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Anyone think Ryan should start taking sacks? I've noticed on a few occasions this year that he tries to force passes under pressure and he gets intercepted. He's usually great under pressure but sometimes when a guy is right in his face, its better to just go down. I'm not concerned about Matt since three of those interceptions weren't on him, but its a trend I'm noticing. I don't freak out about every 1 game negative unlike some people on the board.

Justin Blalock was awful today and I'm noticing another trend of him being a possible weak link. He was missing several blocks and you noticed that the pressure was coming up the middle on left side. I'm still wondering how he got that contract over Dahl to this day.

Robert McClain is starting to become a keeper. He continues to make his tackles and not get beat in coverage. I'm not sure if he's the next Grimes but he's everything a nickel back should be. Also Akeem Dent stepped up today, it may not be a lot but baby steps is good. I still can't wait for Weatherspoon to come back though, still think they miss his speed especially on those big runs by Howling.

Those are just some small notes I noticed. Quizz Rodgers continues to be the Falcons "closer" making a big game ending play. Harry Douglas for all the criticism he gets made some nice catches when called upon. Still confident in the team overall even though their were moments I was just shaking my head thinking one and done.

Matt threw a couple of passes off his back foot that could have been picked. Honestly, a lot of the picks were a little flukish in that they were off of deflections but when one of those is off the head of a DL, well, that's pretty bad. But I love Matt. He doesn't care. He just keeps slinging them rather than balling up in the fetal position and quitting. He remnds me of Tom Glavine, actually...smart, stubborn, steady.

That "intamgible" thing people were knocking before we drafted him turns out to be a pretty big deal. Who would have ever guessed.

I know the story of this game is gonna be Ryan's 5 INTs but it's such a fluky performance, it's really a non-issue in my eyes. Just like I know people still look at the Denver win without consider the fluky nature of Peyton's 1st quarter. The bigger issue for me is that if Arizona has any semblance of a competent QB (hell even Chris Redman) and they win. The missed TD in the end zone to Fitzgerald that caused Whiz to pull Skelton if thrown quasi-accurately (because we know you put it within 8 feet of Fitz, he catches it), and we lose.

I'm concerned with how the Cards marginalized Gonzo (presumably it's name is Adrian Wilson) which concerns me that if we come across a team like GB with Woodson that can potentially do the same, we could be in deep doodoo.

Unlike Peyton's 3 picks, Ryan had three passes picked off due to deflections or dropped pass by Roddy. Peyton's picks were sorely on him with some terrible reads and some smart coverage schemes by Atlanta.

Kerry Rhodes is better than most people think. Rhodes and Wilson are one of the best safety duos in the league, not concerned about Gonzalez.

Well first off, only one of Mannings pick was a bad read (McClain) and the others weren't terrible throws, just not great throws due to the lack of zip. He puts another 5 mph on the ball and they're completed.

Secondly, Ryan had another pick dropped by a defender (thanks James Sanders, still helping out the Falcons ). So you're basically arguing the difference between 3 picks and 2 picks. And if you're going to give the Falcons defense credit for making good plays (which I'm fine with), you also have to give the same credit to AZ's defenders for getting their hands up and deflecting 3 of those passes.

My point still stands, their both fluky occurrences and you should judge both the same.

I'm not overly concerned about Gonzo either since few teams have a safety like Wilson that you'd trust to put on an island against him, but some do. And any time a team can take away one of your weapons and put that on tape, it opens up opportunities for other enterprising head coaches. And if the coach is good enough, what he may lack in personnel, he could figure out make up with scheme. Not to mention if this arose due to Jones not being able to challenge the defense to get their safeties to key off Gonzo, does that mean that a team that does have a premier corner (like say Chicago) could be willing to take their chances by putting him on an island and then using lesser safeties to roll coverages to Gonzo underneath?

As you may/may not recall, Tillman was extremely effective pressing Julio in Week 1 last year. Also noticed that Champ Bailey was also very effective jamming Julio in Week 2 this past year.

It's not really about "most" teams, you gotta start thinking about teams like Chicago, San Francisco, Green Bay, NY Giants, New Orleans, Seattle, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, specifically. These are the only teams that matter anymore, because these are the teams we could see in January and have a decent to very good chance of beating the Falcons.

I'm a convert. I can't say I never thought he had "intangibles" I just didn't think anyone who said he had them was doing much more than regurgitating what they had read from another person's observations. Frankly, in Matt's first game versus TB was when he impressed me that there was something more to him than met the eye. His body of work speaks for itself. Gotta give old Bird Brain credit, just after we drafted Ryan he said in five years Matt would be a top five QB. Not sure he is there but he is close. As the old NFL slogan used to say, "I'm a big fan."