A.J. Hicks
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- zoomy
Wife works tomorrow. What Falcons games should I watch in preparation? I have already watched the game they played week 17 vs. the Panthers.
What Falcons Fans Are Saying Before The Game
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A.J. Hicks
Hall of Fame
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- zoomy
We have a few guys that have played some big games under the BIG lights. Gurley, Goff, Kupp, Woods, Watkins, and Tavon have put up some big games in crunch type situations.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxzPryPMB74
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxzPryPMB74
RamsOfCastamere
I drink things, and know nothing
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This is my FAVORITE college highlight video. I used to watch this almost every day after Tavon was drafted. Sometimes I wish McVay would scheme a crossing route or something for him down field, something easy to catch in space.
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- #104
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/04/falcons-preparing-for-todd-gurleys-whole-new-motor/
Falcons preparing for Todd Gurley’s “whole new motor”
Posted by Josh Alper on January 4, 2018
Getty Images
The Falcons played the Rams late in the 2016 season and crushed them 42-14 on their way to winning the NFC title, but there’s not much they can glean from that experience as they get ready for Saturday night’s game in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Those were the final days of the previous Rams regime and even the holdovers from that team bear little relationship to what defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel calls “totally a different team.” Running back Todd Gurley fits into that category as he’s gone from averaging 3.2 yards per carry to MVP contention thanks to the threat he provides on the ground and as a receiver.
“He’s playing with a whole new motor about himself than he did the year before,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Guys up front are playing pretty hard.”
The good news for the Falcons is that their defense has done well against running backs all year. They only allowed one back to cross 100 yards in a game and they closed out the year by allowing opponents an average of 84.3 rushing yards over the final six games. That kind of effort would go a long way toward putting the Falcons in position to pull off a road win on Saturday night.
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Gurley is a BEAST but I’m not worried about it. Like the article states the Falcons have only given up one 100 yrd rusher all year. I expect the Falcons defense ( which has vastly improved to the number 9 ranked defense) to shut down the Rams running game and make Goff beat the Falcons with his arm….. Yeah good luck with that Rams.
And good luck to the rest of the NFL if the Falcons can turn a corner on offense. The Falcons worst enemy is themselves.
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Rams 35
Failcants 10
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As a Rams fan who as also watched quite a few Falcons games I have no problem saying he has his work cut out for him in the running game as the their defense is very fast and aggressive. With that being said Gurley is a monster in the screen pass game and if the Falcons aren’t properly prepared to defend it it’s going to be a long day for that defense.
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The Eagles were and are the #1 run defense and only allowed one 100+ yard rusher all year and that was with 2nd and 3rd string defense in week 17.
Gurley was still very effective when they played the rams, don’t play down how effective Gurley can be, good chance it’ll come back and bite you
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Agreed that would be a long day for the Falcons, but then AGAIN playing the Saints twice a year and their screen happy offense. I think we’ll be OK.
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https://www.dailybreeze.com/2018/01...ls-the-heat-as-atlanta-falcons-offense-slows/
Steve Sarkisian feels the heat as Atlanta Falcons’ offense slows
By MARK WHICKER
THOUSAND OAKS — He is the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive conductor. Which, in football, means he’s the lightning rod.
The heat is not new to Steve Sarkisian.
Last year the Falcons came within one deep cough of winning their first Super Bowl and averaged a league-high 34.1 points. This year they’re 15th, with 22.1.
Last year’s coordinator was Kyle Shanahan, who parlayed it into the head gig with San Francisco.
This year’s coordinator is Sarkisian, the ex-USC and Washington coach who, a year ago, was the emergency play-caller for Alabama in a national championship playoff loss to Clemson.
“We’ve had a lot of tough wins, we’ve had a lot of tough losses,” Sarkisian said Wednesday in his weekly meeting with Atlanta media. “We won the turnover battle last week, converted the third downs … it was cool to see that effort in Week 17. We’ve been a team that’s had resiliency all year.”
The Falcons beat Carolina, 22-10, to return to the playoffs. Don’t minimize that. They are the only NFC playoff team from 2016 which did.
But they scored just one touchdown on the Panthers and kicked five field goals in that must-win game, and were 1-for-5 in the red zone. That has become their pedestrian reality.
As the Falcons’ defenders have become commandos who evoke comparisons with the old Seahawks, the offense can’t escape the mud, although it’s the same crew that was a knife through butter last season.
