Through the magic of the internet and the ability to splice the meat of three separate live podcasts together, Ryan and I preview and then recap our thoughts on the Falcons win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1. You’ll also hear my thoughts on what matchups to look out for in an extensive preview of the Falcons’ Week 2 contest against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. Other topics include the injury to Brent Grimes and its potential immediate and long-term ramifications on the Falcons season.

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Duration: 1 hour, 15 minutes

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I would have posted this yesterday, but I wanted to take a look at the All-22 film to see if it would modify my scoring. And it did to a slight degree, as I should have because I was able to get a better look at the line play and secondary play. So I had to reassign a missed block here, a blown coverage there, that you just don’t get a clear picture of when it comes from the normal television broadcast viewpoint. The Coaches Film on NFL Game Rewind is supposed to be up by Wednesday at noon at the latest, but it went up Tuesday evening. So more than likely, going forward these reviews will come only after I’ve seen that All-22. So you’ll probably have to wait until late Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon from this point on.

But anyway, onward to the game. It was a very good showing by the Falcons offense. They were aided heavily by the fact that the Chiefs had no discernible pass rush, as well as Jacques Reeves covering Roddy White for much of hte game. Matt Ryan had an excellent game, with his passing earnings matching his season high from a year ago (vs. Carolina in Week 14).

The ground game had little impact, partially because the line didn’t do a great job opening holes up front. But other than that small complaint, the line had a solid game holding the Chiefs inept pass rush at bay. Ryan was only pressured or sacked on 2 of his 32 dropbacks, which is a very good mark.

In the air, Julio Jones was dynamic showcasing his abilities after the catch, as he was able to get 10 or more yards after the catch on half of his six receptions. He eclipsed his season high from a year ago as a receiver. White was excellent at moving the chains, collecting five first downs. Gonzalez and Douglas also contributed as well with solid days.

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I know I’ve said this a couple of times already this year, but this was really hard game to re-watch. It felt like getting a prostate exam. The Falcons just looked inept on offense in this game, and seemed like some 6-10 team that had won a door prize to get into the playoffs, rather than the 10-6 team we saw most of the year.

Matt Ryan did not play well in this game. He was late on throws and reads, and seemed unwilling to try and challenge downfield. It looked like the Falcons gameplan was to feature a lot of short passing to offset the lack of a running game in the hopes that getting the ball out of his hands quickly would slow down the Giants pass rush. Well it really didn’t work too well. Roddy White did not play very well, with three drops. Julio Jones had a nice day, but the reality is that the Falcons did not really try to feature him. Gonzalez made some nice catches, but he too seemed to be not heavy into their game plan.

Much of their gameplan centered on feeding Michael Turner, which was certainly expected. But the Falcons offensive line struggled to move the pile and Turner was for the most part a non-factor. The Falcons offensive line is probably the real culprit of this loss. THey got their butts kicked by the Giants front, and nothing signifies this more than they two 4th & 1 stuffs on the sneaks where they got no push. But don’t always forget that the Falcons had a 3rd & 2 and 3rd & 1 that the line could not convert either.

Personally, I really don’t have a major issue with Mike Smith’s decision to go for it on either fourth down instead of kicking the field goal. I tend to favor coaches that are a bit more aggressive on fourth down. What I do have issue with is that the Falcons did not convert. They were asked to “man up” and they got punked. And regardless of whether the Falcons net 6 points on those two series, it still doesn’t change the fact that the Giants were punking them throughout the day. So while it would have made the score closer had the Falcons kicked those field goals, I certainly don’t think it would have really had any impact on the outcome of the game.

The bigger coaching decision I have to question is why the Falcons did not call a timeout at the end of the first half in their two-minute drill after Ryan inept-looking scramble. After that play, 18 seconds ticked off the clock. Why did Smith nor Ryan not call a timeout then? That’s two or three plays that the Falcons could have had at the end of the half to try and put some points on the board.

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Here are the final regular stats for Moneyball. You can check out the stats from the first quarter, first half, and third quarter from this season. Click here to see the glossary. The numbers in the parentheses () represent the totals accumulated in the last four games.

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A dominant performance from the Falcons, reminiscent of the Jaguars game two weeks ago. But one wonders after the Saints game, whether this is because the Falcons are really that good or whether the Jaguars and Bucs are really that bad. And personally, I think it might be more of the latter.

