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Falcons blow out Bucs, avoid Saints in 1st round |
ATLANTA (AP) — They wanted momentum and the best seed possible.
Hoping for a fast start, the Falcons set a team record with 42 first-half points, including two touchdown runs by Turner, Julio Jones “We didn’t want to come down to the wire, backing into the playoffs,” Turner said. The Falcons were motivated by two blowout losses – 48-21 to Green Bay in last year’s playoffs and 45-16 at New Orleans last “Getting embarrassed like that last year, that’s not who we were,” Turner said. “We just wanted another chance.”
The Falcons (10-6) and Detroit (10-6) are the NFC wild cards. Atlanta, which beat Detroit on Oct. 23, won the tiebreaker with
“We wanted to play our final regular-season game with a lot of intensity and energy, and I think we did that in all three Josh Freeman “If I was in the business of working out my future, I wouldn’t be coaching,” Morris said. “I’m going to go to work tomorrow
The Falcons led 42-0 when they began resting some starters, including quarterback “We had opportunities the week before and just didn’t make the plays,” Ryan said. “Today, we made the plays and I think that’s Ryan was 6 of 9 for 106 yards, including touchdown passes of 17 and 48 yards to Jones in the first quarter. Tampa Bay, which finished 10-6 last season and started 4-2 this season, is left with its longest losing streak in one season “This is not the season we wanted or expected, but we will need to rededicate ourselves and get ready for this offseason,” Turnovers were a problem for the Buccaneers all season. Freeman began the day tied for the league lead with 19 interceptions
With Atlanta leading 42-0, Freeman threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to
Tampa Bay’s other touchdown came on Turner ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, including an 81-yard scoring run late in the first half. The score capped the The Falcons led 21-0 after the first quarter and then put the game away with three more touchdowns in the second quarter. The strong showing was important for the Falcons. Last week’s loss at New Orleans was the worst in four seasons with Smith.
“The main thing we wanted to do was flush out of our system last week,” tight end The Falcons announced before the game Gonzalez, 35, has signed a one-year contract extension, ending speculation he might The Falcons had the No. 1 seed in the playoffs last year before losing to the Packers. Despite the team’s lower seed, Gonzalez said the Falcons are prepared for a longer postseason run. “Honestly, I’ve said it all year: I think we’re a better team than we were last year,” Gonzalez said.
Rookie
After Ryan’s first TD pass to Jones,
On first down from the Buccaneers 48, Ryan again threw to Jones, who fought off safety
Turner had two touchdown runs and Matt Bryant
Notes: Ryan passed Jeff George for the Falcons’ most yards passing in a season. George threw for 4,143 yards in 1995. Ryan
© 2011 STATS LLC If you like reading our blog, remember to bookmark it. Posted in 1, falcons-news, Matt Bryant, Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Mike Smith, New York Giants, Tony Gonzalez | Comments Off
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Falcons beat Bucs, 45-24, clinch NFC’s No. 5 seed |
The Atlanta Falcons grabbed the lead _ and the No. 5 seed in the Julio Jones caught two touchdown passes in a span of 26 seconds, The Falcons (10-6) and Detroit (10-6) are the NFC wild cards. “We wanted to play our final regular-season game with a lot of Josh Freeman threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in the The Falcons led 42-0 when it began resting some of its starters, Tampa Bay, which finished 10-6 last season and started 4-2 this Turnovers were a problem for the Buccaneers all season. Freeman Freeman completed 31 of 45 passes for 274 yards with two With Atlanta leading 42-0, Freeman threw a 2-yard touchdown pass Tampa Bay’s other touchdown came on Elbert Mack’s 40-yard Turner ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, including an The Falcons led 21-0 after the first quarter and then put the The strong showing was important for the Falcons, who were “We had some things we needed to get fixed from the previous Ryan was 6 of 9 for 106 yards, including touchdown passes of 17 Rookie Jacquizz Rodgers scored on a 1-yard run for his first After Ryan’s first TD pass to Jones, Dominique Franks’ On first down from the Buccaneers 48, Ryan again threw to Jones, Turner had two touchdown runs and Curtis Lofton returned an Matt Bryant kicked a 20-yard field goal late in the fourth Turner’s two touchdowns gave him a team-record 50 rushing scores Roddy White also celebrated a milestone, passing Terance Mathis What are your opinions. Posted in 1, falcons-news, Matt Bryant, Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Mike Smith, New York Giants | Comments Off
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Atlanta Falcons 2011 Fantasy Football Stars:… |
