Jaguars 20 Falcons 17

The Falcons finished their pre-season at 2-2 after a 20-17 loss last night to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Again, I didn't have access to this game, but saw some highlights and read about it. What can I gather from this game? The Falcons' backups may be three points worse than the Jags' backups. Why do I say that? Both starting kickers were the only starters that played for either team. Jacksonville Coach Jack Del Rio and Atlanta's Jim Mora basically said they were ready for the regular season and the only thing they needed to figure out was the back-end of the rosters.

It's hard to analyze this game too in-depthly, since the 2nd and 3rd stringers were the only ones that played, but it appears that quarterback Bryan Randall will be the odd man left out, as Matt Schaub and D.J. Shockley took the snaps last night. Defensive tackle Chad Lavalais may also be cut. He didn't play a snap last night and has been criticized for his work ethic. With the acquisition of Grady Jackson, it'll make for an easier cut. Receiver Kevin Youngblood is fighting for a spot on the roster as he caught 6 balls for 82 yards and a touchdown. He could be a good 4th option after the likes of Jenkins, White, and Lelie.

The running game looked impressive again. Marlion Jackson ran for over 100 yards against Tennessee in the Falcons' 3rd pre-season outing and ran for over 80 again last night. He's a big back that could potentially be used in short-yardage situations.

Two guys that I've been impressed with all throughout the pre-season are: Jerious Norwood and Michael Koenen. Last night's performances didn't alter that. Koenen made a 44-yard field goal which made him 8-for-8 in the pre-season. Norwood ran the ball 6 times for over 70 yards, including a 46-yard gallop. Reggie who? Sure, the Saints got Reggie Bush with the 2nd overall pick. In the pre-season, Norwood has impressed me more than Reggie and the Falcons got him in the 3rd round. With Atlanta's successful run-blocking scheme, Norwood should fit in very nicely and his stats will prove that. That may be Bush's biggest problem. Will the Saints run-blocking be sufficient enough for him to find holes to burst through? To be determined... Speaking of which, Atlanta's first game is a week from Sunday and it's going to be a tough one, at Carolina, the pre-season favorite by most experts for either making it to or winning the Super Bowl.

Heading into that game, I feel pretty confident about the offense, the special teams, the pass rush, and even the pass defense. The one area I'm nervous about is the run defense. If Atlanta can improve to 15th in the league in run defense this year, then they're going to be tough. But, if they're anywhere near their ranking of 26th in the league of a season ago, it'll be extremely difficult to hold off opponents. Hopefully the acquisition of Grady Jackson will help and hopefully middle linebacker Ed Hartwell can recover from his knee surgeries in time for the season opener.