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Jet Nation
Jet Nation Forums

We'll get the chance to play another MNF game at home, but I really hope the Falcons decide to show up this week. The way we've played the past two weeks, we really haven't looked like a playoff team. More like a team that is struggling to finish 7-9.

nothing like another cupcake to help you get it together.

The Jets have been in the playoffs almost every year under Herman Edwards. They are having a rough year. Losing your starting QB and your backup will do that to you.

That being said if the Falcons are looking at the Jets as a cupcake game, they will get whacked.

ok. 90% of the regs on here will agree with you that if the falcons look at it as a cupcake game they will lose. i said that, obviously not Mora.

now let's look at the facts.

falcons have the #1 rushing D in the NFL by FAR. you may be without Abraham.
Jets have a 40 yr old QB, falcons have one of the top sack Ds in the NFL. the only thing that gets us is a huge Oline. how big is the Jets line?


i will venture to say the Falcons will be favored in this game by 7.

Jets might be a cupcake on the offensive side of the ball without Pennington. But their defense is no laughin case. The Jets are a dangerous opponent based on their defense and the fact that our defense is quickly becoming a laughing stock.

The biggest problem we will have against the Jets is named Curtis Martin. If we don't stop him and the Jets defense steps up we could drop this one.

That and we are notoriously bad on MNF.

I think the Jets are a much better team than the Saints and NO gave us all we could handle...I don't have a lot of confidance in our team right now...you can't let a 33 year old RB do that to you....it's just not very condusive to winning....the Jets D worries me, and we havn't stopped the run all year so of course Curtis Martin could present a problem too...that said we are playing in the Dome on Monday night and I am sure the crowd will be rockin'....I just hope we can go into the bye week on a good note...

This is a must win game for the Falcons...most of our games for the rest of the year are must wins...I don't think TB schedule gets hard at any point this year and if we are going to keep pace we must keep winnig....

Kevin Mawae is out for the season - torn triceps - so we should fare better against Curtis Martin.

The Falcons should win this one going away. The wheels are falling off for the Jets. Both QBs pretty much out for the year. That was the end of the story. The OLine is hurting really bad. The left tackle Fabini has a bum knee and had to move to the right side. Pro Bowler Kevin Mawae is now out for the year. Ty Law missed a lot of time last week.

I am not making excuses. Injuries are part of the game. That is the way it goes. But with a new offensive coordinator and all these new parts, the Falcons should run away with this one. Not a good spot for the Jets. But their defense is legit. So we will still tune in just for the hell of it!

We should have rolled over New Orleans but didn't. The Falcons always suck on MNF so I wouldn't call this game a sure thing.

Yeah with your defense & Vick being hobbled by that sprained, and now hyperextended, knee I could easily see us losing to V_V_V_V_V_Vinny & the Jets.

Well this team's inability to stop any RB this year, Curtis Martin is practically guaranteed to have over 100 yards.

The key is not going to be stopping the run (until we show we CAN, I know longer will factor that ability into our potential for success), but putting pressure on Testaverde, and forcing turnovers. I'm not saying the Falcons should just let Martin run through them like a hot knife through butter, but it'll come down to a lot of bending, but little breaking in the red zone. We've done a pretty good job of doing it this year, only allowing TDs about 50% of the time (I'm not sure where that ranks in the league, but it should be around the middle based on 2004 stats).

The Jets front 4 do present a major problem for the Falcons. They have the speed upfront that usually gives our O-line trouble and can limit VIck's scrambling ability.

Of course, the knee injury isn't helping in that area as well, which basically means Vick is going to have to have another Buffalo-like performance throwing the football if we want to win. I suspect Abraham and Ellis will be in Vick's face for much of the game. I've been thinking that Kevin Shaffer has quietly been having a decent season for the Falcons this year. He's no superstar, but I think he and Forney form the core of what I see as significantly improved line. It will be a real test to see how he fares against a pass rusher like Abraham, who is probably the best player he'll face all year long.

I suspect the Falcons will come out hungry, if not then we are in for a world of trouble down the stretch of the season.

