Whats the big scare about Atlanta????? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Whats the big scare about Atlanta?????

pacresjt

pacresjt

Active Roster
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Messages
620
Reaction score
336
Location
California
Why is it that so many folks on this board and on the Atlanta board feel that Atlanta is Superior to our team and is such a huge threat week one? Atlanta had just as weak of a schedule as we did last year and their numbers are not that impressive....

On offense they ranked 14th in the league in passing with 3336 yards with 61.1% completion. Miami ranked 10th in the league with 3632 yards and 67.2% completion. Advantage Miami 20 yards a game. Atlanta ranked 2nd with rushing with 2443 yards but only 4.4 average per carry (560 carries) while Miami ranked 11th with 1897 yards and a 4.2 average per carry (448 carries) Advantage Atlanta by .2 yards per carry 7 yards per game.

On defense Atlanta ranked 21st in the league and gave up 3526 yards per game passing with a 6.9 per attempt average while Miami gave up 3644 yards per game passing with a 7.0 per attempt average. Advantage Atlanta by 1.125 yards per game. Rushing defense was Atlanta 25th in the league with 2046 yards and a 4.9 average while Miami was 10th in the league with 1620 yards and a 4.2 average. Advantage Miami 27 yards a game.

Just for some fun facts here Miami was +17 in turnovers last year while Atlanta was -3. This mostly due to the solid style of defense by Miami causing 30 turnovers to Atlanta 18.

So I don't get it, why is Atlanta so much better than Miami? These two teams are pretty evenly matched and this should be a good game. Can Miami win, I think like in every Miami game last year it comes down to turnovers. But I say Miami 20 ATL 17
 
Dont worry, Im sure Channing Crowder will shut down Tony G. Also, the Falcons will suddenly forget how to run between the tackles with Turner. Easy win.
 
Well nice research on numbers.

But with the addition of a ALL PRO TE, which is always a QB's security blanket, the offense becomes more diverse. Throw in the fact that Tony G has had his way in the past w/ MIA, including last year in a bone chilling game. Tony played last year in KC w/ no running game and a qb who honestly was one of the worst that KC has put on the field.

If Tony G gets into the seams early on MIA, it will cause alot of problems. Throw in playaction and MIA will have its hands full. Which ever Rookie starts, will be tested and will end up needing over the top help...which leave Tony G one on one w/ a S or a MLB.
 
ZachThomas76 said:
Dont worry, Im sure Channing Crowder will shut down Tony G. Also, the Falcons will suddenly forget how to run between the tackles with Turner. Easy win.
Click to expand...

You have more faith in Crowder than he deserves. Crowder still seems to at times, to pick the wrong hole to blitz in or is a second or two late. Throw in one player is a dominate TE and a future HOF and one is a player who has yet to reach any potential of making 'big' plays. Crowder is good at making plays 3 yards past the line of scrimmage...he has absolutely no history of making plays in the pass defense of his game.
 
FinsFan74 said:
I think the big scare they are referring to is the MARTA system...;)
Click to expand...

As a former resident of the ATL, I can attest to that !

I don't get all the luv the Falcons are getting either. IMHO, in the minds of the sports-blab media, only the Phins got worse in the offseason. Every other playoff team "improved dramaticly". And even some team that didn't like the Yets are getting more props that the Aqua & Orange.
 
If the play of our safties (maily wilson) doesnt bother you, I not sure if anything will. I know it was preseason but Tampa receivers were running wild in our secondary only for Leftwitch to overthrow them.

Now add Roddy White, Gonzalez, Turner, and others coupled with Matt Ryan being a much better QB, you have some concerns.

Im not throwing in the towel, but I'd be lying if I told you it didnt bother me a little.
 
1- It is a home game for Atlanta

2- First game of the year, everyone should be healthy (For both teams)

3- As mentioned, they added a HOF TE to go with their VERY solid RB and emerging QB.

4- Many expect Miami's secondary to be porous, at least for the first half of the season.

5- They also averaged about 3 points per game more than us on O.


Some of it has some credence to it, but the teams are probably alot closer than anyone wants to admit. Controversy sells papers, and when the media gets a chance to rub Miami's nose in something they will. I think most analysts and commentators are salivating at the chance to say the Fins screwed up by passing over Matt Ryan.

Of course if we go in there and blow them out, they won't give the Fins credit, they will just say that Atlanta was overhyped.

If the game is close (Win or Lose), everyone will say we not only screwed up by passing on Ryan, but that we were overrated due to a weak schedule last year.

If we get blown out, the sky will fall and chicken little will infest this board for 6 days and 6 nights.
 
Not buying the Falcons either. As long as they have the worst secondary in the league, we have a great chance to win.
 
I'm going to the game with my brother, who is a huge Falcons fan, so we've talked a bunch about the matchup already and I've gotten some insight on the Falcons from him.

I think the concern from our side comes because Atlanta's offense was already pretty good last year, and now they added Gonzalez along with everyone expecting Ryan to be better in his second year. However, what no one is talking about on here is that the Atlanta defense wasn't all that good last year, especially when it came to the secondary. In the offseason, they got rid of about half of the defense, and I'm not convinced that the Falcons D is any better. If you read the Falcons message boards, you'll see that their fans are still concerned about the defense. The Falcons' first-team D just got beaten up on national TV by the Chargers this weekend, and the fans down there are upset. I'd take the Atlanta offense over the Miami offense, but I'd just as easily take the Miami D over the Atlanta D. You can get by with a not-so-good secondary if you have a good pass rush, but outside of John Abraham, Atlanta doesn't really have anyone that can get to the passer well. A lot of people said the same thing about Miami with Joey Porter last year, but now we have JT on the other side, and even have Cam Wake to back either of those guys up. I think that we can pressure Ryan easier than the Falcons will be able to get to Penny.

