Falcons 29 Bengals 27

The Atlanta Falcons improved to 2-0 against the tough AFC North with their 29-27 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The wins didn't come without their fair share of tension and drama. A week earlier, it took an overtime session for Atlanta to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 41-38. It was a rollercoaster again on Sunday, but with not as drastic of turns as the home game a week ago against Pittsburgh.

Rudi Johnson ran all over the Falcons defense on their opening drive and scored a touchdown to take the lead back from the Falcons 7-3. Atlanta had to settle on another Morten Andersen field goal to answer the Bengals touchdown and close the gap to one at 7-6. At this point, it looked like the Falcons not cashing in with touchdowns might finally get the best of them. This was especially the case following the next Bengals possession when Carson Palmer hooked up with Chad Johnson to lead 14-6.

But, as I was to see, this game would be quite similar as the one a week earlier when neither defense could stop the other. Michael Vick answered the Johnson score with a dart of his own to his man Alge Crumpler. Cincy closed the half by driving the ball enough to get into Shayne Graham field goal range to lead 17-13.

The biggest possession of the game was Cincy's opening drive in the second half. Atlanta forced them to punt and from that point forth, they took control of the game. Vick scrambled and connected with Michael Jenkins on a third and long to take a 20-17 lead. Cincy tied the game up with a field goal on their next possession. No problem for Vick and the Falcons. He led the Falcons down the field and dumped a pass off to fullback Justin Griffith for his third touchdown pass. Backup quarterback Matt Schaub mishandled the snap on the extra point, so the lead was at 6, 26-20. Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell brought pressure on the Bengals' in the second half and it paid off for the club. Cincy was forced to punt and Atlanta got into field goal range to take a 29-20 lead. Things got a little too close there at the end. Atlanta played it ultra-conservative and punted with just under four minutes left in the game and then on the first play of the drive, Carson Palmer connected with Chris Henry for a touchdown pass to close the gap to 29-27. Vick and the Falcons moved the ball just enough to put the Bengals in a very tough position to score. Palmer and company had the ball deep in their own territory with 20 seconds left and no timeouts. Defensive end Patrick Kerney swatted the ball away from Palmer and the Falcons recovered to seal the victory.

The win boosts their record to 5-2 on the year and with the Saints' loss to Baltimore, Atlanta is in a first place tie in the NFC South. For the time being, New Orleans does hold the tie-breaker with their win earlier in the year over the Falcons. They do play once more this year, over Thanksgiving weekend in Atlanta.

First off, let me give kudos to offensive coordinator Greg Knapp. I've been extremely critical of him in the past, but he has called excellent games the past two weeks. Let me also give props to the offensive line and the receivers. I've also criticized them, but the offensive line has pass protected just as well as they've opened holes in the running game the past two weeks. Vick was beat up against the New York Giants, sacked 7 times, but has been protected very well since that game, being sacked only three times. One of those sacks was a coverage sack and another was a gimme where Vick just went down to drain time off the clock. So, in the past two games, the O-Line has only been responsible for allowing one sack. The receivers have been catching the football with more regularity and that includes Roddy White. Ashley Lelie started in his place against Cincinnati, but when Roddy entered the game, he made some big catches for the Falcons. Michael Jenkins has been illustrating how badly he wants to start for this team the past couple weeks. Before the Pittsburgh game, only Ashley Lelie had shown me through his fight to get to footballs and his lack of drops that he truly wanted to start and make his presence known. Jenkins has done likewise the past couple weeks. If Roddy White can get jumpstarted starting with the game at Cincy and the other two continue their good work, the receiving corps could be very productive the rest of the way through the season.

Some have complained that the running game has lacked some punch the past couple games. The Falcons have averaged 158 yards on the ground in those two games which would still put them in 1st place on the ground in the NFL. They just haven't been garnering 200+ yards in those games. There's more balance in rushing yards between the likes of Warrick Dunn, Jerious Norwood, and Michael Vick. Dunn has been effective in pass protection the past couple weeks and Vick checked down to the tailbacks more this past week than he had in a while. Dunn has not run as effectively as he had prior to this new gameplan orchestrated by Knapp, but as I said, the team is still averaging 158 rushing yards in these games and 35 points in those two contests. They've also controlled the clock, typical of a run-oriented offense. They held the ball for approximately 37 minutes on Sunday. I just wonder, as the season wears on, if Norwood will start getting more and more involved in the offense. He's explosive when his hands are on that football. It's a great problem to have, to have too many running threats.