Keys to victory (in no particular order):

1. Containing Martin to under 150 yards (see how much standards have dropped with this terrible run defense?).
2. Force turnovers (like we did vs. NO)
3. Run the ball efficiently (the Jets run D is about as bad as ours)
4. Give Vick some time to make throws (we can still win if we give up 3-5 sacks)
5. Vick needs to show up, he didn't last week and make better throws.

I would also add that special teams need to be at the top of their game. This game will likely become a battle of field position. If Rossum can give us an average start around the 30 or 35 we are in pretty good shape. We will need to stop returns by the Jets.

One thing I read and believe NFL special teams should do is just straight out rush the punter. No more of this man or zone return coverage. Just lineup to stop the punt. It forces the punting team to keep their men in to block and still gives Rossum some daylight to work his magic. College football does exactly this.

I have been disappointed with the punt team's lack of effort in terms of blocking punts. And Rossum has been a bit too quick to call for the fair catch in recent games.

Pudge hit on something. The last few games we really could have used a spark that one of Rossum's returns could have provided. Instead, if he saw a couple guys closing in he threw the hand up. Good starting position is key when our offense is sputtering. 4-2 not great but could be worse:)

6. Cut Dez White

except for the first half of the Iggles game...

7. Start Finneran, Jenkins, and Roddy White, henceforth cutting the other...Dez "i cant catch" White

The Jets return game is another thing they are doing poorly right now. Justin Miller is pretty good on kickoffs, each week he gets on to almost midfield.

But on punts they are terrible. Miller can return but can't hang on to the ball. The other guys can catch, but aren't explosive.

The Jets Punter Ben Graham (From Australia) is their best weapon. Watch him kick. He can boom it if he isn't under a ton of pressure. He is a lefty and he ball comes down strange and is hard to handle.

All the more reason to bring in the coverage players and rush the punter. Maybe we can get him to freak out and muff a few punts.

Hopefully Rossum will come to play and decide to run a couple instead of all these fair catches lately. Not hating- I just think we need him to give us some decent field position so Vick can do his thing. Starting around our 15-20yd line is not where we want to be.

He hasn't muffed any yet and he has been rushed. I saw him in camp and he was kicking over 60 yards with hang time. He hasn't reached that level yet in game situations though.

Sounds like Koenen... Although he has some directional issues.

I suspect Graham's success will have NFL teams scouring Australia for more Aussie rules football guys. If you've ever watched any of those games, you wonder why the NFL hasn't been drooling over these guys yet. Coffin corners and weird spins on the ball are their specialities.

Rossum hasn't hit his stride yet. But one of the things I love about him is that he always seems to come up with a big return when we need it. If the final minutes are ticking away and we need a big return to get some good field position, he's going to get us 30-40 yards on a kickoff. If the offense has been stagnant all game long and we need something to get them going, expect him to bust a 20-30 yard punt return.

You have to respect DeCamillis a lot. Ever since, he's joined the Falcons in 1997, we've had at least 1 returner in each year finish in the Top 10 ranking (including 5 Top 5 finishes). In 2001, we had both KR and punt returner do it (Darrick Vaughn and Darrien Gordon). He knows his returners. Rossum has 3 straight years of being a Top 10 punt returner (he's never finished higher than 25th on kickoffs).

I've been critical of Rossum in the past, mostly because of what little he brings to the defense. But over the past 3 years, I've steadily appreciated him more because he definitely can bring a spark to the team with his big play abilities.

But I think if he doesn't have the same type of success this year as he's had in the past, the team really needs to think about challenging his job. Cobb showed big play potential on kickoffs in the summer. I'd like to see what he can do. Hall is lightning in a bottle. He's only returned 2 punts, but on his first he went 27 yards and almost broke for a TD, and the other one he went 10 yards before fumbling with a separated shoulder. I'd hate to get rid of Rossum, because I do believe he's consistent (who knows if Hall and/or Cobb are), but at some point in the near future, I think the team needs to better use that roster space.