The Atlanta Falcons fought hard in this game but in the end they fell just a tad short.  The Falcons controlled the football for 35:27 of this game but it just wasn’t enough to hold off the Saints.  Byron Leftwich started the game and he played pretty well before leaving the game with an injury.  He completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  Joey Harrington replaced Leftwich and he completed 12 of 18 passes for 128 yards.  Jerious Norwood outplayed Warrick Dunn again as he carried the ball 6 times for 38 yards (6.3 ypc).  Warrick Dunn only rushed for 28 yards on 13 carries (2.2 ypc).  WRs Roddy White (8 rec, 110 yards, TD) and Michael Jenkins (6 rec, 69 yards) both played good games against the Saints.  The Falcons finished up with 75 yards rushing on 24 carries (3.1 ypc) and they completed 27 of 41 passes for 259 yards.

The defense was led by linebackers Keith Brooking (10 tackles) and Michael Boley (9 tackles).  The Saints finished up with 91 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.1 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 34 passes for 219 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271021018

Both of these teams are off to awful starts to the season.  The Falcons are 1-5 and the Saints are 1-4 on the season.  The Falcons haven’t won a game on the road this season and the Saints haven’t won a home game….so something has to give on Sunday. 

The Falcons would be smart to pass the torch from Warrick Dunn to Jerious Norwood starting this week.  The Saints don’t have a lot of speed in the linebacking corps and it’s possible that Norwood could get to the corner for some big runs.  He’s averaging 5.7 yards per carry this season while Dunn is only averaging 3.2 ypc.  With Alge Crumpler likely out for this game the Falcons would be smart to go three wide and attack down the field if Byron Leftwich has some time to throw the ball.  The Saints woke up on defense the last two weeks and they will likely blitz a lot against the Falcons who have allowed 22 sacks this season.  It will be interesting to see if the Falcons get Joe Horn out of the mothballs this week as he’ll be facing his old team.

The Saints hope that they are starting to turn the corner on offense after last week’s good effort against the Seahawks.  The Saints must keep John Abraham (5 sacks) out of their backfield and they might be able to as they have only allowed 4 sacks this season.  The Falcons are allowing 220.5 yards passing per game so Brees will likely have some success throwing the ball.  He will look for Lance Moore and David Patten often as both of them had good games last week.  Reggie Bush (244 yards rushing, 166 receiving) will cause problems for the Falcons front seven because of his speed.

PREDICTION:  I have a feeling that the Saints are starting to turn the corner and they will likely be fired up at home.  SAINTS 27, FALCONS 20.

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The Falcons have decided to start Byron Leftwich this week against the Saints.  He only has played in 1 game this season for the Falcons and he appeared very rusty.  He completed 2 of 8 passes for 28 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (2.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 3 times for 1 yard (0.3 ypc).  It will be interesting to see how well Leftwich does behind a line that allowed Joey Harrington to be sacked 21 times already this season.  Leftwich isn’t the most mobile passer around so a future injury is a distinct possibility.  Still, he’s a upgrade on Joey Harrington who has never been a good NFL QB.  Harrington has completed 123 of 195 passes (63.1%) for 1,279 yards with 4 TD passes and 4 interceptions (80.3 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 14 yards (2.3 ypc).  Harrington will likely get another chance at some point this season because it’s hard for me to see Leftwich staying healthy the rest of the season behind the Falcons’ offensive line.

Things were looking good early in the game as the Falcons raced out to a 10-7 lead….but then the roof caved in.  Joey Harrington was under heat all game long from the Giants defense that sacked him 4 times and rushed him into some bad throws.  He was 18 for 39 passing for 209 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT.  The Falcons need to get Jerious Norwood more involved in the offense especially after last night.  He carried the ball 6 times for 87 yards (14.5 ypc) with a 67-yard TD run.  He also caught 4 passes for 51 yards (12.8 avg).  Warrick Dunn had his issues again as he carried the ball 8 times for 15 yards (1.9 ypc).  Roddy White led the way in the receiving corps with 4 catches for 64 yards.  The Falcons only had possession of the football for 20:22 of the football game and it’s hard to win that way.  The Falcons finished up with 103 yards rushing on 15 carries (6.9 ypc) and they completed 18 of 39 passes for 181 yards.

