Sunday Football Afterword: Saints vs Falcons

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was under duress all afternoon
against a revamped Saints defense led by Rob Ryan.

Eric Meyer

Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints returned with a bang with a great win over the reigning division champion Falcons.  The outcome wasn’t a shock to most, but the big surprise was that the Saints won the game on the backs of their defense instead of their vaunted offense.  New Orleans, under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, managed to get three sacks on quarterback Matt Ryan and came up with a goal line stand in the last minute of the game to seal the win.

Atlanta came out firing in the first quarter, scoring a touchdown on their second drive and opening with a 10-0 lead.  The Saints answered with a field goal of their own, and then made a game changing play when they forced a fumble on promising wide receiver Julio Jones.  The subsequent drive ended with a Brees touchdown pass to Marques Colston, and the Saints added an additional field goal to go into halftime with a 13-10 lead.

The Falcons and Saints each exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter, when the Saints’ typically dominant offense began to show some cobwebs.  Drew Brees was late on throws all day and clearly wasn’t as sharp as we are used to seeing, missing several deep routes and throwing an interception to give the Falcons great field position and an opportunity to turn the game on its head.  But the Saints’ defense did the unthinkable, and stiffened once again to force a punt, and they kept the Falcons off the board for the remainder of the game to seal a satisfying win against their bitter rivals.

Atlanta showed some promise of their own, with big games from Harry Douglas and newly acquired running back Steven Jackson.  Unfortunately, some of the concern about their offensive line proved to be warranted, as Matt Ryan was under pressure all afternoon.  Still, you can expect the Falcons to be in the playoff hunt all season.

The Saints’ first win was as promising as a Week 1 victory can get.  While the offense wasn’t as sharp as usual, one has to expect that they will find their rhythm and be a juggernaut once again this season, especially with Sean Payton resuming his play-calling duties.  The concern, as always with the Saints, is their defense, but if they can consistently perform as they did on Sunday, you can expect to see this team right in the Super Bowl mix come January.

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2013 Offseason Update, Week 15

The 'Patriot Killer' is now a member of the Tennessee Titans and has
chosen not to attend the Raven's White House visit in June.
Photo credit to IBN Sports Wrap.

There were a few interesting pieces of news this week. In addition, a friend of mine has been arguing with me that Joe Flacco is an elite quarterback due to his recent Super Bowl MVP award. So I’d like to go over my top current NFL quarterbacks and cover why I don’t consider Flacco one of the NFL’s elite just yet.

Bernard Pollard to Boycott Ravens’ White House Visit

When the Ravens visit the White House as Super Bowl champions this June, Bernard Pollard will not be with them. The safety was released by Baltimore in March and is now with the Titans on a one-year deal.

Some think Pollard is being childish, holding a grudge, and that he will regret this decision when he is retired from the NFL, especially if he fails to win a Super Bowl with another team. But I respectfully disagree. I would not want to carry the memory of visiting the White House with my former teammates and the team executives who released me so soon after helping them win it all.

Freeney, Cribbs Land on West Coast

Josh Cribbs has been in the NFL since 2005, Freeney since ’02, and both have known only one team during their careers.

In eight years with the Browns, Josh Cribbs has made three Pro Bowl rosters and was named to the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team. He is also tied with Leon Washington for the most kickoff return touchdowns in NFL history with eight. He signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday.

Dwight Freeney is entering his 12^th year in the NFL after spending the first 11 in Indianapolis. He was a major part of a strong defensive unit that helped the Colts win Super Bowl XLI and was a part of their AFC Championship in 2009. A 7-time Pro Bowler and the Colts’ all-time sacks leader, Freeney was a part of the NFL’s 2000s All-Decade Team with Josh Cribbs. He agreed in principle to a two-year deal with the Chargers on Saturday.

NFL’s Top Quarterbacks

At any given time, there can be several elite active quarterbacks in the NFL. There have also been times when there were no elite active quarterbacks. Right now, I see four of them.

1) Aaron Rodgers

2) Peyton Manning

3) Drew Brees

4) Tom Brady

I also see two quarterbacks who have shown flashes of brilliance but who have minor inconsistencies keeping them from being truly elite.