Analysts are obsessed with stats and are shocked with Vick's numbers the past two weeks. He's completed 65% of his passes for 523 yards and 7 touchdowns. Me? I'm not surprised. The common denominator here? Atlanta's winning, which has been Vick's rep. What's the difference? The gameplan, the pass protection, and the receivers. Earlier this year and in the two prior years in the West Coast offense, Vick has led the Falcons to hold the top ranked rushing offense in the league. Lots of Dunn, lots of Duckett/Norwood, and lots of Vick. Atlanta would consistently run the ball early and often and carry that gameplan throughout the four quarters. It's difficult for the quarterback to get into a rhythm, difficult for the receivers to keep their heads in the game, and difficult for the offensive line to adjust to pass protection when they've run blocked for the majority of the game. Now the Falcons are passing early in the game, on 1st downs, and Vick is getting into a rhythm with his receivers, they're staying in the game, and the line is more cohesive in pass protection. When the Falcons run, the line knows that zone blocking scheme all too well and Atlanta has the likes of Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood to run the ball and also, that guy named Vick. It'd be very difficult for any quarterback to find a rhythm if he's only counted on to throw the ball on 3rd and long, given minimal pass protection, and receivers not keeping their heads in the game because of the lack of throws. I don't care how great a quarterback is, it'd be difficult to put up gaudy passing statistics with those ingredients.

The offense is definitely headed in the right direction. Special teams have been solid. Morten Andersen has brought consistency to the kicking game and Michael Koenen continues to punt and kickoff well. Outside of this past weekend, the return game has been solid for the Falcons. Where my worries reside is on the defensive side of the ball.

In the past three games, Atlanta has allowed 92 points and surprisingly, have gone 2-1 in that span. What's the problem? I think Atlanta has made some adjustments since the Giants tore them up on the ground, so the problems lie in the pass rush and the secondary. While DeAngelo Hall and Lawyer Milloy have been solid, Chris Crocker has been shaky and Jason Webster has been burned time after time after time this year. I can only hope and pray that rookie Jimmy Williams matures and replaces Webster by the end of the year. What could help Webster? A steady pass rush. Ed Donatell relies too heavily on the front four to get heat on the quarterback. This might be more efficient if John Abraham was healthy and playing, but he's not. The O-Line can therefore double up Patrick Kerney and a fairly inexperienced end is counted on to make a move and get pressure on the quarterback. With Abraham out of the lineup, Ed Donatell must call blitzes with more regularity. Notice what happened against Cincinnati? In the first half, hardly any pressure was exerted on Carson Palmer and he burned the Falcons early and often, en route to 17 first half points. In the second half, Donatell called many more blitzes, Palmer got hit and rattled, and the Bengals had more problems offensively. Outside of the late long touchdown pass to Chris Henry, the Bengals only scored a field goal. Ed, buddy, without Abraham in the lineup, blitz more!

Up next for the Falcons is an away game against the Detroit Lions. Detroit is coming off a bye week and have only one win under their belt. They have, however, been competitive in most every game. Atlanta is 2-1 in Vick's three starts against the Lions. They defeated Detroit in the annual Thanksgiving game at Ford Field. I believe the offense will perform well and that Warrick Dunn will be more productive than he has been the previous two weeks. Where I'm worried is again on defense. After winning two big games, one at home against the defending Super Bowl Champs and one on the road against the defending AFC North Champs, how motivated will that defense be at stopping Jon Kitna and Roy Williams compared to Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward or Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson? We'll have to wait and see. I'm optimistic about the game, but not overly optimistic for the very reason I just stated. If Atlanta can improve in their pass rush and pass defense, they'll be a very tough team to bring down in the second half of the season.