Why so scared?

[jmooney]

After taking a close look at the Falcons, theyre not as scary as I thought.

Taking advantage of HUGE turnover differentials and penalty margins have been as much a reason for their success as anything their offense is doing.

Sure Roddy White is shredding it, the rest of the offense has been pretty pedestrian. Gonzo has had good/average TE numbers , nothing amazing and Julio has barely shown with his hand injury.

The best team they've beaten so far (record) has been the Chargers at 3-1. The Chargers turned it over 4 times in that game. San Deigo has 3 wins agains bad 1-3 teams? The Saints are better than the Chargers and theyre terrible. This does'nt impress me.

The win vs. Denver? 3 picks by Peyton Manning, week 2 of the season. Couple that with 10 penalties against the broncos for 96 yards. Granted the Broncos D is alot better than ours but, this supposed high powered offense of the Falcons barely showed up in that game. Denver beat themselves IN ATLANTA! Again, not overly impressive.

What about the 40-24 drubbing they put on the KC Chiefs? Common denominator? 3 turnovers by KC. I'm starting to see a pattern here. Of course anyone will tell you turnovers are the key to winning. I think our offense is better than KC and they were able to move the ball well in that game.

Now to last weeks game vs. the Panthers (1-3 team). They had no answer for Newton. Carolinas D may be worse than ours. Carolina had to give that game away in the end for Atlanta to win. Turnovers and coaching decisions COST the Panthers the game, not the Falcons dominant performance.

Quite frankly, I'm not so sure the Falcons offense is better than the Saints (who at 0-4 are still putting up nice numbers) or the Bengals . Lets not forget our DB coach has a pretty good book on these guys.

I cant say if Atlanta is causing these turnovers or if it's the opponents fault. It certainly was in Carolina. Good teams will not make mistakes and capitalize on others, I get that. But every week? 3-4 turnovers by your opponent? Thats not domination, it's dicipline and luck. This makes em a team to be respected , sure. Not dominant or scary.

We dont turn the ball over, although RGIII needs to do better with ball security (fumbles) I don't expect us to recover our own in this game like we have been. I've seen nothing that would indicate they can force our QB to throw multiple picks.

Gotta stay on top of the penalties this week, particularly the 15 yard variety. Atlanta simply doesn't commit alot of penalties. Very diciplined club.

We have to make our $#@ %&*! field goals. WE cannot leave a single point off the board this week. If Cundiff hits his shots last week, we arent even talking as much about how bad our D was because the score wasnt even close.

The coverage was better last week, YAC was waaay down from what it has been. Freeman made some excellent throws on those big plays. Matty Ice will too. It's a given in todays NFL. When we have corners without great speed, you need size and safeties that can close to compensate. Right now we dont have either and opponents are just going to throw it up for grabs, hope for a penalty or that their guy comes down with it. We just have to eliminate the YAC and hold em to field goals. Were not gonna stop anyone between the 20's.

At 4-0 Atlanta is a good team. I suspect slightly overrated though. Now , let's go prove it.

[Mississippiskinsfan2]

They are not that good VS the run witch is good for us because guess who is the best rushing team in the NFL right now

[DaSkinz Baby]

We should really beat the hell out of the Falcons. I think if the defense can perform as good as in week 1, we win in a lopsided game, if the defense the last 3 weeks shows up and Cundiff decides to miss all his field goals the game will get ugly quick, we need to get into Matt Ryan's head EARLY, we need to win TOP then 3-2 and on the rise!!!

[Deadskins]

We are definitely a trap game for them.

[PAPDOG67]

Guys, guys, guys, I love the optimism, but our defense is horrendous right now. I will just be happy with a win this week. I don't see us blowing out anyone right now because we can't get consistent stops. Oh and ATL is a top 5 team in the NFC, there's no debating that.

[Mississippiskinsfan2]

Guys, guys, guys, I love the optimism, but our defense is horrendous right now. I will just be happy with a win this week. I don't see us blowing out anyone right now because we can't get consistent stops. Oh and ATL is a top 5 team in the NFC, there's no debating that.

Top 5 doesn't mean much in the NFC. All the teams are so close this year and most teams will be the hunt in the last 2 or 3 games. Don't see any team doing better than 10 or 11 wins this year in the NFC

[Hooligan]

I hate to say it, but I think Roddy White and their TE will shred our secondary. If not in the first half, they will after halftime. Our best hope is exploiting their poor run defense to keep TOP on our side and the ball out of Ryan's hands.

Our inability to make adjustments at halftime is going to lead to another nail-biter.

Thankfully, Makers Mark was on sale last week

[jmooney]

Guys, guys, guys, I love the optimism, but our defense is horrendous right now. I will just be happy with a win this week. I don't see us blowing out anyone right now because we can't get consistent stops. Oh and ATL is a top 5 team in the NFC, there's no debating that.

I would like to debate that.

Atlanta has'n't played a top 5 team or anyone that could be considered as close to a top 5 team, particularly in the NFC. I think we've had the tougher schedule so far. Even though the Saints are 0-4 I think they are better than anyone the Falcons have played except the Broncos. The Bengals are a better team than anyone they've faced by a long shot.

Nope, their 4-0 record against mostly lower teir teams,(that have beaten themselves every time) don't make em top 5 in my book. This week could change all thet when I see em up close and personal. Until then, they aren't scaring me.