“I can’t figure it out,’ said Chris Draft, the ex-Falcons, Stanford and Valencia High linebacker who lives in Atlanta. “For some reason they don’t look comfortable on offense.”
“It’s like watching a world-class sprinter explode out of the blocks and then he pulls up with a cramp,” said Tony Gonzalez, the future Hall of Fame tight end who spent his final five years with Atlanta.
These Falcons have had four 30-point games this season and haven’t topped 24 in any of their past five. Same Matt Ryan at quarterback, same Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu out wide, same Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman running, same offensive line.
The only real change is Sarkisian, who was reviled at Washington for failing to win Pac-12s, was fired at USC for alcohol-abuse problems, and somehow caught flak at Alabama for a 31-point performance.
So who feels the pressing of the pointed finger? Obviously it’s Sarkisian, since Shanahan’s 49ers caught fire when QB Jimmy Garrapolo showed up, and Matt LaFleur, last year’s QB coach, is now counseling Jared Goff with the Rams.
“Shanahan was the quarterback whisperer,” Gonzalez said. “But I don’t see a lot of difference in the play calls. It’s just different when you get a new coordinator. Matt even had a learning curve with Kyle in his first season. Play-callers have their own rhythm, and it’s an adjustment.”
The Falcons have improved their third-down conversion ranking, from seventh to first. They’re down slightly in rushing yards from 2016, but then their runners have been nicked. They’re up about half a turnover per game, and Jones has dropped seven passes and scored only one touchdown.
The big difference is red zone performance. Last year the Falcons were 8th in the league, with touchdowns on 64.6 percent of their visits. This year they’re 23rd, at 50 percent.
Explosive plays are down, too. Atlanta is 9th in the league in 20-yards-plus passes, down from third last year, and has slipped from first to nine in 40-yard passes.
Ryan’s quarterback rating has slipped from 120 (first in the league) to 91.4 (15th).
So where’s the chicken, where’s the egg?
“I think their defense has been so good that maybe they don’t feel like they have to score as quickly as they did,” said Dave Archer, the Falcons’ radio analyst. “The defense has carried them in some games, kept it close until the offense could stop stumbling.
“The quarterback and the coordinator always catch the criticism, and that’s happened here with Matt and Steve. Maybe it’s hard to expect the offense to perform like last year, to those standards. Matt was a 5,000 passer, the two backs had over 1,600 yards (and 19 touchdowns). Teams are targeting the Falcons this year, and they’ve had more prime-time games, a more difficult schedule.”
The dank residue of last Feb. 5 required several hosedowns before it dissolved. Or maybe it hasn’t yet. No other team had watched its 25-point Super Bowl lead sail away.
“Everybody should have known the Patriots weren’t going anywhere,” Draft said. “They were going to keep playing. That’s a lesson the Falcons learned.”
And, if you recall, the postgame lightning landed on the head of Shanahan, who was knocked for calling too many passes and not exhausting the clock. The thunder wasn’t whispering, either.
View: http://www.atlantafalcons.com/early-bird/article-1/Early-Bird-Report-14-Experts-favor-Falcons-on-the-road-analyzing-NFC-playoff-field/e5edab3f-1be9-404a-be6a-dc193b48bd34
Wild-card round expert picks: Falcons a surprise favorite on the road
Although they are entering Saturday’s matchup as the lower seed, the Falcons have the support of the experts at CBS Sports. Six of the eight expert pickers favor Atlanta on the road in Los Angeles, the highest level of support a road team is receiving in the first round. CBS Sports’ Senior Writer Pete Prisco continued his season-long trend of backing the Falcons, picking them to earn a 30-27 victory against the Rams. Here is part of what Prisco had to say about his choice:
“This will be the first playoff game for a lot of Rams players, including quarterback Jared Goff, and also coach Sean McVay. The Falcons will bring a playoff-tested group that went to the Super Bowl last season, which gives them an edge.”
FiveThirtyEight’s projection model also gives Atlanta a slight edge in the first round. According to the site, the Falcons have a slim 51 percent win probability against the Rams on Saturday. At SB Nation, the experts are split right down the middle. Four of the eight pickers like the Falcons on the road, while an equal number believe the Rams will defend their home turf.
NFL.com: Strengths and weaknesses of each NFC playoff team
With the playoffs nearly upon us, Marc Sessler of NFL.com analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each NFC team in the postseason. As the only returning playoff team in the conference, the Falcons were very much a part of that analysis.