Although the Atlanta Falcons failed to live up to the expectations their 13-3 2010 season brought upon them, they are still in the NFC playoffs and are still a dangerous team to play. The team possesses top ranked skill position players across the offense, starting with Matt Ryan and ending with rookie wide out, Julio Jones. The 2011 fantasy football season saw several Falcons players inserted into weekly lineups, but who are the biggest surprise and disappointments, and which star can say they were the Falcons 2011 fantasy MVP? MVP – Matt Ryan While quarterbacks are always critiqued on their playoff record (Ryan is winless), Ryan has continued to grow during the regular season and has become a top-tier fantasy quarterback. He has already surpassed his career high by more than 300 yards and needs one touchdown in the season finale to tie his career high. For the second straight season, the Falcons are relying on Ryan’s arm to get them to the playoffs, which is something Ryan doesn’t seem to mind. Biggest Surprise – Julio Jones The Falcons mortgaged their future to draft the rookie from Alabama and if this season is any indication of the future, they will be alright. Despite missing three games, Jones put together a great fantasy season for fantasy GMs who wanted to give him a go. If he gets another 113 yards in the season finale, Jones will reach 1,000 yards on the year, putting him in great rookie company this season in that club (Victor Cruz and A.J. Green). Biggest Disappointment – Michael Turner It’s hard to say that a man who rushed for more than 1,100 yards this season is a disappointment, but for Turner, that is the case. When you look at his numbers, they are on par or even less than what he has done since coming to Atlanta. That is the problem. He was expected to do more than 78 yards per game. Fantasy GMs were hoping to see 85-88 yards per game like they saw a season ago, but it didn’t happen. He has five more receptions this season than he did a year ago, but those 15 catches don’t make managers jump at selecting Turner in PPR leagues. With most fantasy leagues complete following week 16, I have started my end of season reports prior to the end of the week 17. This notation is for readers to be aware that the statistics mentioned are not final. For a closer look at All-Injury teams for all major fantasy positions, click here. More from this contributor: LeSean McCoy is Top Fantasy Running Back in 2011 Backup Running Backs to make Splash in 2011 Don’t Give up on These Players too Early Drafting Individual Defensive Players? Top 2011 Fantasy Football Rookies Hobson Lopes has been playing fantasy football for more than 10 years and can be followed on Twitter @HobsonLopes. Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. That’s all for today. |
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Smith looks to fix Falcons |
Coach Mike Smith has led the Atlanta Falcons to the playoffs in three of his four seasons. FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Coach Mike Smith has led the Atlanta Falcons to the playoffs in three of his four seasons. Right now, he couldn’t care less. Smith spent Tuesday trying to find answers for major breakdowns following the Falcons’ blowout loss the night before in New Orleans. A 45-16 defeat left him determined to fix these problems before the postseason begins in two weeks. The Falcons (9-6) host Tampa Bay (4-11) in the regular-season finale on Sunday and will learn later that day where they will travel to open the playoffs. But Smith has more immediate concerns after watching his team lose badly to the Saints. “We did not match their physicality,” Smith said, “and I don’t think we played real smart either.” Atlanta’s offense, which had scored a combined 72 points in the previous two games, was inconsistent: n Before the score was lopsided, the Falcons had to settle for field goals on three red zone possessions and went three-and-out both times the defense picked off Saints quarterback Drew Brees. n Running back Michael Turner, the NFL’s sixth-leading rusher, finished with 39 yards on 11 carries. n Rookie receiver Julio Jones lost a fourth-quarter fumble that New Orleans’ Malcolm Jenkins returned for a 30-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach. The Falcons’ defense was worse: n New Orleans, which leads the NFL in third down rate, converted its first nine chances and finished 10-for-13 as Atlanta failed to match the Saints’ frenetic substitution patterns. n The Falcons were a mess in the red zone, allowing four touchdowns in six opportunities. It seemed appropriate that Brees ended the night by setting the league’s single-season passing record with a 9-yard TD pass on second-and-goal. n And after falling to 2-6 against New Orleans in his tenure as Atlanta’s coach, Smith was frustrated by his team’s inability to pressure Brees consistently. He was only sacked once. “We had a couple of opportunities with blitzes in which we had some free runners at them and we did not make the play,” he said. “But our pass rush was not what it needs to be. You can’t give that guy time if you’re playing matchup coverages, man coverages and if he gets time, those guys are going to get open. That was the case on a number of occasions.” With so much at stake in the division, right end John Abraham never believed the Falcons would begin the night playing timidly on defense. But even