We cant beat ourselves this week. Thats how the Falcons win.Yep, theyre gonna score and rack up yards. Not at a pace we have'nt seen so far. Despite our defense, we've been in every game.

[chiefhog44]

The only teams we've beaten are 1-7 combined, so I'm not sure we're going to just walk in there and dominate. In fact, I would expect a loss, unless this turns out to be a trap game, or we can run and keep them off the field and make it close at the end.

It will really be a measuring stick for sure, but one that if we lose, I'm not going to get down about, or if we win, I'm not going to get too up about. Stay Medium

[jmooney]

I agree Chief. I don't expect to dominate at all.

I think we're better than our record indicates and they aren't as good as theirs. I've seen mostly predictions of blowouts favoring the Falcons (not here)

I'm with you about measuring stick. If we win, both teams are exactly what I think they are. Middle to above average.

This wont be a blowout either way.

[(d)oink]

if we win, I'm not going to get too up about. Stay Medium

If we win, I'm going to jump around high fiving and chest bumping my kids screaming like an idiot..........same as always

[KazooSkinsFan]

if we win, I'm not going to get too up about. Stay Medium

If we win, I'm going to jump around high fiving and chest bumping my kids screaming like an idiot..........same as always

Well why do you do that if we don't win???

[gibbsfan]

The only teams we've beaten are 1-7 combined, so I'm not sure we're going to just walk in there and dominate. In fact, I would expect a loss, unless this turns out to be a trap game, or we can run and keep them off the field and make it close at the end.

It will really be a measuring stick for sure, but one that if we lose, I'm not going to get down about, or if we win, I'm not going to get too up about. Stay Medium

+1

[PAPDOG67]

Guys, guys, guys, I love the optimism, but our defense is horrendous right now. I will just be happy with a win this week. I don't see us blowing out anyone right now because we can't get consistent stops. Oh and ATL is a top 5 team in the NFC, there's no debating that.

I would like to debate that.

Atlanta has'n't played a top 5 team or anyone that could be considered as close to a top 5 team, particularly in the NFC. I think we've had the tougher schedule so far. Even though the Saints are 0-4 I think they are better than anyone the Falcons have played except the Broncos. The Bengals are a better team than anyone they've faced by a long shot.

Nope, their 4-0 record against mostly lower teir teams,(that have beaten themselves every time) don't make em top 5 in my book. This week could change all thet when I see em up close and personal. Until then, they aren't scaring me.

We cant beat ourselves this week. Thats how the Falcons win.Yep, theyre gonna score and rack up yards. Not at a pace we have'nt seen so far. Despite our defense, we've been in every game.

The Falcons are light years ahead of any team we've played thus far. Don't kid yourself. This is not going to be a walk in the park. I could see us beating them only because they could have a let down after their division game with Carolina last week.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

The falcons aren't much if any better then Cinci.. oh ya and we have this RGiii guy, he's pretty cool.

[SkinsJock]

...
At 4-0 Atlanta is a good team. I suspect slightly overrated though. Now, let's go prove it.

wrong

We are not nearly as good as Atlanta - at the same time, I do not see us losing by a large margin

there's no way that the Redskins are 'scared' of this team but the fact is they are just playing well together

we can win the game but we'd need a lot of luck - we're not a better team than they are

maybe this is the week that our defense shows up ....

[vabchbirdlover]

J. Jones was a full participant in practice wed., so go and dismiss him as a threat at ur peril. Falcons Run D concerns me tho, here's to a great game with no injuries

[cleg]

Roddy White, Julio Jones, Gonzales - vs who exactly? D Hall, Gomes, Doughty?

I hope for a win but I expect a long afternoon. One thing it seems we can count on a little is that Robert will keep the score close and has the ability to win any game with a little help.

[Deadskins]

Sorry all you negative Nancy's, the Skins win this one outright, 27-34, with the Falcons scoring late to make the game seem closer than it was. You heard it here first.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

Sorry all you negative Nancy's, the Skins win this one outright, 27-34, with the Falcons scoring late to make the game seem closer than it was. You heard it here first.

I posted the same exact thing somewhere.... Only sooner then you.... Hmmmmm I'll let you share credit tho.

[Bob 0119]

I don't see it.

Atlanta has a much more well rounded team than we do. I'm think Matt Ryan carves up our secondary pretty easy knowing they have to out score us to win.

I don't see this being a trap game, I see ATL coming in knowing they want to score early and often to keep ahead of the Redskins high powered offense.

I mean, I want us to win, but man I just don't think so.

[the poster]

when is the last time the redskins beat a team that was considered good WHEN they beat them? The giants game last year in december when the giants were near .500? Ehh. Give me another example. Go ahead, research. Cuz you're gonna have to.

[cowboykillerzRGiii]

We generally play good teams hard, and for some reason step it down vs mediocre/bad teams. We beat gb w mcnugget and they went on to win the sb... So taking down atl in a hard fought battle isn't entirely unthinkable to me.

[SkinsJock]

I agree ckRGiii - I'm not saying we cannot win - I'm just pointing out that Atlanta has a good team

we can win this but we'd have to have a good game from the defense and Atlanta's offense would have to have a bad day

it can be a win but it's not likely

[ACW]

Julio and Roddy scare me