In searching for the Falcons’ strength to identity, Sessler landed upon experience. After making it all the way to the Super Bowl last season, the Falcons are the only team with immediate playoff experience to call upon this year. As for the weakness, here’s what Sessler had to say:
“Looking through the prism of Saturday's road tilt against the Rams, I don't see a team that can stay competitive if Los Angeles does what everyone expects: pour on points from beginning to end.
The Rams have churned out a league-leading 29.9 points per game, with the ability to thrash defenses by land and through the air. It goes beyond the loss of Kyle Shanahan, with quarterback Matt Ryan simply not playing at least year's MVP level. Atlanta has scored under 25 points in five straight affairs, the Falcons' longest streak since 2015. I don't like the matchup.”
View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/948735680783544320
View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/948753113720045568
Falcons preparing for Todd Gurley’s “whole new motor”
Posted by Josh Alper on January 4, 2018
Getty Images
The Falcons played the Rams late in the 2016 season and crushed them 42-14 on their way to winning the NFC title, but there’s not much they can glean from that experience as they get ready for Saturday night’s game in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Those were the final days of the previous Rams regime and even the holdovers from that team bear little relationship to what defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel calls “totally a different team.” Running back Todd Gurley fits into that category as he’s gone from averaging 3.2 yards per carry to MVP contention thanks to the threat he provides on the ground and as a receiver.
“He’s playing with a whole new motor about himself than he did the year before,” Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Guys up front are playing pretty hard.”
The good news for the Falcons is that their defense has done well against running backs all year. They only allowed one back to cross 100 yards in a game and they closed out the year by allowing opponents an average of 84.3 rushing yards over the final six games. That kind of effort would go a long way toward putting the Falcons in position to pull off a road win on Saturday night.
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Gurley is a BEAST but I’m not worried about it. Like the article states the Falcons have only given up one 100 yrd rusher all year. I expect the Falcons defense ( which has vastly improved to the number 9 ranked defense) to shut down the Rams running game and make Goff beat the Falcons with his arm….. Yeah good luck with that Rams.
And good luck to the rest of the NFL if the Falcons can turn a corner on offense. The Falcons worst enemy is themselves.
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Rams 35
Failcants 10
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As a Rams fan who as also watched quite a few Falcons games I have no problem saying he has his work cut out for him in the running game as the their defense is very fast and aggressive. With that being said Gurley is a monster in the screen pass game and if the Falcons aren’t properly prepared to defend it it’s going to be a long day for that defense.
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The Eagles were and are the #1 run defense and only allowed one 100+ yard rusher all year and that was with 2nd and 3rd string defense in week 17.
Gurley was still very effective when they played the rams, don’t play down how effective Gurley can be, good chance it’ll come back and bite you
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Agreed that would be a long day for the Falcons, but then AGAIN playing the Saints twice a year and their screen happy offense. I think we’ll be OK.
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https://www.dailybreeze.com/2018/01...ls-the-heat-as-atlanta-falcons-offense-slows/
Steve Sarkisian feels the heat as Atlanta Falcons’ offense slows
By MARK WHICKER
THOUSAND OAKS — He is the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive conductor. Which, in football, means he’s the lightning rod.
The heat is not new to Steve Sarkisian.
Last year the Falcons came within one deep cough of winning their first Super Bowl and averaged a league-high 34.1 points. This year they’re 15th, with 22.1.
Last year’s coordinator was Kyle Shanahan, who parlayed it into the head gig with San Francisco.
This year’s coordinator is Sarkisian, the ex-USC and Washington coach who, a year ago, was the emergency play-caller for Alabama in a national championship playoff loss to Clemson.
“We’ve had a lot of tough wins, we’ve had a lot of tough losses,” Sarkisian said Wednesday in his weekly meeting with Atlanta media. “We won the turnover battle last week, converted the third downs … it was cool to see that effort in Week 17. We’ve been a team that’s had resiliency all year.”
The Falcons beat Carolina, 22-10, to return to the playoffs. Don’t minimize that. They are the only NFC playoff team from 2016 which did.
But they scored just one touchdown on the Panthers and kicked five field goals in that must-win game, and were 1-for-5 in the red zone. That has become their pedestrian reality.
As the Falcons’ defenders have become commandos who evoke comparisons with the old Seahawks, the offense can’t escape the mud, although it’s the same crew that was a knife through butter last season.
“I can’t figure it out,’ said Chris Draft, the ex-Falcons, Stanford and Valencia High linebacker who lives in Atlanta. “For some reason they don’t look comfortable on offense.”