The defense was on the field most of the game and they played pretty poorly.  Lawyer Milloy (11 tackles), DeAngelo Hall (11 tackles, interception) and Michael Boley (5 tackles, interception) were all busy last night for the Falcons.  The Giants ran the football 35 times for 188 yards (5.4 ypc) and they completed 27 of 39 passes for 303 yards last night.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271015001

 

The Titans physically beat up the Falcons last Sunday and it appears that it will leave a mark on the team for the rest of the season.  Starting LT Wayne Gandy will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.  Undrafted rookie Renardo Foster will start in Gandy’s place and he played for Coach Petrino at Louisville.  I feel bad for whoever is playing QB if Foster is blocking the blind side. 

Rookie outside linebacker Stephen Nicolas will miss some time after suffering a high ankle sprain last week.  Nicolas was playing well for the Falcons this season as he has made 15 tackles and has a fumble recovery this season.  Nicolas was cutting into veteran DeMorrio Williams’ playing time but he will now be the undisputed starter and it will be interesting to see if his play picks up or not.  Williams has 17 tackles and an interception so far this season.

This was a great defensive game but the Falcons were on the short end of the scoreboard.  Joey Harrington didn’t play too well as he completed 16 of 31 passes for 87 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT.  He was replaced by Byron Leftwich who also had a rough time as he completed 2 of 8 passes for 28 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT.  Artose Pinner only carried the ball 1 time but he was the leading rusher on the Falcons with 49 yards.  Warrick Dunn had a rough day as he carried the ball 10 times for 27 yards (2.7 ypc).  Jerious Norwood carried the ball 6 times for 23 yards (3.8 ypc) but he was outstanding returning kicks as he returned 3 kickoffs for 144 yards (48.0 avg).  Rookie WR Laurent Robinson led the Falcons in catches with 4 but he only had 27 yards (6.8 avg).  Roddy White also had a decent game with 3 catches for 55 yards (18.3 avg).  The Falcons rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 39 passes for 99 yards.

The defense played a great game for the Falcons.  Linebacker Michael Boley led the way for the Falcons with 15 tackles and a interception.  CB DeAngelo Hall only had 1 tackle but he returned a fumble 56 yards for a TD to open the scoring in this football game.  The Falcons held the Titans to 92 yards on 32 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 33 passes for 157 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271007010

2nd year man Adam Jennings has been returning punts and kickoffs this season and he’s not making a difference at all.  Jennings has returned 6 punts for 27 yards (4.5 avg) and he also has returned 6 kickoffs for 126 yards (21.0 avg).  Jerious Norwood has returned 10 kickoffs for 257 yards (25.7 avg) but the Falcons really need him to concentrate on offense.  Still, he’s much better than Jennings.

The Atlanta Falcons have played much better the last two weeks as they have split games with the Panthers and the Texans.  The Titans have had two weeks to get ready for the Atlanta Falcons.

It would be smart of the Falcons to use Jerious Norwood more than Warrick Dunn this week as his speed would be an asset against the tough Titans defense that is only allowing 63.3 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry.  The Titans would be smart to blitz Joey Harrington a lot on Sunday as he has been sacked 16 times already this season.  But the Falcons will likely look to throw the ball often early in the game to try to get a lead and force the Titans out of their preferred plan which is running the football.  Harrington will be looking for Roddy White (18 rec, 301 yards), Michael Jenkins (15 rec, 168 yards) and TE Alge Crumpler (16 rec, 190 yards) against a Titans defense that is allowing 238.3 yards passing per game this season.

The Titans will come out running the football like they always do.  They will try to punch the Falcons defense that is allowing 128.5 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry in the mouth.  The Titans will split the carries between Chris Brown (247 yards, 5.9 ypc) and LenDale White (180 yards, 2 TD runs) and they should be effective.  Vince Young will probably keep the passing game short and he will take off once in a while so the Falcons will need to have a linebacker spy on him.

PREDICTION:  The Falcons are improving every week but they aren’t ready to beat a team like the Titans in Tennessee. 

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