Falcon Fan Here...

[TweetyBird]

Suup Hog Fans!! Congrats on your win over the Jets..I think Spurrier will get things turned around for ya'll sooner rather than later. One thing that concerns me is what Spurrier might still know, from coaching him at UF, about DJ's tendencies/strengths/weakness, etc...If he can find a way to exploit those, it could be a long day for the Falcons on Sunday.

OTOH, the Falcons will not be taking this game lightly. Our defense is pretty damn good and the Skins will have a harder time getting in the end zone than they probably think. Our DB's are not as bad as they looked in Dallas and after Wade makes a few tweaks to the gameplan, I think they match up pretty well with your WR's. The key to our offense this week, as always with a Dan Reeves coached team, will be to get the running game going early and often..If any of you watched the ATL/DAL game last week, when we finally got the running game going in the 2nd half..we were pretty hard to stop..

[woohit56]

Welcome, T Bird!

It will be interesting to see the Spurrier - DJ connection and if it amounts to anything.

The Hotlana corners did look weak against the cowgirls, but I expect good play from your defense Sunday. For the record no one can check Coles. If Bailey can't get him everytime no one will. He will have a big game again.

I'm curious to see if Dunn will run well. Running the ball will be key to all your games till Vick returns. Sorry about that big disappiontment BTW.

[skinsfanno9]

Suup Hog Fans!! Congrats on your win over the Jets..I think Spurrier will get things turned around for ya'll sooner rather than later.

Hi Tweety, Welcome! God we hope so. I think this year will be better.

One thing that concerns me is what Spurrier might still know, from coaching him at UF, about DJ's tendencies/strengths/weakness, etc...If he can find a way to exploit those, it could be a long day for the Falcons on Sunday.

Actually the papers here were saying the reverse (check our news section on the front), that we had to change our hand signals to audible in a potentially loud crowd because DJ will potentially know what these are.

OTOH, the Falcons will not be taking this game lightly.

You guys are favored by 3 I think. You looked pretty bad on offense in the first half but really, you all played a pretty clean game minus the major home run plays.

If any of you watched the ATL/DAL game last week, when we finally got the running game going in the 2nd half..we were pretty hard to stop..

Honestly I was licking my chops after the first half. After DJ settled down, you guys seemed to move lots better in the second half with the running game. Your defense tightened too. My sense is your team really got more confidence after DJ went out for one play and then came back - its like they all of a sudden realized what life would be like without DJ and played with more steam. You guys ended on a pretty positive note.

Still I don't see your DBs staying with our WRs. Your best bet is to pressure Ramsey I think. If you take him out of his game, this nutralizes our WRs. On the flip side, I agree - we have to stop you from running. If we do, DJ could be toast with our DBs.

Both teams have potential issues. The redskins biggest is self-destruction (turnovers and penalties), but if they can hold that stuff down, they should do alright.

I'm predicting a close, low scoring game. I'm guessing neither team leaves the high teens to mid 20s. Should be a good game, still would have been more exciting with Vick though.

[TweetyBird]

You'd be suprised at how many a-holes from other teams boards come over to the Falcons Roost talkin' a bunch of useless smack...You all seem like true fans just like us that like to debate and analyze without having to trash everyone and everything about our opposing teams...We actually trash our own team more than anyonem, so we don't need that crap from other teams fans..Stay cool and good luck this year...except this Sunday

[skinsfanno9]

Well...I must admit, I did talk some smack with the Jets fans and enjoyed doing it. I think thats ok with division rivals and other "special cases" like the Jets and skins this year (possibly with Ravens fans, for instance). But truly, out of division teams with no rivalries, it really doesn't make sense.

Like that Dallas guy that came on your board. Unless I'm mistaken, there isn't really a big rivalry with Dallas and Atlanta...

Anyways, I hope we win (but am not exactly sure we will I must admit...), but good luck the rest of the way. Should hopefully be a good game...

[hailskins666]

Still I don't see your DBs staying with our WRs. Your best bet is to pressure Ramsey I think. If you take him out of his game, this nutralizes our WRs.

blitz will force ramsey into three step drops. less time to think about where to throw it. just 3 and throw. could help the mental presure a little. atl's db's can't cover every eligible receiver. maybe they can shut down gardner and coles(doubtfully though), they still wont't be able to account for mccants, johnson, & canidate/betts out of the backfield. royals is a receiving tight end also. if ramsey gets a lot of presure, expect the quick slants, play action, and screens. spurrier admitted that it was his calling that took the umph out of the offense during the second half the other nite. at least he had the smarts to protect the lead instead of getting cock-strong. props. dunn will see a different set of lb's than he saw in dallass. don't expect him to be as much of a factor.

