Kaspers Korner

The Atlanta Falcons have the dubious task of having to try and beat the undefeated New Orleans Saints.

With the Saints firing on all cylinders the question is can the Saints be stopped.

The Falcons go into this week beeing the obvious underdog as their defense is not as good as the offense.

So how can the Falcons stop the Saints offense?

First, they need to pressure on Saints quarterback Drew Brees to make a mistake.

Secondly, when blitzing make sure the coverage is tight at all times as even lining up far off receivers will hurt the Falcons.

The offense has a tough task as well as Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has them play spectacular.

Even with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan looking like an elite level quarterback he still has to becareful as he is only in his sefond year and Williams is sure to throw coverages at him he never saw before.

In the end the Falcons are essentially looking at a David versus Goliath matchup, but can the Falcons slay Goliath?

The Atlanta Falcons went into Sunday withe the daunting task of stopping the Chicago Bears offense.

With the Falcons getting the win and the defense doing a solid job against the Bears offense things are coming together for the Falcons.

The Falcons took away the running game of the Bears away as the leading rusher was quarterback Jay Cutler who scrambled three times for 34 yards.

Your not gonna win many football games not being able to run the football.

Cutler did throw for 300 yards passing with two touchdowns, but considering that it was on 43 passes is pretty good.

In the end the Falcons will make the playoffs as a wild card as division rivals New Orleans Saints is right now the best team in the National Football League.

The Atlanta Falcons has not been nearly as good as their offense this year.

That leaves one to wonder whether they are going to find the answers necessary get the defense going.

The defense’s biggest problem is stopping the run as they are struggling in that department with the loss of defensive tackle Peria Jerry.

Also, the pass rush for the Falcons has nonexistent as according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the defensive line has not recorded a sack in the last two days.

In the end if the Falcons do not find a solution to their problems they could miss out on the playoffs.

Atlanta Falcons general manager Tom Dimitroff set off this past offseason to correct his defense.

This week the Falcons revamped defense gets tested as they face the New England Patriots this week.

The Falcons have two weaknesses, which they need to overcome if they are going to beat the Patriots.

First, they get no pass rush from left defensive end Jamaal Anderson has no sacks this season and had only two all of last year.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady mechanic’s get thrown off when he is pressured heavily.

Secondly. offenses can run on the Falcons as they have lost defensive tackle Peria Jerry for the year.

Last week to the Carolina Panthers the Falcons gave up 144 yards rushing on 25 carries, which is over five yards a carry.

In the end if the Falcons are going to win they are going to have to play their best game defensively.

Atlanta Falcons general manager Tom Dimitroff made the Atlanta Falcons into a respectable team in one season.  However, Dimitroff is playing with fire in negotiations with a certain player.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, contract talks between wide receiver Roddy White and the team are not going well as the two are seemingly far apart.

So, what is the Problem?

The Problem is Dimitroff as he was formerly the New England Patriots director of college scouting,

The Patriots have the mentality that as one person is not about the team, which means that they expect players to take less to help keep the team together.

The thing is that the only way to accomplish this is building a team from scratch through the draft as young players are receptive and can be molded.

White on the other hand is going into his fifth year in the National Football League, which means it will be hard to get him to buy into the system unless some teammates step in.

In the end if the Falcons are going to keep White they are going to have to meet his demands as quarterbacks are nothing without talented wide receivers.

The Atlanta Falcons in this past April’s National Football League Draft addressed the defense, since they addressed the offense in the offseason prior to the 2008 season.  Not even a month after the Draft it already looks like the Falcons made a huge mistake.

Falcons first round pick, which was 24th overall, defensive tackle Peria Jerry left Saturday morning’s mini-camp with a reportedly sprained right knee.

Falcons head coach Mike Smith told reporters that Jerry consulted a doctor, but it is not known yet if the injury was serious.

Unfortunately for Falcon fans they are going to have to wait a while.  The reason being is that with knees an MRI needs to be done to make sure none of the ligaments or cartilage in the knee is damaged.

Also, they need to wait for swelling in Jerry’s knee to go down a little before they can do an MRI.

That means Falcons fans are going to have to wait till sometime later in the week for the results.

However, it should have never came to this.  The reason is that the Falcons never should have taken Jerry.

Jerry has acquired an injury prone reputation as he missed for games as a freshman with a ankle injury, had foot surgery following his sophomore season, and just before the 2008 season, his senior year, he had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in the same right knee that he injured Saturday.

