Falcons Fans Have Lots to Cheer About

Let the Falcons Fans look back at what appeared to be yet another dismal Atlanta Falcons football season.

Sure, the Falcons had their share of ups and downs throughout the season. It started out with a pre-season that immediately drew attention to a porous secondary.

Those worries abated when the Birds flew out of the gate with a 4-1 record including last minute heroics to beat the Chicago Bears. Their was plenty of hope, enthusiasm and even unwarranted high expectations.

Then the Falcons fortunes seemed to take a turn for the worse. A Falcons team that prides itself on defense got shredded two weeks in a row. The Dallas Cowboys who up to that point was having their own problems scoring dominated the Dirty Birds 37-21. Clearly, there were big holes in the Falcon’s secondary as well as a non existent pass rush and kicking game. The vulnerable Falcons defense along with an inconsistent offense was evident as the Falcons lost four of the next five games.

Atlanta took another couple of blows when star running back Jamal Anderson injured his ankle and Quarterback Matt Ryan was sidelined with turf toe.

All in all it was a tumultuous year for the Atlanta Falcons, however I believe this time is different. Upon examining all aspects the positives inextricably outweigh the negatives.

First and foremost, looking at the Falcon’s Schedule did anyone think they would really finish with a winning record? Remember this is the Falcons franchise famous for not having experienced back-to-back winning seasons. After making the playoffs last year, they arguably had the toughest schedule in the NFL this year.

Matt Ryan showed further improvement finishing the season with 22 touchdown passes, the most of his career. Ryan also added another dimension to the Falcons with the no huddle offense.

Jason Snelling emerged as a formidable back up running back as he bulldozed ahead for 147 yards in the Falcons historic victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The young Falcons Defense allowed 20 points or fewer nine times during this seasons football campaign. They finished strong keeping the Falcons in the game against the offensive juggernaut New Orleans Saints. The Falcons “D” only gave up a measly twenty points during their final three games.

Roddy White has proven he is one of the elite receivers in the game, making us ask the question why wasn’t he named an All-Pro?  Meanwhile Tony Gonzalez proclaimed there’s still more left in the tank and was a constant red zone threat.

Although it may have been a disappointing season because the Falcons missed the playoffs, there is plenty of upside. The Atlanta Falcons are a young  and cohesive team. Under the direction of General Manager Thomas Dimitroff the never say die Falcons won their last three games. Not only that, the Atlanta Falcons finished with back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in their 44 year franchise history. That was the longest run in major league sports, the curse has been lifted.

So Falcons Fans, you really do have a lot to cheer about, it’s called a future!

Falcons Fall Short in Nail Biter

The Atlanta Falcons rallied from a 14 point 4th quarter deficit. All in all it wasn’t enough as the Falcons lost a close one in overtime 34-31 to the New York Giants.

The Good:

Matt Ryan gave it everything he had and all-pro tight end Tony Gonzalez grabbed a clutch touchdown pass with 28 seconds left in the game to help tie the score a 31 all. Jason Snelling had a solid game filling in for Michael Turner while rushing for 76 yards and two TD’s.

The Bad:

Jason Elam missed another easy field goal. Remember he missed one last week in the fourth quarter that would have given the Falcons the lead.

The Ugly:

Falcons defense was awful again allowing a whopping 456 total yards. The Falcons D let the Giants convert over 50% of the time on third down. The pass defense clearly needs to be revamped although the poor pass rush didn’t help any.

The Falcons have lost four of the last five but there is hope. The Atlanta Falcons Schedule gets a little easier the rest of the season and they face off against Tampa Bay next week. Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense can be proud of what they accomplished, overcoming a fourteen point fourth quarter deficit at the Meadowlands.

Falcons Roll Past Redskins

Michael Turner led the Atlanta Falcons over the Washington Redskins 31-17 at the Georgia Dome today.

Falcons went into halftime with a comfortable 24-3 lead. Falcons got off to an early start when quaterback Matt Ryan connected with future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Later in the second quarter Michael Turner added a 30 yard scamper. This helped the Atlanta Falcons as they went into halftime with a comfortable 24-3 lead.

The Redskins came out of halftime strong shutting down the Falcons offense while scoring touchdowns in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

Clearly the momentum of the game had changed as the Washington Redskins narrowed the lead 24-17.

Then Michael Turner literally took control of the game with his powerful running. With 11:23 left in the fourth quarter Michael Turner took the handoff, broke a LaRon Landry tackle and ran through Deangelo Hall like he wasn’t even there. Turner rolled 58 yards for his second touchdown of the game.

It was ironic that DeAngelo Hall’s inability to tackle Turner led to touchdown that put the game away after publicly ridiculing the Atlanta Falcons all week.

Turner looked liked the running back he was last year when he finished second in the NFL rushing for 1699 yards. It was the second week in a row that Michael Turner ran for more than 150 yards. Turner finished with 168 yards with two rushing touchdowns.

Meanwhile the Falcons broke a two game losing streak improving their record to 5-3. Next week they go to Carolina to face their division rivals, the Panthers.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers tickets for sale here!

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