The Falcons managed a come from behind win over the Washington Redskins by a score of 24-17. It’s the second consecutive week in which the Falcons found themselves down early, but managed to pull out a victory. They push their record to 5-0, which is the best start in franchise history.

Matt Ryan was up and down early in the game, but finished completing 34 of 52 passes for 345 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. His completions and attempts matches career highs in both categories he set last December against the New Orleans Saints. On the ground, Michael Turner led rushers with 67 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown. Tony Gonzalez led receivers with 13 catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Julio Jones also added a score, catching 10 passes for 94 yards. Roddy White had 4 catches for 68 yards, while Harry Douglas made his name known with a pair of receptions for 34 yards. Matt Bryant made a 53-yard attempt, the longest in his tenure as a Falcon. Matt Bosher punted 6 times for an average of 48.8 yards with one placed inside the 20-yard line. In the return game, Jacquizz Rodgers returned a pair of kickoffs for 36 yards, and Dominique Franks had a pair of punt returns for only 2 yards total. The Falcons converted 9 of 17 third downs, and totaled 421 yards on offense. They also overwhelmed the Redskins on time of possession with 37 minutes to Washington’s 23, but could not quite finish many of their drives early to put points on the board.

Defensively, the Falcons were tough, limiting the Redskins from converting on only 1 of 9 third down attempts. Most of the Redskins offensive success came on the ground, as they allowed Alfred Morris to rush for 115 yards. But overall, they allowed 316 total yards. The defense was able to force two late interceptions which sealed the win for them. Sean Weatherspoon led defenders with 11 tackles. He also added a sack, and put a hit on Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin that knocked him out of the game midway through the third quarter. John Abraham (1 pass defended, 1 quarterback hit); Jonathan Babineaux (3 tackles, 0.5 sacks); Kroy Biermann (6 tackles, 1 sack); Thomas DeCoud (3 tackles, 1 interception); William Moore (8 tackles); Stephen Nicholas (4 tackles); and Dunta Robinson (6 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 interception) all had notable games.

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The biggest key for the Falcons this week will not be getting off to the slow start they did a week ago. They want to take advantage of their passing attack going against the weak Redskin secondary.

The health of Julio Jones (hand) will be a factor in this game. The team will need him to have a bigger game. He will have that opportunity going up against DeAngelo Hall and Josh Wilson. Hall struggled with the size that A.J. Green and Vincent Jackson presented on the outside the past two weeks, and thus the Falcons hope to similarly take advantage with Jones. The last time Roddy White went against Josh Wilson, he had one of his better games in 2010. He wound up catching 12 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner against the Ravens on Thursday Night that year. Tony Gonzalez will also be licking his chops going up against Madieu Williams and DeJon Gomes. He’ll also get some opportunities going up against the Redskin linebackers in London Fletcher and Perry Riley.

Because of the advantages the Falcons feature in this game, even if they get behind early they should still be able to get back into the game. The one worry the Falcons have is their pass protection. Last week, Tyson Clabo really struggled to block Charles Johnson. His job won’t get much easier as he’ll be facing the Redskins top pass rusher in Ryan Kerrigan. Kerrigan is not an elite pass rusher in the class of Brian Orakpo (out for the year), but he has the skills to give Clabo fits with his speed on the edge.

Pat Hill will likely be lighting a fire under the butts of the line, and Dirk Koetter will likely modify the protections and play-calling to try and prevent the breakdowns that occurred last week.

The running game has looked somewhat resurgent in recent weeks, but it’s unlikely that it will do a lot this week vs. Washington. The strength of the Redskins defense is their front seven and in the middle. But that doesn’t mean that the Falcons won’t try to make some plays on the ground. The area where they may try and attack is the edges by trying to get Turner and Rodgers going on some outside runs. If Jones’ hand limits his effectiveness as a receiver, the Falcons may try to get the ball in his hands on reverses, end-arounds, and screens to try and attack those edges as well.

