Lions 30 Falcons 14

As I mentioned in my predictions for this past week's games, I was a tad worried on how much fire and motivation Atlanta would play with against a 1-6 Detroit team following big victories against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. This is exactly what happened. The Lions outhustled, outexecuted, outcoached, and outplayed the Falcons on Sunday. Why Atlanta was still in the game early in the 4th was just for the simple fact of the Lions beating themselves at times, before they pulled away at the end in their 30-14 victory.

My first thought during and following the game is, what is with Atlanta's defense? They allowed 42 total points in their first four games and only one offensive touchdown. That score came on a trick double reverse play in their Monday night game against the Saints. John Abraham just played in one of those four games and Atlanta went 3-1 in those games. In the past four games, the Falcons' D has allowed 112 points, an average of 28 per game. Due to their offensive output in the games against the Steelers and Bengals is the only reason the Falcons were able to go 2-2 in that time frame. They allowed 27 to the Giants, 38 to Pittsburgh, 27 to Cincinnati, and 30 to the Lions this past weekend. Yeah, they've been consistent, but not in a good sense. They're tackling poorly, covering poorly, not creating many turnovers, and not getting enough pressure on the quarterbacks. I'm uncertain what defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is trying to do with that defense, because it's full of talent. DeAngelo Hall is a top of the line cornerback. Lawyer Milloy is a quality veteran safety. Chris Crocker is a talented safety. Jason Webster is a veteran. Ed Hartwell and Keith Brooking are proven linebackers. Michael Boley and DeMorrio Williams are quick LB's with tremendous upside. Grady Jackson is a load up the middle. Rod Coleman is one of the best blitzing d-tackles in the game. Patrick Kerney is one of the more underrated d-ends. Finally, John Abraham is one of the best D-ends, without question. There is plenty of talent and plenty of experience on the defensive side of the ball. Why then are they not showing that? Some attribute Abraham's loss as being the main problem, but the Falcons are just 1-1 when Abraham starts and 4-2 when he doesn't play at all. In three of the first four games of the season when Atlanta's defense allowed only one offensive touchdown, Abraham wasn't a part. So, I don't think Abraham is the main problem. But, what is? Webster has played too loosely. Whenever the Falcons bring the blitz, it seems that the opposing team's offensive coordinator is always a step ahead and deliver a screen pass that exploits the blitz. When the Falcons drop back into a zone on a 3rd and long (happened at least twice on Sunday, 3rd and 17 and 3rd and 18), the quarterback has too much time to throw the ball. I don't care who the quarterback is, if a defense gives a NFL quarterback too much time, he's probably going to rip the defense apart. Until the Falcons can tackle better, call a more efficient gameplan, and get more pressure on the quarterback, it's going to be a battle week in and week out. The offense is explosive, but it's quite a chore for the offense to be called upon to score 30 points per week.

Offensively, Atlanta was flat, especially the wide receivers. I don't know the official tally, but I counted 8 dropped passes on Sunday: two by Alge Crumpler, two by Michael Jenkins, one by Roddy White, one by Ashley Lelie, one by Justin Griffith, and one by Dwayne Blakeley. Vick finished the game 17 for 32, but that could've very easily been 25 for 32. Vick made a couple of mistakes. The final play of the game in which he threw the ball up for grabs was really of no importance to the final outcome. Early in the game, however, he attempted to break away from the pocket to run into the open field and didn't secure the football. His own thigh actually knocked the ball away from him. Then after the defense stood tall at the one-yard line when the Lions failed to score on a 4th and goal, Vick dropped back to pass from his own end zone when he felt pressure and got hit as he threw the ball back toward the middle of the field. It would've been a safety otherwise, but two points is better than seven. Outside of that, Vick played pretty solid and smart football. He threw for over 160 yards and ran for an additional 80. The offensive line was decent. They played better than they had against the NY Giants, but not as well as they did in their previous two showings, against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. While the line didn't allow many defenders to blow past them and hit Vick right as he took the snap, the defense slowly pushed the line back toward Vick, narrowing the pocket, which made things uncomfortable at times on the quarterback. My question is, why did offensive coordinator abandon the running game so quickly? Warrick Dunn only got 11 touches and ran for over 50 yards, averaging almost 5 yards per carry. While I'm all for getting Vick and his receivers into an early rhythm in the passing game, the receivers were obviously not focused, so why abandon Dunn and the running game? Even though the Falcons didn't run it much, they still gained over 160 yards on the ground.

The special teams were anything but special. Punter Michael Koenen kicked a couple low line drives that allowed for Detroit to gain several yards on the returns which set their offense up in great field position. Also, Allen Rossum has looked very hesitant the past two weeks. He's running with more of a pause, which I hadn't seen in the first six games. The Falcons need to stop being so cute on their returns as well. It's fine to run a fake reverse once in a while, but Atlanta has gotten to the point where they run these twice a game. They attempted to get really cute to start the second half on Sunday with a fake reverse followed by a pitch. That ended in Adam Jennings getting leveled at the 14-yard line.

There's no question that the Falcons have the talent on offense, defense, and even special teams to be one of the best teams in the league. But there seems to be confusion in what the coaches truly want to do with the team, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I like what the Falcons are doing on offense, but they should not abandon the running game, especially if the game is still within reach. They've led the league in rushing the past two years and are well on their way to extending that to three straight years. Warrick Dunn ran the ball better against the Lions than he had the previous two games, but was limited to 11 carries. Defensively, Ed Donatell has to figure a few things out and quickly, because it'd be difficult for any team (even the Colts) to consistently put up 30+ points in every game. It'll be nice to get back home this weekend against the Cleveland Browns. Hopefully that'll get the team fired up again and go back on the road at 6-3. We shall see.