“It’s like watching a world-class sprinter explode out of the blocks and then he pulls up with a cramp,” said Tony Gonzalez, the future Hall of Fame tight end who spent his final five years with Atlanta.
These Falcons have had four 30-point games this season and haven’t topped 24 in any of their past five. Same Matt Ryan at quarterback, same Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu out wide, same Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman running, same offensive line.
The only real change is Sarkisian, who was reviled at Washington for failing to win Pac-12s, was fired at USC for alcohol-abuse problems, and somehow caught flak at Alabama for a 31-point performance.
So who feels the pressing of the pointed finger? Obviously it’s Sarkisian, since Shanahan’s 49ers caught fire when QB Jimmy Garrapolo showed up, and Matt LaFleur, last year’s QB coach, is now counseling Jared Goff with the Rams.
“Shanahan was the quarterback whisperer,” Gonzalez said. “But I don’t see a lot of difference in the play calls. It’s just different when you get a new coordinator. Matt even had a learning curve with Kyle in his first season. Play-callers have their own rhythm, and it’s an adjustment.”
The Falcons have improved their third-down conversion ranking, from seventh to first. They’re down slightly in rushing yards from 2016, but then their runners have been nicked. They’re up about half a turnover per game, and Jones has dropped seven passes and scored only one touchdown.
The big difference is red zone performance. Last year the Falcons were 8th in the league, with touchdowns on 64.6 percent of their visits. This year they’re 23rd, at 50 percent.
Explosive plays are down, too. Atlanta is 9th in the league in 20-yards-plus passes, down from third last year, and has slipped from first to nine in 40-yard passes.
Ryan’s quarterback rating has slipped from 120 (first in the league) to 91.4 (15th).
So where’s the chicken, where’s the egg?
“I think their defense has been so good that maybe they don’t feel like they have to score as quickly as they did,” said Dave Archer, the Falcons’ radio analyst. “The defense has carried them in some games, kept it close until the offense could stop stumbling.
“The quarterback and the coordinator always catch the criticism, and that’s happened here with Matt and Steve. Maybe it’s hard to expect the offense to perform like last year, to those standards. Matt was a 5,000 passer, the two backs had over 1,600 yards (and 19 touchdowns). Teams are targeting the Falcons this year, and they’ve had more prime-time games, a more difficult schedule.”
The dank residue of last Feb. 5 required several hosedowns before it dissolved. Or maybe it hasn’t yet. No other team had watched its 25-point Super Bowl lead sail away.
“Everybody should have known the Patriots weren’t going anywhere,” Draft said. “They were going to keep playing. That’s a lesson the Falcons learned.”
And, if you recall, the postgame lightning landed on the head of Shanahan, who was knocked for calling too many passes and not exhausting the clock. The thunder wasn’t whispering, either.
View: http://www.atlantafalcons.com/early-bird/article-1/Early-Bird-Report-14-Experts-favor-Falcons-on-the-road-analyzing-NFC-playoff-field/e5edab3f-1be9-404a-be6a-dc193b48bd34
Wild-card round expert picks: Falcons a surprise favorite on the road
Although they are entering Saturday’s matchup as the lower seed, the Falcons have the support of the experts at CBS Sports. Six of the eight expert pickers favor Atlanta on the road in Los Angeles, the highest level of support a road team is receiving in the first round. CBS Sports’ Senior Writer Pete Prisco continued his season-long trend of backing the Falcons, picking them to earn a 30-27 victory against the Rams. Here is part of what Prisco had to say about his choice:
“This will be the first playoff game for a lot of Rams players, including quarterback Jared Goff, and also coach Sean McVay. The Falcons will bring a playoff-tested group that went to the Super Bowl last season, which gives them an edge.”
FiveThirtyEight’s projection model also gives Atlanta a slight edge in the first round. According to the site, the Falcons have a slim 51 percent win probability against the Rams on Saturday. At SB Nation, the experts are split right down the middle. Four of the eight pickers like the Falcons on the road, while an equal number believe the Rams will defend their home turf.
NFL.com: Strengths and weaknesses of each NFC playoff team
With the playoffs nearly upon us, Marc Sessler of NFL.com analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each NFC team in the postseason. As the only returning playoff team in the conference, the Falcons were very much a part of that analysis.
In searching for the Falcons’ strength to identity, Sessler landed upon experience. After making it all the way to the Super Bowl last season, the Falcons are the only team with immediate playoff experience to call upon this year. As for the weakness, here’s what Sessler had to say:
“Looking through the prism of Saturday's road tilt against the Rams, I don't see a team that can stay competitive if Los Angeles does what everyone expects: pour on points from beginning to end.