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As I outlined a week ago in the preview for the Panther game, there are two basic formulas/blueprints that teams are likely to adopt to try and knock off the Falcons.

Like Carolina, Washington will likely adopt the one that involves running the football and trying to shorten the game so that the explosive Falcons offense stays on the sideline. Carolina was nearly successful in pulling off that gameplan, but made a few too many mistakes and allowed too many big plays from Atlanta to get the win. Washington will try to do what Carolina could not do.

Washington’s gameplan will involve a heavy dose of their ground game. Alfred Morris is having a solid season and looks like a great fit behind Washington’s zone-blocking line. He is the newest back in the long line of runners that has shined in Mike Shanahan’s offense. The Redskins will likely also try and take advantage of Robert Griffin III’s mobility much like Carolina did with Cam Newton to supplement Morris.

Washington will want to get out to a fast start, because they don’t really have the playmakers on the outside to really try and come from behind against Atlanta. Griffin is off to an excellent start this season, but he’s still not quite developed enough as a passer to think he can drop back and throw the ball a bunch of times and win that way. He’ll likely rely on his legs to extend plays and try and make something out of nothing, which he has done numerous times already this season.

That is an area where they could attack the Falcons defense. It’s going to be difficult for the Falcons to get Griffin down because he is especially adept at avoiding sacks, extending plays, and creating things with his arm and legs in the face of pressure.

However like Carolina, pound for pound Washington just can’t match up with the Falcons. Thus why they will also need to take advantage of some costly mistakes by the Falcons. They will need to create some turnovers and hope the Falcons make some mental errors and shoot themselves in the foot a couple of times.

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Sorry for the late update, I got busy earlier this afternoon and couldn’t check out the All-22 until a few hours ago.

This was about as low-key a blowout as you’re going to find. The Falcons never really broke a sweat in this game. This was what I would call very much a ball-control gameplan via the pass.

The Falcons did have their best game running the ball so far this year. Michael Turner had a couple of nice runs and seemed much more explosive in the second half than he did in the first. Jacquizz Rodgers did some things on the ground, and could have done a bit more had the blocking been better. The Falcons did definitely pick it up in the second half as far as the line goes. They did an excellent job in pass protection. The first sack they allowed I counted as a pressure because Ryan managed to step up in the pocket and was tackled while running rather than passing, so it’s more of a tackle for loss than a true sack according to the Moneyball rules. Justin Blalock earned well because he made some nice key blocks on certain plays, but there were a lot of other players where I think he looked sort of lost. McClure seemed to have his struggles early in the game with taking on the big 3-4 nose tackle. That’s historically been a weakness of his, and it showed up at times in this game. The Falcons problems running the ball going forward may not get fixed this year. They may have a couple of nice games such as this, but it’s not going to be anything they will be able to hang their hats on on a weekly basis. They just don’t really move guys off the ball ever. Which doesn’t help a player like Turner who is more of your plodding runner. And while Quizz is much quicker and runs with more burst, they still don’t create enough spacing to allow his style of running to really work. I did notice that both Mike Johnson and Peter Konz fared well in the fourth quarter as run blockers. That is something that may give this team optimism long-term that they can improve up front.

Matt Ryan played very well for the third straight week. He was being a distributor once again, basically doing his best John Stockton impression. Another cross-sport comparison would be another former Jazz point guard, Deron Williams. That’s how Ryan has played so far this year.

The Triplets as they will now be referred to: Julio, Roddy, and Tony, all had strong performances. Gonzo had the best game of course, and he and Roddy did a lot of chain moving. The Falcons need to get the deep ball better incorporated into their offense going forward. Ryan almost hit that deep pass to Roddy for six, and there were a couple of throws to Julio that did some damage. Those types of plays need to be regular occurrences in each week, and the Falcons pass attack that is operated at around 95% efficiency, could really take that next step to being indefensible.