though a win over New Orleans would’ve given Atlanta the chance to win the NFC South and host a playoff game, Abraham wondered if his team was overly confident after beating Jacksonville 41-14 the week before. “I don’t know why we came out a little sluggish, but we did,” Abraham said. “And in the end they got the momentum and held onto it.” Whether the Falcons have some kind of identity crisis remains to be seen. They had won four of five since losing in overtime to New Orleans six weeks ago, but have just two victories this season over teams with winning records (Detroit and Tennessee). Tampa Bay, which visits the Georgia Dome on Sunday, isn’t likely to give Atlanta much of a gauge. The Buccaneers have lost nine straight and are coming off a 32-point road loss at Carolina. Smith promises, though, that he will keep his team focused on Tampa Bay and not on the playoffs. Atlanta is 0-2 in the postseason during his tenure. “I can assure you that for our organization, our goal is not just to make the playoffs,” Smith said. “Our goals are much higher than that, and we have a roadmap that you have to follow to get there, meaning that you’ve got games to play and we didn’t play very good last night. I think it is a humbling experience for all of us because we didn’t play Atlanta Falcon football like we know we’re capable of playing.” Leave any suggestions in the comment box. |
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Following blowout loss at New Orleans, Falcons… |
Smith spent Tuesday trying to find answers for major breakdowns following the Falcons’ blowout loss the night before in New Orleans. A 45-16 defeat left him determined to fix these problems before the postseason begins in two weeks. The Falcons (9-6) host Tampa Bay (4-11) in the regular-season finale on Sunday and will learn later that day where they will travel to open the playoffs. But Smith has more immediate concerns after watching his team lose badly to the Saints. “We did not match their physicality,” Smith said, “and I don’t think we played real smart either.” Atlanta’s offense, which had scored a combined 72 points in the previous two games, was inconsistent: — Before the score was lopsided, the Falcons had to settle for field goals on three red zone possessions and went three-and-out both times the defense picked off Saints quarterback Drew Brees. — Running back Michael Turner, the NFL’s sixth-leading rusher, finished with 39 yards on 11 carries. — Rookie receiver Julio Jones lost a fourth-quarter fumble that New Orleans’ Malcolm Jenkins returned for a 30-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach. The Falcons’ defense was worse: — New Orleans, which leads the NFL in third down rate, converted its first nine chances and finished 10 for 13 as Atlanta failed to match the Saints’ frenetic substitution patterns. — The Falcons were a mess in the red zone, allowing four touchdowns in six opportunities. It seemed appropriate that Brees ended the night by setting the league’s single-season passing record with a 9-yard TD pass on second-and-goal. — And after falling to 2-6 against New Orleans in his tenure as Atlanta’s coach, Smith was frustrated by his team’s inability to pressure Brees consistently. He was only sacked once. “We had a couple of opportunities with blitzes in which we had some free runners at them and we did not make the play,” he said. “But our pass rush was not what it needs to be. You can’t give that guy time if you’re playing matchup coverages, man coverages and if he gets time, those guys are going to get open. That was the case on a number of occasions.” With so much at stake in the division, right end John Abraham never believed the Falcons would begin the night playing timidly on defense. But even though a win over New Orleans would’ve given Atlanta the chance to win the NFC South and host a playoff game, Abraham wondered if his team was overly confident after beating Jacksonville 41-14 the week before. “I don’t know why we came out a little sluggish, but we did,” Abraham said. “And in the end they got the momentum and held onto it.” Whether the Falcons have some kind of identity crisis remains to be seen. They had won four of five since losing in overtime to New Orleans six weeks ago, but have just two victories this season over teams with winning records (Detroit and Tennessee). Tampa Bay, which visits the Georgia Dome on Sunday, isn’t likely to give Atlanta much of a gauge. The Buccaneers have lost nine straight and are coming off a 32-point road loss at Carolina. Smith promises, though, that he will keep his team focused on Tampa Bay and not on the playoffs. Atlanta is 0-2 in the postseason during his tenure. “I can assure you that for our organization, our goal is not just to make the playoffs,” Smith said. “Our goals are much higher than that, and we have a roadmap that you have to follow to get there, meaning that you’ve got games to play and we didn’t play very good last night. I think it is a humbling experience for all of us because we didn’t play Atlanta Falcon football like we know we’re capable of playing.” Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Gotta run!. |
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