[skinsfanno9]

Seriously, I'm more worried about the bruising "up the middle" type backs than I am of Dunn. We seem pretty quick in stopping sweeps and stuff...Up the middle may still be problematic even though it didn't show in the Jets game.

[skinsfaninroanoke]

What I was more impressed with is the fact that the center of our line did their primary job against the Jets by pretty much standing up the center of the Jets OL forcing Martin to the outside. When he went out, the LBs were all over them and that kept the runs to a minimum. I kept remarking to my wife about how many times Martin seemed to want to go 1 or 2 gap then having to bounce it outside.

I am not half as worried against TJ Duckett or Warrick Dunn as I was against Curtis "1200 yards a year" Martin. The man is like a machine - but we held him

[redskincity]

Galloway burnt yall and we have three receivers faster than Him.

[Wingman]

The main concern I have is the in watching the offensive line continue to jell as a unit. Fiore looked out of place on a few plays against the Jets and both Jansen and Samuels were beaten around the ends. Hopefully they can keep the pressure off Ramsey and thus set up the run to balance the offense. I like the thoughts of the backfield by committee. Betts and Canidate compliment each other with their different styles.

[redskin mark]

Hail Skin Nation!

Greetings from So. Cal. Just a few thoughts. I believe we should handle the Birds this week, which goes to show how bad the s from Dallas are this year (could not even defend their own house).

One thing I am still looking for from our teams is efficient play (NO DAMMED PENALTIES!!) and good tackling. I love Bowen's inensity, but he needs to speed up his tackling on receivers running flat routes.

Ohalete, et. al., please keep the dumb penalites to a minimum. The O-line needs to gel quicly. Not to look past the Birds...but the Giant D-line looked scary.

Hail Arrington!!

[skinsfaninroanoke]

Well...I must admit, I did talk some smack with the Jets fans and enjoyed doing it. I think thats ok with division rivals and other "special cases" like the Jets and skins this year (possibly with Ravens fans, for instance). But truly, out of division teams with no rivalries, it really doesn't make sense.

Shoot, a little smackdown doesn't hurt to make the game juicier - but like you said - some of it doesn't make sense. I would rather talk positionally and strategically then to just go "ugh... me team gonna bust you team upside da head" or worse - what some of the Jets fans were doing with the innuendos or attacking the owner. Most of what they were doing was trash talking with no substance to back it up. Can be fun when done in fun, but to hurt is a different subject.

I look forward to chatting with the Falcons' fans and chewing some stats up with 'em

Just don't expect to win against the folks on our board - or that your team will win on Sunday

[Guest]

Well...I must admit, I did talk some smack with the Jets fans and enjoyed doing it. I think thats ok with division rivals and other "special cases" like the Jets and skins this year (possibly with Ravens fans, for instance). But truly, out of division teams with no rivalries, it really doesn't make sense.

Like that Dallas guy that came on your board. Unless I'm mistaken, there isn't really a big rivalry with Dallas and Atlanta...

Anyways, I hope we win (but am not exactly sure we will I must admit...), but good luck the rest of the way. Should hopefully be a good game...

Jits fans deserved it though. If you saw the junk being posted over at alt.sports.football.pro.wash-redskins for about three months prior to the reg season, you'd be posting back-smack too!

Dallas fans?.. well, Dallas fans deserve it just for being Dallas fans!

[skinsfaninroanoke]

Spoken like a true Skins fan - why don't you register and hang about for a bit stranger

[redskincity]

without Vick the Folcons are like a bird with no wings

A Dead Rat

[cyril]

You guys are going to be surprised how powerful he is running up the middle. I was when we got him last year. He only rushed for 40 yards last week and not many carries; if he gets his 20 look for 80-120 yards. We have an underated offense without Vick; last year in Johnson's one start we scored 27; I'am very worried about your recievers; that's what will kill us if we don't get to the qb.

Cyril

[skinsfaninroanoke]

Cyril - I believe our DL is underrated, and one of the Atlanta papers today was talking about how your OL was a little worried about our rotating DT system and the size of them.

One thing that I also read today that I hadn't thought about in the Jets game and why we didn't get the pass rush fellow Skins fans, Vinny was in three step drop mode on most of his passing drop backs. Hard to get to someone when that is going on.

Ramsey will have to switch to shorter routes and 3 step mode if the blitz gets too bad, and I think that Atlanta fans are going to be surprised at how well we hold the center of the line.

By the way Cyril - Atlanta rushed for 18 yards on 11 carries in the middle of the line. Most of their yards came outside the tackles, and our linebackers aren't pushovers

[hailskins666]

a three step drop shouldn't hurt ramsey, as the offense is all based on timing.