PLAYER	PASS	RUSH	REC	BLK	SPEC	PEN	TOTALS
Matt Ryan	$15	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$15.00
Michael Turner	$0	$9	$0	$0	$0	$0	$9.00
Tony Gonzalez	$0	$0	$8	-$1	$0	$0	$7.00
Jacquizz Rodgers	$0	$2	$5	$0	$0	$0	$7.00
Roddy White	$0	$0	$4	$1	$0	-$1	$4.00
Julio Jones	$0	$0	$4	$0	$0	$0	$4.00
Justin Blalock	$0	$0	$0	$3	$0	$0	$3.00
Jason Snelling	$0	$1	$2	$0	$0	-$1	$2.00
Garrett Reynolds	$0	$0	$0	$2	$0	$0	$2.00
Mike Johnson	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	$0	$1.00
Todd McClure	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	$0	$1.00
Sam Baker	$0	$0	$0	$0.5	$0	$0	$0.50
Tyson Clabo	$0	$0	$0	$0.5	$0	$0	$0.50

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The Falcons pushed their record to 3-0 by taking down the undefeated San Diego Chargers with a 27-3 victory on the road. The Falcons got off to a strong start and never looked back, as the Chargers were scoreless through the first half of the game.

Matt Ryan had another strong performance, completing 30 of 40 passes for 275 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. On the ground, Michael Turner bounced back from a slow start this season by leading the team with 80 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown. Jacquizz Rodgers also added 10 rushes for 32 yards. In the air, Tony Gonzalez led receivers with 9 grabs for 91 yards and a touchdown. Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Rodgers each had 5 catches for 67, 55, and 35 yards respectively. Jones and Rodgers both caught Ryan’s other two touchdown passes. Matt Bryant did not attempt a field goal on the day. Matt Bosher punted 5 times for an average of 44.6 yards, with 2 placed inside the 20-yard line. Dominique Franks returned a pair of punts for an average of 17 yards. The Falcons offense had little issue moving the ball against the Chargers. They dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for over 36 minutes compared to the Chargers’ 24. In the first half, the Falcons held the ball for over twice as long as the Chargers with nearly 20.5 minutes of possession. The offense finished 8 of 13 on third down conversions and put up 384 total yards.

Defensively, the Falcons were too much for the Chargers offense. The Chargers struggled to convert third downs, particularly in the first half where they were 0 for 3. They wound up finishing the game 5 of 11 on their third down conversion attempts. They were limited to 280 total yards and had four turnovers. Dunta Robinson led defenders with 7 tackles. John Abraham (2 tackles, 1 sack); Thomas DeCoud (3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery);Dominique Franks (3 tackles); William Moore (5 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery); Stephen Nicholas (6 tackles); Asante Samuel (6 tackles); Vance Walker (4 tackles); and Sean Weatherspoon (5 tackles, 1 forced fumble) all had noteworthy performances.

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This game was won in the first quarter by the Falcons with their ability to generate 4 turnovers, and score 13 points off those turnovers. Because otherwise, the offense was fairly mediocre for the Falcons on most of the night. The offense did generate 14 points of their own volition, but other than those two drives, they really looked lackluster.

First off the Broncos defense should get a ton of credit for that. They are a tough unit and kept their team in the game despite those numerous turnovers early in the game that got them behind. Von Miller is a beast and he showed it several times throughout this game. They had Reynolds help Clabo a ton in this game to keep Miller in check. Any time Gonzalez was put on an island against him as a run blocker, Miller made him look fairly foolish.

The offensive line did a fairly good job against the formidable Broncos pass rush. Miller and Dumervil were held in check. They were able at times to get pressure on Ryan, but it wasn’t an amount that swung the game in the Broncos’ favor. The Falcons gave up 8 pressures, with 3 of them coming from backs and receivers. The run blocking was non-existent and the Falcons ground attack was paltry at best. The Falcons had 15 first down runs in the game, and were successful on only 1 of them, which happened to be the 14th one on the final drive of the game. The Falcons averaged 1.6 yards per carry on first down. That’s the polar opposite of what I was talking about last week about how the running game could be an X-Factor. That’s a success rate of 7% on first down. A poor success rate would be 25%, so 7% is downright pathetic.