The Rams have churned out a league-leading 29.9 points per game, with the ability to thrash defenses by land and through the air. It goes beyond the loss of Kyle Shanahan, with quarterback Matt Ryan simply not playing at least year's MVP level. Atlanta has scored under 25 points in five straight affairs, the Falcons' longest streak since 2015. I don't like the matchup.”
View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/948735680783544320
View: https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/948753113720045568
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We've heard/seen this all season long, and somehow Gurley and the running game prevails. Cards, Seahawks, Eagles, Titans....Falcons.
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- Peter
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- #106
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/nfl-all-pro-player-matchups-wild-card-round
NFL All-Pro player matchups - Wild Card round
BY STEVE PALAZZOLO
FALCONS LB DEION JONES VS RAMS RB TODD GURLEY
The league’s top receiving running goes up against the No. 1 coverage linebacker as Todd Gurley’s versatility will be challenged by Deion Jones’athleticism. Gurley is the top-graded running back overall this season, earning him first-team All-Pro status, and the Rams will need him to be an impact in both the run and pass game. They will line him up out wide at receiver or feed him screen passes as they did in Week 16 when he finished with 10 catches for 158 yards, including an 80-yard score on a classic running-back screen.
The Falcons can combat Gurley with Jones, who brings great range to zone coverage and has the ability to read and diagnose those screen passes. While linebacker coverage stats can be misleading, Jones has allowed only 7.9 yards per reception into his primary coverage this season, eighth-best out of 90 qualifying linebackers, and it’s indicative of his ability to limit big plays which is a must if the Falcons are going to pull the upset against the Rams.
NFL All-Pro player matchups - Wild Card round
BY STEVE PALAZZOLO
FALCONS LB DEION JONES VS RAMS RB TODD GURLEY
The league’s top receiving running goes up against the No. 1 coverage linebacker as Todd Gurley’s versatility will be challenged by Deion Jones’athleticism. Gurley is the top-graded running back overall this season, earning him first-team All-Pro status, and the Rams will need him to be an impact in both the run and pass game. They will line him up out wide at receiver or feed him screen passes as they did in Week 16 when he finished with 10 catches for 158 yards, including an 80-yard score on a classic running-back screen.
The Falcons can combat Gurley with Jones, who brings great range to zone coverage and has the ability to read and diagnose those screen passes. While linebacker coverage stats can be misleading, Jones has allowed only 7.9 yards per reception into his primary coverage this season, eighth-best out of 90 qualifying linebackers, and it’s indicative of his ability to limit big plays which is a must if the Falcons are going to pull the upset against the Rams.
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Some things just don't translate to the pro level, where everyone is fast.
Maybe Austin will become something in the NFL... or maybe he was always just gonna be special in college.
Hope he lands somewhere and he is more successful that he has been with the Rams.
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- 7,155
I find it odd all the talking heads never mention the fact that the Rams OL and DL will be playing with an extra week off, giving them a chance to have fresher legs. Especially good for guys like Whitworth, Saffold and Sullivan. Brockers, Barwin, Barron Ogletree and Quinn should benefit greatly too.
It should give the Rams a huge edge. I guess talking heads don't think it makes much of a difference.
I've only been watching pro football for almost 60 years so what do I know
:baghead:
It should give the Rams a huge edge. I guess talking heads don't think it makes much of a difference.
I've only been watching pro football for almost 60 years so what do I know
:baghead:
Ellard80
Legend
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- Aug 11, 2016
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- 6,947
Yeah I mean their so cocky... like when 90% of our posters picked our 2nd string to beat the 49ners...
You can definitely see they have some misconceptions.. but their inability to be objective and bias is no different than any other fan base.
LACHAMP46
A snazzy title
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- 11,735
ahhhhh.....been looking for this...musta been on page 2
I just wanna put a 50 on them from last year.
Aaron Donald and Quinn can win this game by themselves...put the rush on their backs...control the run. Sark hasn't performed in this environment well.
Matty Ice will melt in so cal.....
True
I remember Jack Youngblood almost killing Chris Miller....or something like that...Never remember a good Falcons team...maybe those dirty birds for a season or 2. But we'd beat them savagely....
I just wanna put a 50 on them from last year.
truth at last
Aaron Donald and Quinn can win this game by themselves...put the rush on their backs...control the run. Sark hasn't performed in this environment well.