But a solid game on the ground. Matt Ryan really did not have to do a lot in this game. His receivers made plays when he threw it and he just had to hand the ball off largely for 2 quarters before he made way for Redman. Turner had an outstanding game, as the Bucs defenders in their back seven seemed to have no interest in trying to tackle him. The offensive line gets a lot of credit in this game for some good blocking. Clabo, and McClure probably had the standout performances, with a solid outing from Blalock and Hawley as well. Snelling and Cox also made some nice blocks, as well as Roddy getting two key blocks downfield. Reggie Kelly decided to show up for the first time this year, with 3 key blocks.

Jones had a very good game showing his big play potential for another week. Despite two drops, Roddy had a strong game.

Quizz and Snelling also had good games, although Quizz’s fumble at the goalline was a blemish. But considering how good he and others were the rest of the game, it’s not that huge a deal.

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I needed an extra day to process and get over this loss. Personally, I was very disappointed with how poorly the Falcons played in this game. But as usual with these reviews, upon re-watching the game, I’m not as upset.

Matt Ryan played very well in this game. The problem the Falcons had in this game offensively was that they had some critical mistakes, particularly penalties and pressure killing a couple of their drives. If there is any complaint I have about Ryan’s performance is that in the third quarter when the Falcons were down 18, I think Ryan started to play a bit too conservatively. Perhaps it was the pressure that was causing him to get rid of the ball a bit too quickly, but he seemed a bit too willing to check the ball down. And then the intentional grounding later that drive in the redzone, forced the team to settle for a field goal. But other than that series, he had one of his better performances.

The running game was a non-factor in this game, and part of that seemed to be by design. It looked like the Falcons entered this game with the intention of throwing the ball, and it was effective for the most part in terms of moving the ball. But drives stalled mainly because of penalties. Rodgers holding penalty was a killer in the second quarter, and the Falcons punting on that drive was probably the major momentum shift.

The Falcons had opportunities to get it back in the third quarter, but again penalties on Svitek and Clabo, as well as pressure given up by Clabo killed subsequent drives. I think Mularkey’s game plan was a pretty good one. Only two complaints were his play calls on 3rd & 1 in the 2nd quarter and 4th & 1 in the 4th, where the Falcons tried a pair of rollouts.

The blocking was not poor, as the Falcons only gave up 3 pressures on 52 dropbacks. But those pressures came at inopportune times. But overall, this was just your typical Falcons-Saints game. The Falcons managed to shoot themselves in the foot a few too many times, and the Saints were able to fully take advantage of those situations. And when the Saints made mistakes, the Falcons were unable to take advantage.

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A pretty outstanding performance in this game for the Falcons. The Jaguars basically failed to show up for this one, and the Falcons took full advantage of their no-show.

Matt Ryan had little issue moving the ball through the air, with Roddy White having an outstanding game. Julio Jones also made some really nice plays and catches, but this really was all about Roddy. Tony Gonzalez had a very quiet game. MIchael Turner was solid on the ground, as were Jason Snelling and Jacquizz Rodgers in spots. The Falcons offensive line had their struggles trying to get push against the Jaguars front, but they were able to get the job done.

The best performance up front was probably by Clabo, as well as McClure and Blalock having solid games. Hawley had his good moments as well as his bad ones. He gave up a hit that should have been a sack had Ryan not quickly checked it down to Turner. But he continues to show that he’s filled in ably for Harvey Dahl as the team’s dirtiest blocker. He was able to draw a personal foul penalty on Nate Collins by virtue of getting away with horse-collaring Collins down the field away from the ball. Then when Collins retaliated after the whistle, that drew the flag, giving the Falcons a first down instead of punting. The next play, Ryan hit White on an easy 29-yard touchdown pass to put the Falcons lead to 41-0. Jeremy Mincey gave Will Svitek and the others fits throughout the night. Honestly watching this game, I would have to say that Jacksonville’s front seven is really potentially good. The Falcons missed 12 blocks because they got overwhelmed at the point of attack. But their secondary was really bad in this one, but thats understandable when you’re starting third string corners.

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A strong second half performance for the Falcons in this one, which has been a rarity for this team this year.