Most of the blame for that poor ground attack has to put on the line. But Turner missed holes and did not run with great burst or explosion. Quizz did little with his limited opportunities, but the Falcons have to start giving him and Snelling more opportunities, because Turner is not getting the job done. And in light of his off-field issues, this week against San Diego will be a perfect opportunity to shift towards an offense spear-headed by Quizz/Snelling. I also can’t help but think some of it is missing Ovie Mughelli. Not that Lousaka Polite has played poorly, but he’s an average fullback.

Ryan played well, making some very good throws in this game. Roddy White was excellent, and Tony Gonzalez played very well as well. Julio Jones was a non-entity and that is worrisome given that the whole point of trading for Jones was so that our No. 2 WR (formerly Michael Jenkins) would no longer be a non-entity in games.

PLAYER	PASS	RUSH	REC	BLK	SPEC	PEN	TOTALS
Matt Ryan	$14	$1	$0	$0	$0	$0	$15.00
Roddy White	$0	$0	$9	$0	$0	$0	$9.00
Michael Turner	$0	$5	$0	$0	$0	$0	$5.00
Tony Gonzalez	$0	$0	$6	-$2	$0	$0	$4.00
D.J. Davis	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1.5	$0	$1.50
Harry Douglas	$0	$0	$1	$0	$0	$0	$1.00
Todd McClure	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	$0	$1.00
Lousaka Polite	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	$0	$1.00
Kevin Cone	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	$1.00
Justin Blalock	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	-$1	$0.00
Garrett Reynolds	$0	$0	$0	$1	$0	-$1	$0.00
Sam Baker	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0.00
Tyson Clabo	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0.00
Julio Jones	$0	$0	-$1	$0	$0	$0	-$1.00
Jacquizz Rodgers	$0	$0	-$1	$0	$0	$0	-$1.00

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The Falcons extended their record to 2-0 with a 27-21 win over the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. It marks the fifth straight season where the Falcons won their home opener under Mike Smith.

Matt Ryan had another strong performance, completing 24 of 36 passes for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also added 19 yards on 6 carries on the ground. Michael Turner led rushers with 42 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown but the Falcons ground attack was largely ineffective on the night. Roddy White had an impressive game, catching 8 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. Tony Gonzalez also added a score, finishing the night with 7 catches for 70 yards. Harry Douglas (3 catches, 27 yards) and Julio Jones (4 catches, 14 yards) also contributed. Matt Bryant connected on a pair of field goals of 37 and 42 yards. Matt Bosher punted 6 times for an average of 42 yards, with half of his punts going inside the 20-yard line. The Falcons offense was able to generate 13 points off defensive turnovers, which allowed them to build an early lead. The team only finished with 275 total yards on offense.

Defensively, the Falcons were opportunistic, forcing four turnovers on the Broncos first five drives in the first quarter. Sean Weatherspoon led defenders with 10 tackles. He also recovered a fumble. Jonathan Babineaux (1 tackle, 1 sack); Kroy Biermann (5 tackles); Thomas DeCoud (5 tackles, 1 interception); Dominique Franks (6 tackles); Robert McClain (1 interception); William Moore (8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception); Stephen Nicholas (8 tackles, 1 forced fumble); Dunta Robinson (3 tackles, 2 passes defended); Asante Samuel (7 tackles); and Vance Walker (2 tackles, 1 sack) had noteworthy performances.

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The tight end position should feature some heavy competition throughout training camp for the Falcons, as the team looks to expand its depth behind long-time starter Tony Gonzalez.

The team made the decision to bring Gonzalez back for one more year last January, a smart decision considering his future Hall of Fame status. But one of the weaknesses of the Falcons position is that they do not have great depth behind Gonzalez. His heir apparent as the team’s future starter is currently not viewed to be on the roster. And part of the competition in camp will be to show if any viable long-term options emerge.