Matty Ice will melt in so cal.....
majrleaged
Hall of Fame
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I find it odd all the talking heads never mention the fact that the Rams OL and DL will be playing with an extra week off, giving them a chance to have fresher legs. Especially good for guys like Whitworth, Saffold and Sullivan. Brockers, Barwin, Barron Ogletree and Quinn should benefit greatly too.
It should give the Rams a huge edge. I guess talking heads don't think it makes much of a difference.
I've only been watching pro football for almost 60 years so what do I know
not enough to know that playoff experience trumps all other indicators.
all these bozos will once again have to scrap the egg off their face.
.
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- 41,518
These clowns are gettin on my last nerve. This might be the first game in a long time that I make an account on another team's board and haunt them after they get blown the F out.
Arrogant pricks.
Arrogant pricks.
96GS#007
Pro Bowler
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- Oct 1, 2011
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- 1,367
Does the experience that Wade Phillips brings count for anything? I guess not....
Color me tired of hearing about "experience".
- The 1999 Rams had no experience
- Tom Brady had no experience in 2001 (man that hurts to type!)
- Buffalo had a LOT of experience yet lost 4 Super Bowls in a row!
- The Vikings in years gone by had "experience" yet lost Super Bowls and playoff games
- etc
- etc
What an "easy button" narrative of lazy journalism
I think having 'tree able to tackle with both arms (assuming he's recovered from the hyper extension) will be significant. Having Barron able to play would be huge as well.
Having an OL healed up should pay dividends. Gotta like seeing big Whit as well as Saffold and Brown downfield blocking.
As the Falcons creep up to support the run, it feels like this game is asking for the seam routes to be pulled out of retirement. Don't recall many of those over the last 3-4 games.
Color me tired of hearing about "experience".
- The 1999 Rams had no experience
- Tom Brady had no experience in 2001 (man that hurts to type!)
- Buffalo had a LOT of experience yet lost 4 Super Bowls in a row!
- The Vikings in years gone by had "experience" yet lost Super Bowls and playoff games
- etc
- etc
What an "easy button" narrative of lazy journalism
I think having 'tree able to tackle with both arms (assuming he's recovered from the hyper extension) will be significant. Having Barron able to play would be huge as well.
Having an OL healed up should pay dividends. Gotta like seeing big Whit as well as Saffold and Brown downfield blocking.
As the Falcons creep up to support the run, it feels like this game is asking for the seam routes to be pulled out of retirement. Don't recall many of those over the last 3-4 games.
LACHAMP46
A snazzy title
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Well, we are the home teams...Home teams usually dominate the wildcard round....Vegas has us as a 6.5 favorite....meaning we'd even be favored in their house by 3.5....
Arrogant sons of bitches...aren't we?
:mrburnsevil:
MTRamsFan
Montana is God's Country
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- Greg
So I was attempting to watch ESPN Fantasy discussion while I was working out on the stair master, and the two bozos indicated Freeman will have a great day because the Rams defense will be too concerned about the falcons passing game. Regarding Gurley, they agreed he will struggle and conversely have a bad game. I will continue to beat the "underdog" drum. I hope everyone continues looking at this team as inferior to whomever they play, because they "lack playoff experience", "had a soft schedule", or whatever weak-a$$ excuse they want to use. Yes, this will be a hard game for our guys, but I so badly want to see them put an old fashion a$$ kicking on the falcons this weekend and shut-up all these clowns who said we have no chance. If we win, I will use as much social media to call all these guys out. For most of them the falcons are an easy choice to pick because they have the playoff experience. We saw what the 1999 team did, and it's not a stretch seeing this years' team do the exact same thing. To all the naysayers who think they know everything and say the Rams have no chance, well I say to you... Shut your freaking pie hole!
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https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/1/4/16848472/falcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
It Takes a Village to Stop Todd Gurley
The Falcons defense will need old heroes and new to topple the Rams offense
By Danny Heifetz
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Getty Images/Ringer illustration
This wild-card weekend, the Falcons defense will be up against a different kind of opponent than it saw during last year’s playoffs. Last January and February, the Falcons took on Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady. On Saturday against Los Angeles, Atlanta will see something that it never encountered during its Super Bowl run: a dominant running game. With a different front to focus on, Atlanta will need new stars to emerge.
