes. Since he's a shorter cornerback, he's got to learn to time his vertical just right to defend it.

DJ Shockley has a great arm, but it seems like he tries to show it off too much and forgets to be accurate.

Chandler Williams has hands of stone. Shockley may have had a better game if Williams wouldn't of dropped so many passes.

Brent Grimes had a good defensive play or two, but he had three or four penalties against him. The starting cornerback spot may not be a lock just yet. I think Chris Owens could catch him.

The Ugly

Oh yeah, there will only be one Ugly per post, if something else also really sticks out I'll consider making it two.

Okay, It's time for the Ugly.

The Falcons run defense wasn't as bad as the stats indicated.  It was the opposing quarterbacks picking up big chunks of yardage each time they scrambled that made the stats look bad (and also running back Aaron Brown and his long run to the endzone). The Falcons may allow to let the safeties play closer to prevent those long runs.

So my question to the loyal fans of the Atlanta Falcons is..."Who impressed to most?"