The most likely candidate will be Michael Palmer, who will get the first training camp of his career where he is largely untested for his roster position. Palmer will be a focus of this year’s camp. How well he performs as Gonzalez’s primary backup could determine how much trust this team has in their depth at the position. While Palmer isn’t currently viewed as a potential replacement for Gonzalez due to the sharp drop-off in receiving abilities, a strong summer could force the Falcons to reconsider their long-term prospects of Palmer’s future. He is seen mostly as a blocker and has been used that way each of the past two seasons, but that could change if he can have a strong summer as a receiver particularly if he gets more work with the first team units than in previous summers.

The brunt of the competition will come behind Palmer where the Falcons have multiple candidates competing for what will likely be the third and final spot on the depth chart. Tommy Gallarda, a second-year player, is the most experienced of the group having spent the majority of last year on the Falcons practice squad. The fact that he spent time in Jacksonville’s training camp last summer where Dirk Koetter got a good look at him should give him a leg up from the others in terms of making the roster. Gallarda is a blocker first, which is likely the role the Falcons envision for the third guy on the depth chart.

But he will face competition from undrafted rookies LaMark Brown, Adam Nissley, and Aron White. Brown is a converted former running back and receiver that has good athleticism and speed. But he’s undersized for a tight end at 228 pounds, and will have to showcase his receiving potential as an H-back. Nissley excelled at blocking at Central Florida and with his size he could push for a role there. White is an athletic tight end that worked primarily as a blocker for Georgia, but that was in part because of the other talent they had at the position. All three players have solid chance to make the practice squad and potentially the roster.

Even if any of the untested players make the roster the Falcons might minimize their playing time, instead opting to use a third tackle on gamedays to function as the extra blocker in jumbo packages. This is what the Falcons often did in 2010 when Palmer was a rookie, utilizing Will Svitek in that role. It’s also possible that when cuts begin in late August, the team will begin to scour the waiver wire for a more proven veteran, similarly to what they did a year ago by picking up Reggie Kelly during camp. The team already worked out veteran Daniel Graham in June, indicating that they understand there are some question marks at the position. Depending on how things play out in camp and the preseason will determine if those questions are answered down the line.

The Falcons exited their fourth consecutive draft without using a single pick on a tight end. They are among three NFL teams which have not selected a tight end since the 2008 draft. Those other teams include the New York Jets, who used a first round pick on Dustin Keller that year, the Carolina Panthers who added Gary Barnidge in the fifth round. That year, the Falcons selected Keith Zinger in the seventh round. Only three other teams have used less than two picks on tight ends in the past four drafts (New Orleans, Jacksonville, and Buffalo).

The Falcons squandered an opportunity because of the extreme likelihood that 2012 will mark Tony Gonzalez’s last season in the NFL. The Falcons could have taken advantage of Gonzalez’s veteran presence to help develop a young tight end. But alas, the Falcons will likely enter the 2013 will little at the position. They do still have Michael Palmer, who has served as a competent backup. But Palmer is limited as a receiver, as very few of his 15 career receptions have come when he had to beat and separate from man coverage. Until Palmer develops that ability, his prospects as a starting tight end don’t exceed that of Justin Peelle when he served in that role in 2008.

The Falcons added Adam Nissley as an undrafted free agent to join ones from last summer in Ryan Winterswyk and Tommy Gallarda. But all three are primarily blocking tight ends, leaving the Falcons devoid of any pass-catching presence to succeed Gonzalez next year. Next year’s free agent class is slated to feature Jared Cook (Tennessee), Fred Davis (Washington), Keller (Jets), and Heath Miller (Steelers). And Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert, Iowa’s C.J. Fiedorowicz, and Stanford’s Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo (all rising juniors), along with senior Joseph Fauria (UCLA) are likely to be considered top prospects in the 2013 Draft at the position. All that means that the Falcons could very well wind up with a good starting tight end to replace Gonzalez next year, but still the team missed an opportunity to have Gonzo’s vast knowledge, experience, and work ethic rub off on some promising youngster this year.