Matt Ryan had a good game, managing it well and putting his receivers in position to make plays. But the receivers really stepped up this week after a very poor game against the Texans last week. White, Jones, and Gonzalez all made some really good plays and catches. Jones only had -$1 going into the fourth quarter, and his two touchdowns earned him good money. But besides those two big plays, he was pretty quiet. Both White and Gonzalez really made some nice catches in this game, bailing out Ryan on some less than impressive throws. But the main thing with Ryan was that he looked more comfortable in this game, unlike last week, which seemed to be because of that boost in confidence in his receivers.

The blocking was improved this week, although Sam Baker looked lost for the most part at right guard. Baker just doesn’t have the ability to win in a short area to be an effective pass protector inside. Hawley wasn’t much better but he definitely can win a short area. McClure had a solid game, and Blalock had his moments preying on the weak Panthers interior. Svitek had his hands full against Charles Johnson, and it showed in his earnings. Clabo was solid was solid all game long. The ground game was solid with Turner having several nice runs.

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Here are the stat totals for the Falcons according to Moneyball rules through the first 12 games of the 2011 season. You can also check out the stats for the first quarter and first half of the season. Click here to see the glossary. The numbers in the parentheses () indicate the totals accumulated in the last four games.

This was potentially one of the most frustrating watches of the year. It was not that shocking to me that the Falcons lost this game. A great deal of people got caught up in the notion that T.J. Yates was the Texans starting quarterback, which was the same mistake that they made when Dennis Dixon was the starting quarterback of the Steelers last season. But in both cases, those people forgot to realize that the strength of both of those teams rested on thei rushing attack and their defense. The Texans defense is not as good as the Steelers defense from a year ago, but still more than good enough to slow the Falcons offense. And slow it, they did.

Matt Ryan got off to a very rocky start. His inability to throw the deep ball effectively has inhibited the Falcons offense all year long, and it was no more apparent than the opening series of this game, where two poor throws to an open White and Jones really did change the face of this game. If the Falcons hit one of those, it’s extremely likely they are touchdowns. And instead of the Falcons being down 10 points midway through the second quarter, they would be up 7 points a minute into the game. Then Ryan’s two interceptions on the ensuing drives kill their momentum, although granted neither of those throws were completely his fault as Turner threw off his timing on the flea-flicker and Jones zigged when he should have zagged on the second one.

But truthfully, besides those initial series, the rest of the game Ryan played fairly well. The Falcons had a ridiculous amount of drops in this game (8). Three consecutive ones occur on the final series of the first half which killed any chance that the Falcons move down the field and at least get three points. Really the only other mistakes Ryan makes are on the pair of delay of game penalties. The second of which was a critical mistake because it comes on a 4th & 1 with 2:35 left in the game that the Falcons actually convert and would have put them in prime scoring position to tie the game. But of course the penalty nullifies the play.

He also saw quite a bit of pressure, as the Texans pass rush was basically able to pin their ears back in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter and the Falcons blockers did not do a great job holding up. Svitek struggled in this game, as did pretty much all of the other blockers in this game. He gave up 2.5 pressures, but had another and a sack-strip negated by defensive penalties. It’s become apparent to me that while Svitek is better than Sam Baker is today, he’s not better than Baker was a year ago, which was considerably less than where Baker was in 2009. It’s fascinating to look at the Falcons left tackle position has gotten considerably worse since 2008. Svitek has done his best to maintain the status quo from a year ago. And it makes you start to realize that since the decline of Bob Whitfield, the Falcons have been fairly middling at that position. But that’s probably a topic worth broaching in the off-season. Joe Hawley also did not have a great game, and it’s clear that if the Falcons actually want to get some serious production from the right guard position they should move on in another direction. Presumably, they are playing Hawley there to get him reps for his eventual move to center. I think Hawley still has a future as the starting center, but the Falcons need to give Kirk Chambers a try at some point. Either as a replacement for Svitek at left tackle or as a right guard. Otherwise, Chambers presence on the roster is a complete and under waste.

The Falcons ground attack was pretty useless. Turner had basically two nice runs, and 9 wasted runs. And one wonders that against the fast Texans defense, that giving Jason Snelling and Jacquizz Rodgers more reps would have been smart.

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