The key for both teams will be establishing the run. Atlanta did it really well last year so that they didn't put Ryan in tough spots on 2nd and 3rd down. We all know that Miami's offense isn't good in 3rd and long, so getting good gains on first down will be important. In terms of the passing game, Roddy White vs. Will Allen will be a huge battle, White is one of the top-10 WRs in the game today, and Atlanta will definitely try to get him the ball. Also, here's a wild thought: in nickle and dime situations for Miami, I wonder if they'll put a bigger DB like Sean Smith or Nathan Jones on Gonzalez because he's too fast for an LB to cover. On the other side, while our receivers aren't as good as Atlanta's, I think that we can find some holes in their secondary. Heck, the Falcons just traded for a DB from the Rams, what does that tell you about how they feel about the D? Yeah, Atlanta's offense is going to be really good, but our D is better than their D, and our offense will be able to make plays against them. I'm looking forward to the game....and the Dolphins win 27-24 on a last-second FG by Carpenter.
 
arydolphin said:
I'm going to the game with my brother, who is a huge Falcons fan, so we've talked a bunch about the matchup already and I've gotten some insight on the Falcons from him.

I think the concern from our side comes because Atlanta's offense was already pretty good last year, and now they added Gonzalez along with everyone expecting Ryan to be better in his second year. However, what no one is talking about on here is that the Atlanta defense wasn't all that good last year, especially when it came to the secondary. In the offseason, they got rid of about half of the defense, and I'm not convinced that the Falcons D is any better. If you read the Falcons message boards, you'll see that their fans are still concerned about the defense. The Falcons' first-team D just got beaten up on national TV by the Chargers this weekend, and the fans down there are upset. I'd take the Atlanta offense over the Miami offense, but I'd just as easily take the Miami D over the Atlanta D. You can get by with a not-so-good secondary if you have a good pass rush, but outside of John Abraham, Atlanta doesn't really have anyone that can get to the passer well. A lot of people said the same thing about Miami with Joey Porter last year, but now we have JT on the other side, and even have Cam Wake to back either of those guys up. I think that we can pressure Ryan easier than the Falcons will be able to get to Penny.

The key for both teams will be establishing the run. Atlanta did it really well last year so that they didn't put Ryan in tough spots on 2nd and 3rd down. We all know that Miami's offense isn't good in 3rd and long, so getting good gains on first down will be important. In terms of the passing game, Roddy White vs. Will Allen will be a huge battle, White is one of the top-10 WRs in the game today, and Atlanta will definitely try to get him the ball. Also, here's a wild thought: in nickle and dime situations for Miami, I wonder if they'll put a bigger DB like Sean Smith or Nathan Jones on Gonzalez because he's too fast for an LB to cover. On the other side, while our receivers aren't as good as Atlanta's, I think that we can find some holes in their secondary. Heck, the Falcons just traded for a DB from the Rams, what does that tell you about how they feel about the D? Yeah, Atlanta's offense is going to be really good, but our D is better than their D, and our offense will be able to make plays against them. I'm looking forward to the game....and the Dolphins win 27-24 on a last-second FG by Carpenter.
Click to expand...

I talked about it plenty if you read the board

http://www.finheaven.com/forums/f2/falcons-defense-in-game-1-a-254887.html

^^^^^
 
i see what people are concerned about but bottom line our defense is way better then their defense. we will stop them more then they stop us and win TOP and the game
 
DolfanDuBbZ~ said:
You have more faith in Crowder than he deserves. Crowder still seems to at times, to pick the wrong hole to blitz in or is a second or two late. Throw in one player is a dominate TE and a future HOF and one is a player who has yet to reach any potential of making 'big' plays. Crowder is good at making plays 3 yards past the line of scrimmage...he has absolutely no history of making plays in the pass defense of his game.
Click to expand...


you do realize that the ONLY time a TE scored on our defense last year was against KC, and that was TG. Guess where Crowder was that game? On the sideline with an injury.

You give Crowder no credit for his run defense, but he has superior pass coverage skills, he's a very fast linebacker and obviously, as the trifecta has seen and indicated with signing him to an extension, key to our defense. Also when Crowder was out our run defense was poor.

Making plays 3 yards past the line of scrimmage is better than making no plays at all. And 3 yards times 3 downs is 9 yards, 1 yard short of a first.
 
Biggest scare is that Miami is not ready to be competitive yet. Miami is a young team and had a very weak schedule last year. We are a year away from getting much better. We over hype some fairly mediocre talent here, because we don’t have a superstar on this team. Unless that’s Ronnie Brown? Ginn is not, Penny is not, Ricky is not, Bess is not, Long is not, Crowder is not, right down the roster. Maybe some stars will be born this year, and I’m looking forward to watching this come together. But without the aqua and orange colored glasses on, it could be a rough season guys. The talent level has to go way up to be a serious top tier team.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom