Now I completely appreciate the fact that the Steelers' offense was just as terrible...but Pittsburgh was playing their third string quarterback...who was drafted in the sixth round. Atlanta? First string, first round draft pick quarterback who looked borderline mentally challenged when facing Dick LeBeau. (Although, Dick LeBeau makes Nobel laureates look stupid.) Here are some general thoughts regarding this beautiful beatdown:
1. Troy Polamalu is back. Not only did he register five tackles, three of them solo tackles, he was all over the field. He was in position to make several big plays but seemed that that famous Troy Timing was off a little bit. That will improve as the season progresses. Easily his biggest play came at the end of regulation when he and his million dollar follicles intercepted a Ryan pass to set up a missed field goal by Quadzilla.
2. The "not-so-offensive" line looked borderline decent this week. I'm not getting too excited here because of how low the Falcons' defense is rated, but the "offensive" line only gave up three sacks, two of which were clearly Dixon's fault, and helped Mendenhall rush for 120 yards when the Falcons were clearly stacking their defense against the run. "Hotel" Adams garnered his expected number of false start penalties, and it's about the time of year when Max Starks gets hurt, but look for this line to improve throughout the next couple of games.
3. This is the year, or at least the first four games, of the running back. Mendenhall rushed for 120 yards on 22 carries and an overtime touchdown. Redman added his short yardage talents to gain 19 yards on 6 carries. These two guys are going to have big games in the next three weeks. After that Roethlisberger will be back under center and Arians will continue his policy of throwing for eight fifty yard passes per game. (Thank goodness I have Wallace on my fantasy team.)
4. Is Timmons finally becoming a good linebacker? Knock on wood here, but Timmons looked very good both against the pass and in the run defense. This could be the year that he finally proves that he's not completely inept at his job. Crossing my fingers.
5. The secondary needs some work. The re-addition of McFadden did little to shore up a terrible secondary from last year. McFadden was commonly beat in cuts by Roddy White who ended up with over 100 yards receiving for the day. The good news was that he was the only Falcons receiver even close to that mark. Also, the secondary eliminated the big play which was something the certainly could not do last year.
6. Daniel Sepulveda is ridiculous. He averaged 51 yards a punt. Averaged. I would say, other than Mendenhall, that he was the second or third most influential player on the field. Let's face it, the whole game was a field position battle, and if not for Sepulveda, the Falcons would have won that battle more often than not.
7. Special teams didn't look as "special" as they used to. It's still early, but I was happy not to see Atlanta return every kickoff to the fifty, and return every punt for 30+ yards. Pittsburgh needs to improve the return game though.
8. Heinz Ward will never age. He caught six passes for 108 yards to move him over 900 receptions and 11,000 yards for his career. I can't wait for his Canton admission.
9. Mike Wallace reported some news, showing that he is definitely comfortable in his new role as the second wide receiver. This is making me wish Big Ben was back because a trio of Ward, Wallace, and Randle El is just too good to waste.
10. Junior Slash looked average against the Falcons. He made some big plays in the passing game, but more often than not threw some incredibly ill advised passes which ended up in one interception, and the possibility for three more. He could have totally changed the way the game was played on Sunday had he been more comfortable to tuck and run versus trying to force a play. This is why I hate Bruce Arians. Let Junior Slash be Junior Slash. He's still far and away the better choice between him and Baby Face.
I was extremely happy with the game, and found it increasingly difficult to determine who would be the recipient of this week's Gaper Award. However, after careful consideration, I'm giving it to Quadzilla.
You cried like a bitch over not getting a new contract and being forced to only make 2.1 million dollars this season. One reason you cited for deserving of a new contract was having the ethereal ability to kick in Heinz Field. You further pointed out that only your partial God status allows you to handle the wind currents that make other kickers shit in their pants. Well, Quadzilla, even with your un-Earthly ability to kick a ball in the air, you missed the GAME WINNING FIELD GOAL. This probably wouldn't have been a big deal had you not already made one from a further distance, also kicking into the open end of the stadium.
Cleveland lost to the last place team in the NFL. Oh wait, they are the last place team in the NFL. My bad.
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