The Falcons’ run defense this season was slightly better than last year—from 25th in the league in adjusted run defense to 19th—and it improved mightily down the stretch. Atlanta hasn’t given up more than 90 yards on the ground since December 3 despite facing Christian McCaffrey, and Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram (twice). But containing Todd Gurley is another story.
Since December 3, Gurley hasn’t rushed for fewer than 96 rushing yards in a game, and he’s averaged 197 yards from scrimmage. Gurley led the league in yards from scrimmage (2,093) and non-passing touchdowns (19) this season, and he’s even found his way into the MVP conversation.
Beyond Gurley, the Rams’ run game as a whole has improved under new head coach Sean McVay. Gurley had just 11 more carries in 2017, but he picked up nearly 50 percent more rushing yards and more than doubled his touchdown total from 2016—and that increase in production is a direct result of L.A.’s massive improvement on the offensive line.
This past offseason, the Rams splurged on veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan in free agency to bolster their core of right tackle Rob Havenstein and guards Rodger Saffold and Jamon Brown. That group, working within McVay’s system, has rejuvenated L.A.’s run blocking.
According to Football Outsiders’ adjusted line yards metric, the Rams were the league’s fourth-worst run-blocking group in 2016, but finished 2017 as the third-best. To combat that upgraded offensive line, Atlanta’s defense will need its household names and its less-celebrated players to work in tandem.
Vic Beasley, veteran Adrian Clayborn, and rookie Takk McKinley are the Falcons defenders that make headlines (and send viral tweets), but they are primarily pass rushers that struggle on run defense. Against the Rams, they will focus on trying to collapse the pocket and creating chaos around Jared Goff on dropbacks, and setting the edge and bouncing Gurley to the next defender on handoffs.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn has the luxury of deploying Beasley, Clayborn, and McKinley as situational pass rushers because defensive ends Brooks Reed and Derrick Shelby are two of the top eight edge defenders by run-stop percentage. Here’s Reed in Week 17, staying home on contain and helping to take down Panthers receiver Kaelin Clay in the open field on Panthers receiver Kaelin Clay.
View: https://twitter.com/SlopingGiraffe/status/947583107657498624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
And here is Shelby in Week 10 beating Cowboys tackle La’el Collins to take down Alfred Morris along the line of scrimmage.
View: https://twitter.com/SlopingGiraffe/status/929824061626216448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
Shelby and Reed playing a disciplined game will be critical to impeding the Rams’ offensive line, though they’ll also need help from the guys in the middle. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has quietly had an excellent season and is tied for the 14th among interior defenders in run-stop percentage, according to Pro Football Focus.
Despite being undersized for his position, Jarrett has consistently played well against the run and is known to shoot the gap, get into the backfield quickly, and rack up tackles for loss. Justis Mosqueda of Setting the Edge highlighted a series of excellent plays Jarrett made against Buffalo in Week 4:
View: https://twitter.com/JuMosq/status/915348780102197248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
In addition to wreaking havoc in the backfield, Jarrett has good balance and is difficult to move, which will be crucial to disrupting the Rams’ line and Gurley, whom Jarrett has experience against.
“Coming out [of] the combine I was asked who [was] the best player you ever felt like you played against in college,” Jarrett said this week. “And I always said Todd.”
Along with Jarrett, the other interior defender who’ll play a major role in stopping Gurley is Dontari Poe, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Falcons this past offseason to become their run stuffer.
Poe hasn’t been quite the mauler that Jarrett has this season, though he has excellent physical tools and is able to pressure the passer without compromising run defense. Together, Poe and Jarrett will have to eat space and knock Rams’ linemen off their paths, all in an effort to keep Gurley from doing things like this:
View: https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/942523557996834822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel may be able to help the defensive line by dialing up blitzes, but even that carries risk. The Rams—just like the Falcons’ offense last season—are excellent at burning that kind of aggressiveness with screens.
View: https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/945011039854247936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
Stopping a force of nature like Gurley, who is more Mad Max big rig than man, will require discipline, patience, and a little bit of luck for Atlanta’s front seven. The Falcons defense faces a new challenge in L.A., and they’ll need old and new heroes to step up and throw the Rams’ world-beating run game off of its axis.
It Takes a Village to Stop Todd Gurley
The Falcons defense will need old heroes and new to topple the Rams offense
By Danny Heifetz
Getty Images/Ringer illustration
This wild-card weekend, the Falcons defense will be up against a different kind of opponent than it saw during last year’s playoffs. Last January and February, the Falcons took on Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady. On Saturday against Los Angeles, Atlanta will see something that it never encountered during its Super Bowl run: a dominant running game. With a different front to focus on, Atlanta will need new stars to emerge.
