Falcons Pregame

Welp, Ill say this...I worried more about going to the Giants than going down to Atlanta to play. This is a winnable game imo

We need to do the obvious...run the ball. Lets just say this is an every game must do.

But more importantly imo, get pressure with our front four, mix in some Jarrett from the slot blitz and K Robinson/Goldson up the middle blitz. I think we need to be aggressive on the Matty Ice attack. Culliver is injuried and we need the ball to come out quick rather than what we saw last week where Bradford had time to throw it deep.

I think we can stop the run.

If somehow D Jax plays, this could be the game changer on offense. I expect Reed to be out, but DJax back is a bigger deal. Atlanta has given up some yards through the air.

We need to be able to take a punch in the first quarter...I expect the Falcons to be ready to attack...and respond with physical play.

We cant have the penalties on the road, that is something we cant overcome against a good team...beating ourselves.

HTTmuthereffingR!

Redskins receiver DeSean Jackson is going through individual drills for the first time since hurting his hamstring in the season opener. Tight end Jordan Resd is not practicing. He suffered a concussion against the Eagles.

Redskins corner Chris Culliver is not at practice today. He played with a sore left knee against the Eagles. We'll get an update on his status after practice.

- per John Keim

Washington Redskins Football Clubhouse - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/wsh/washington-redskins)


great news about Desean. for culliver, if it is just inflammation, i imagine he will be playing sunday as long as he rests it, gets the staff to work it out and doesnt suffer a set back.

i wish this was our bye week.

wouldnt be rushing desean back, culliver gets rest, perhaps riley comes back. long shot on reed.

Falcons receivers are killing it lately.
I doubt our secondary can go toe to toe with them.
That means we have to knock Matt Ryans dick in the dirt....repeatedly.

Hankerson is having a nice year. Figures, he leaves the Redskins and becomes the player we needed him to be elsewhere.

W/out Reed and Jackson I just don't see how we can score enough to beat Atlanta. I think they're very beatable with those two guys, much tougher w/out them.

The Falcons have one of the worst defenses in the league. This is a winnable game if we can get out ahead early and not have to play from behind. If the falcons jump ahead by 10 at any point, I think we're done. Their passing offense is way too good and our pass def is struggling. I think our secondary is playing better than their talent level but with Culliver hurt, this is going to be a lot to ask of them.

Captain Obvious says

I expect us to lose :(. If we win, then I will be very happy.

and I agree with him

That said. We should be able to win this game if we control the ball, and we force them to beat us with someone other than Julio Jones.

I thought I heard that Atlanta had the 28th ranked defense. They do. BUT that is misleading. They have the 30th ranked passing defense, but the 5th ranked Rushing defense. Which means this game sets up much like the Giants game - not a good thing. We may end up passing to set up the run, not vice versa. Most people will probably kill Gruden after the loss (blame capt obvious) for not running it down their throats, or going away from the run but the fact is that their run defense is in fact similar statistically to ours:
att att/g yds avg avg/g TD Long
80 20.0 312 3.9 78.0 1 30
77 19.2 341 4.4 85.2 7 37T

ours is the first line.

Captain Obvious says

I expect us to lose :(. If we win, then I will be very happy.

and I agree with him

That said. We should be able to win this game if we control the ball, and we force them to beat us with someone other than Julio Jones.

I thought I heard that Atlanta had the 28th ranked defense. They do. BUT that is misleading. They have the 30th ranked passing defense, but the 5th ranked Rushing defense. Which means this game sets up much like the Giants game - not a good thing. We may end up passing to set up the run, not vice versa. Most people will probably kill Gruden after the loss (blame capt obvious) for not running it down their throats, or going away from the run but the fact is that their run defense is in fact similar statistically to ours:
att att/g yds avg avg/g TD Long
80 20.0 312 3.9 78.0 1 30
77 19.2 341 4.4 85.2 7 37T

ours is the first line.

Actually the Falcons run def is among the worst in the league giving up 4.4 yards a carry. Philly and the Giants both were only giving up around 3 yards per carry coming into our games. We should be able to move the ball Sunday. We just need to play keep away. If they only have the ball for 20 minutes, that will give us a pretty damn good chance.

Actually the Falcons run def is among the worst in the league giving up 4.4 yards a carry. Philly and the Giants both were only giving up around 3 yards per carry coming into our games. We should be able to move the ball Sunday. We just need to play keep away. If they only have the ball for 20 minutes, that will give us a pretty damn good chance.

I suppose it's how you want to look at the stats. on a rushing yds per game basis, they give up 85 yards, which ranks them 5th. For comparison, we give up 78 yards per game, which ranks us 2nd.

On a points per game, we rank 10th at 19.8pts they rank 15th at 23.2pts.

If you are looking at a per carry average they are about the same as the Rams, 4.3 for the Rams, 4.4 for the Falcons.

As always, stats don't tell all the details, just perspective. I think saying they have the 28th ranked defense hides some of their rushing defense success.

I suppose it's how you want to look at the stats. on a rushing yds per game basis, they give up 85 yards, which ranks them 5th. For comparison, we give up 78 yards per game, which ranks us 2nd.

On a points per game, we rank 10th at 19.8pts they rank 15th at 23.2pts.

If you are looking at a per carry average they are about the same as the Rams, 4.3 for the Rams, 4.4 for the Falcons.

As always, stats don't tell all the details, just perspective. I think saying they have the 28th ranked defense hides some of their rushing defense success.

To me I always look at yards per carry.. I think the Falcons haven't given up too many total rushing yards largely because their passing defense is so bad there's no point in rushing against them and their passing offense is so good that everyone ends up playing from behind most of the game and can't commit to the run.

We should be able to move the ball more like the Rams and Dolphins games. If Kirk is on point then the offense should look terrific. In this game, our offense might actually be our best defense.

Of course, injuries will play a factor as well..

Could very well be a trap game for the Falcons. You just KNOW their fans are already overlooking us.

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DcGf4zAlIrI/maxresdefault.jpg