So, why did the Falcons select Jerry knowing about his injury history?  The reason is that Smith fell in love with Jerry’s explosiveness off the ball when the ball is snapped.

When teams fall in love with one aspect of a player, and does not look at the overall picture, those picks usually are busts.

The next defensive tackle taken in the Draft was at 32nd overall when the Pittsburgh Steelers took defensive tackle Evander Hood.

Only time will tell who got it right and who did not, but I am already inclined to say Pittsburgh after all they are the defending Superbowl Champions.

The Atlanta Falcons were one of the surprise teams last season thanks to their draft.  With the defense needed to be addressed this year can the Falcons pull it off again.

Falcons general manager Tom Dimitroff pulled off what most teams in the National Football League dream of.  That being selecting a quarterback with their first pick overall, and have him perform right out of the gates.

In addition to quarterback Matt Ryan the Falcons also took offensive tackle Sam Baker and linebacker Chris Lofton within the first two rounds.  Both turned out to be starters right out of the blocks.

This year the defense needs to be addressed as the Falcons lost five starters to free agency.  Which means that there will be a lot of young players starting.

The Falcons did address the departures of linebackers Keith Brookings and Michael Boley.  According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, they did that by signing free agent linebacker Mike Peterson who will replace Brookings and Coy Wire who will compete with Stephen Nichols for the starting strong side linebacker position.

In the secondary cornerback Brent Grimes will be the starter next season for the departed Domonique Foxworth.  Then to replace Lawyer Milloy the current plan is to use either Thomas Decloud or Jamaal Fudge.

The only problem right now is replacing the vacated starting defensive tackle spot.  Most likely the Falcons will use their first round selection on that.  Then their second round selection on a linebacker, since the linebacker position is looking deep this year.
However, the draft is unpredictable and who knows who wll be available when the Falcons draft 24th in the first round.

In any which case the Falcons are depending on young talent to perform right away to make the playoffs again.  In the NFC South that is a tall order to fill.

Michael Boley LB unrestricted signed with Giants five years $25 million
Keith Brookings LB unrestricted signed with Cowboys three year $6 million $2.5 guaranteed.
Tyson Clabo G restricted

Harvey Dahl OT restricted

Chauncey Davis DE unrestricted resigned with team four year $14 million
Domonique Foxworth CB unrestricted signed with Ravens
Jamaal Fudge S restricted resigned with team
Wayne Gandy OT unrestricted

Tony Gilbert LB unrestricted resigned with team
Grady Jackson DT unrestricted signed with Lions three years eight million
Jason Jefferson DT unrestricted resigned with team
Michael Jenkins WR unrestricted

Michael Koenen P unrestricted franchised by team
Lawyer Milloy S unrestricted

Justin Peelle TE unrestricted resigned with team

Jason Snelling exclusive rights free agent resigned with team
Ben Wilkerson C restricted resigned with team veteran minimum
Coy Wire LB unrestricted resigned with team

The Atlanta Falcons offseason last year focused on the offensive side of the ball as they acquired running back Michael Turner in free agency, quarterback Matt Ryan, and offensive tackle Sam Baker in the 2008 draft.  Now, the Falcons are going to have to turn to the defense if they expect to get farther in the playoffs.

They did address defense with one draft pick last year in the second round of the 2008 draft in linebacker Curtis Lofton.  Lofton had a good rookie season recording 94 tackles and one sack in 15 starts at the middle linebacker position.

The main problem with the Falcons defense is the defensive line.  Outside of defensive end John Abraham nobody else recorded more than four sacks.

That simply is not going to get it done in the National Football League and if they are going to get deeper in the playoffs they need to address the defensive line this offseason.

The Atlanta Falcons have found their franchise quarterback in Matt Ryan and made even more improvement this offseason.  However, the Falcons will not make the playoffs.

The Falcons in 2009 have a brutal schedule as they have to go agains that AFC East and NFC East this year, which always have good teams.

The problem will be for the Falcons is that when a team plays a lot of good opponents they will usually suffer a lot of injuries from all the tough battles.

Once a team starts losing its starters the team’s chances to make the playoffs become slim, which is a belief of ESPN’s John Clayton.

The team did bolster its defense by selecting players on the defensive side of the ball with its first five picks, along with help its offense by trading for tight end Tony Gonzalez.
However, they are rookies and they will not have a major impact for another year or two.

In the end it is going to be a long year for Falcon fans, unless they can stay healthy somehow.