The Falcons’ run defense this season was slightly better than last year—from 25th in the league in adjusted run defense to 19th—and it improved mightily down the stretch. Atlanta hasn’t given up more than 90 yards on the ground since December 3 despite facing Christian McCaffrey, and Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram (twice). But containing Todd Gurley is another story.
Since December 3, Gurley hasn’t rushed for fewer than 96 rushing yards in a game, and he’s averaged 197 yards from scrimmage. Gurley led the league in yards from scrimmage (2,093) and non-passing touchdowns (19) this season, and he’s even found his way into the MVP conversation.
Beyond Gurley, the Rams’ run game as a whole has improved under new head coach Sean McVay. Gurley had just 11 more carries in 2017, but he picked up nearly 50 percent more rushing yards and more than doubled his touchdown total from 2016—and that increase in production is a direct result of L.A.’s massive improvement on the offensive line.
This past offseason, the Rams splurged on veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth and center John Sullivan in free agency to bolster their core of right tackle Rob Havenstein and guards Rodger Saffold and Jamon Brown. That group, working within McVay’s system, has rejuvenated L.A.’s run blocking.
According to Football Outsiders’ adjusted line yards metric, the Rams were the league’s fourth-worst run-blocking group in 2016, but finished 2017 as the third-best. To combat that upgraded offensive line, Atlanta’s defense will need its household names and its less-celebrated players to work in tandem.
Vic Beasley, veteran Adrian Clayborn, and rookie Takk McKinley are the Falcons defenders that make headlines (and send viral tweets), but they are primarily pass rushers that struggle on run defense. Against the Rams, they will focus on trying to collapse the pocket and creating chaos around Jared Goff on dropbacks, and setting the edge and bouncing Gurley to the next defender on handoffs.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn has the luxury of deploying Beasley, Clayborn, and McKinley as situational pass rushers because defensive ends Brooks Reed and Derrick Shelby are two of the top eight edge defenders by run-stop percentage. Here’s Reed in Week 17, staying home on contain and helping to take down Panthers receiver Kaelin Clay in the open field on Panthers receiver Kaelin Clay.
View: https://twitter.com/SlopingGiraffe/status/947583107657498624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
And here is Shelby in Week 10 beating Cowboys tackle La’el Collins to take down Alfred Morris along the line of scrimmage.
View: https://twitter.com/SlopingGiraffe/status/929824061626216448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
Shelby and Reed playing a disciplined game will be critical to impeding the Rams’ offensive line, though they’ll also need help from the guys in the middle. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has quietly had an excellent season and is tied for the 14th among interior defenders in run-stop percentage, according to Pro Football Focus.
Despite being undersized for his position, Jarrett has consistently played well against the run and is known to shoot the gap, get into the backfield quickly, and rack up tackles for loss. Justis Mosqueda of Setting the Edge highlighted a series of excellent plays Jarrett made against Buffalo in Week 4:
View: https://twitter.com/JuMosq/status/915348780102197248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
In addition to wreaking havoc in the backfield, Jarrett has good balance and is difficult to move, which will be crucial to disrupting the Rams’ line and Gurley, whom Jarrett has experience against.
“Coming out [of] the combine I was asked who [was] the best player you ever felt like you played against in college,” Jarrett said this week. “And I always said Todd.”
Along with Jarrett, the other interior defender who’ll play a major role in stopping Gurley is Dontari Poe, who signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Falcons this past offseason to become their run stuffer.
Poe hasn’t been quite the mauler that Jarrett has this season, though he has excellent physical tools and is able to pressure the passer without compromising run defense. Together, Poe and Jarrett will have to eat space and knock Rams’ linemen off their paths, all in an effort to keep Gurley from doing things like this:
View: https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/942523557996834822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel may be able to help the defensive line by dialing up blitzes, but even that carries risk. The Rams—just like the Falcons’ offense last season—are excellent at burning that kind of aggressiveness with screens.
View: https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/945011039854247936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fnfl%2F2018%2F1%2F4%2F16848472%2Ffalcons-defense-todd-gurley-rams-wild-card
Stopping a force of nature like Gurley, who is more Mad Max big rig than man, will require discipline, patience, and a little bit of luck for Atlanta’s front seven. The Falcons defense faces a new challenge in L.A., and they’ll need old and new heroes to step up and throw the Rams’ world-beating run game off of its axis.
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