After a short lay-off, it’s time to get back into what things to look out for in free agency at each position group. Now it’s time we take a look at the tight end position.

The Falcons were able to hold off on major shake-up at this position by extending Tony Gonzalez’s contract for one more year. It’s likely 2012 will be the swan song season for Gonzalez, who is desperately trying to win a championship, or at least a playoff game before he retires. Since it seems very likely that this upcoming season will be his last, the team must find a viable long-term replacement for Gonzalez.

It was once thought that could potentially be Michael Palmer. But Palmer has done little to justify such beliefs. While Palmer is a solid backup tight end, he has not shown the ability as a receiver to really justify any faith in him to be a viable starter going forward. He has a good set of hands, but has yet to show he can consistently beat man coverage, a requirement for any starting receiver. More than likely the Falcons can pencil in Palmer to perform a role similar to Justin Peelle which is a backup blocker, an area where he has shown improvement.

Reggie Kelly is a free agent, but he’s not expected back after contributing little for most of the season. This all should lead to the Falcons exploring their options to try and find some tight end depth this off-season with an eye towards a guy that can take over the reins from Gonzalez in 2013. It probably makes the most sense to target such a player in the draft but they could look at a few options in free agency.

The best player available is without question Green Bay’s Jermichael Finley. But most expect the Packers to slap the franchise tag on him, limiting his availability. The next best player is probably Washington’s Fred Davis. But he ended the season on a four-game suspension due to failing a drug test (marijuana), and is one more positive test away from a full-year’s suspension. That issue hanging over his head would likely hurt his marketability, making him a cheaper option for any team willing to take on that risk. But given the so-called Falcons Filter when it comes to issues of character, it’s unlikely they would be one of the teams willing to roll that dice.

The next group of starting-caliber tight ends are Martellus Bennett (Dallas), John Carlson (Seattle), and Joel Dreessen (Houston).

Bennett is a brash player known for some of his more out-spoken comments during his days in Dallas, but at the end of the day he’s a pretty good football player. He seems to be a player that is waiting for his opportunity to emerge from the shadow of Jason Witten, and his chance to hit the open market this off-season might be it. Unfortunately, Bennett is more of a blocker at this point in his career than a receiver despite excellent size and athleticism. His hands have been inconsistent at times, and he’s more in line with a good No. 2 than an effective No. 1 tight end. While he could represent a major upgrade over Palmer, it’s unlikely he could come close to filling the shoes of Gonzalez going forward.

Carlson missed all of this past year with a shoulder injury. Prior to the arrival of Pete Carroll, Carlson was a productive tight end in the passing game, tallying over 50 catches in his first two seasons in the league. But part of that may have stemmed from the lack of playmakers that the Seahawks have had on the outside. But he’s a player that can definitely be an effective starter and ideally an H-back, a role he did well with in Seattle. Dirk Koetter’s offense makes ample use of the H-back, and if the Falcons deem Carlson healthy, he might be a nice, solid option to pursue.

Dreessen has performed well as a replacement for an injured Owen Daniels over the past three years. Daniels has missed 14 combined games over the past three seasons, and in those games, Dreessen has combined for 43 catches, 561 yards (13.0 avg), and 3 touchdowns. Dreessen will turn 30 in July, but he’s a player that could fit very well in the H-back role here in Atlanta, although once again as a long-term replacement for Gonzalez, he might be limited.

If the Falcons are looking to try and find a better No. 2 option than Palmer to team with Gonzalez, they could do so in this free agent market. But in terms of strong candidates to be permanent long-term replacements for Gonzalez next year and beyond, this market appears limited. How important that No. 2 TE is could also be determined by how the team handles the fullback position. If Koetter favors more of a two-tight end based offense that marginalizes the need for a blocking back, it’s quite possible the Falcons could try to make a splash in free agency for an H-back, but also go after the heir apparent to Gonzalez via the draft as well. The Falcons definitely have options worth exploring in free agency, but more than likely will focus on the draft when it comes down to it.