FalcFans Forums

Interview by Steve Wyche at the AJC: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sport ... lcons.html

I'm not calling for either's head, since I believe both can and will improve. But I found this little tidbit interesting:



Carpenter sees what I see in the fact that our running woes start up front. The front 4 have to step it up, and then I think the LBs will step it up, and then the DBs. It's a domino effect. I'm not blaming our D-line solely for our run woes, but I do believe that if they improve, you'll see it across the rest of the defense, both in terms of our abilities to stop the run and the pass.

We have the same front 4 as last year except Lavalias.Is he the one not performing.If this continues can Babineaux do the job.I am starting to wonder if we have a def tackle on the team besdies coleman who can do the job.Coleman's forte is pas rushing but the other def tackle has to stop the run.I think Babineaux could get pushed around?Let me ask if the defense continues to give up alot of running yards what would you do in the off season to fix the run defense?

I would bring in a huge run stuffing DT, in the mold of a John Henderson or Sam Adams. We could draft one but those guys usually take a few years to really blossom in the NFL.

PArt pf the problem is we are small up front. It is simple physics, big guy can push the little guy around. LB play hasn't been that great sans Demo either....

It is not the same front four. Because last year, we consistently played 4 DTs. Lavalais and Lake pretty much got the same amount of playing time as Jasper and Coleman did. And the key last year, was that we gave up some pass rush with Lav/Lake in the game, but lost nothing vs. the run. In fact, we might have gotten more from them.

But this year, our rotation is weaker. Lake isn't a guy that is going to make an impact either as a run stuffer or pass rusher. Babs is not a run stoppper either. So when the Falcons put in those guys off the bench, we lose much more than we did a year ago in terms of run defense. And then I think that makes the coaching staff play Lavalais and Coleman a lot more. And both of those guys tend to wear down if you play them too much. And that's not helping either.

Truth us, despite the fact that we have many of the same players, these guys aren't playing the same. It's not just the DTs, but also the DEs. Kerney and Smith aren't quite the same.

Maybe the Falcons should really think about bringin back Brandon Mitchell if he's healthy. We need something that can help.

:: Knocks on the microphone :: Hello? *Ahem* Hello?

Who's our GM? Rich McKay, Who's calling all the personnel shots? Rick McKay, Who did McKay work for previously? Tampa.

McKay is cloning the Tampa defense here. Small, fast, and swarming; exactly like a certain Tampa defense. What was the #1 (and only) weakness of Tampa's defense? Inability to stop the run up the gut. Anyone could run right at Tampa and have success.

The biggest difference between our squad and the Tampa's squad is the secondary. Our's sucks and their's didn't. Of course our defense also surrenders the run on the edges. But we are headed the same direction as Tampa and the fact that we have a hard time against the run doesn't surprise me.