5) Matt Ryan

6) Eli Manning

Then I see a few more quarterbacks who could get there but have either been severely too inconsistent or are just too young to be considered in that group so soon.

7) Joe Flacco

8) Tony Romo

T-9) Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick

My Take on Joe Flacco’s ‘Elite-ness’

Now, before the Flacco lovers rip my list to shreds, let me first say that I was more generous to Joe than NFL.com, who this week ranked him the 13^th best quarterback in the NFL, behind Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, RGIII, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and even Cam Newton. They put Flacco in a group of ‘Solid Dudes’ with Tony Romo, Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler.

Now, the real question you probably want answered is: why do I rank Matt Ryan and Eli Manning not only ahead of Flacco, but far enough ahead that they deserve their own group in which I do not include Flacco?

Well, in Eli’s case, he has shown consistent growth over his career. He had a solid, if under-reported, season in 2007 helping his team to a wild-card birth and a Super Bowl victory over the 18-0 New England Patriots. He was a big part in the Giants constantly getting better over the course of that season. He continued his growth until he had a truly elite season in 2011. Last year was the first time in his career that he took a step back from his previous accomplishments. For that, I do not consider him elite, but he could join that group with another strong season or two and more consistency afterwards. Remember that Manning had a much better season than Joe Flacco did during the Giants’ 2011 Super Bowl run.

Matt Ryan has been one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks since his sophomore season, consistently putting up great regular season numbers. He would have been the league MVP last year if it wasn’t for his 5-INT game against the Cardinals. In fact, in just about every way except for passing yards, I think Matt Ryan is a better quarterback than Drew Brees and Tom Brady. The thing holding him back is a very poor game or two every regular season and the postseason troubles. Granted, most of their postseason failure has been more due to poor game planning than due to Ryan – with the one exception being their 24-2 loss to New York in 2011 – but until he clearly gets over that hump, it will be difficult to make a strong argument for him being elite.

Now, what about Joe Flacco? He’s won a playoff game every year of his career, the first quarterback to do so through five seasons in the league. He just won Super Bowl MVP – though I do call your attention to the fact that other non-elites like Jim Plunkett, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien have also won that award – and threw for 11 TDs and no INTs during the postseason, leading the Ravens past the Colts, Broncos, Patriots and 49ers. So why in the world don’t I consider him elite?!

It takes more than 4 spectacular postseason games to make you elite. “But it’s the playoffs,” you might say. “They’re the most important games.” Not so. If you don’t play well in the regular season, you generally don’t make the playoffs. Based on his playoff numbers, he should have been able to throw for 44 touchdowns during the regular season. He threw just 22. He played two terrible games against the Steelers when Big Ben wasn’t even playing. The only truly elite game he played during the 2012 regular season was in Week 1 against the Bengals – you could make an argument for the Raiders game, but it’s the Raiders, they don’t count.

So Matt Ryan had one non-elite game in 2012, Joe Flacco has one actually-elite game in 2012. It’s not even close right now, in my opinion. That doesn’t mean that Flacco couldn’t rip off a season for the ages in 2013. If he does so, I’ll concede that he is an elite quarterback. But that won’t mean that he was elite before 2013 began. He’s just not there yet. Joe Montana wasn’t elite yet when he won his first Super Bowl MVP in 1982. So stop rushing the process Flacco Faithful.

NFC Championship Afterword: Falcons vs 49ers

Frank Gore was very effective once San Francisco's read-option got going
and Atlanta could not stop him. Photo credit to The Arizona Daily Star.

It always seems to be the same story with these Falcons: get out to an early lead, turn ultra conservative, and trust Matt Ryan and/or Matt Bryant to pull off the win after you give up the lead.

Yesterday followed that script to a T. The biggest difference was that Matt Ryan was slammed during their final drive and hurt something in his left chest or shoulder. It wasn’t his throwing arm, but it seemed to be bothering him pretty severely. He couldn’t open up to put much behind his throws, which may have led him to panic on a 4^th down play inside the red zone. I think it also was the reason for the bizarre play call not to throw up a Hail Mary into the end zone and instead throw over the middle to Julio Jones and pray he could do something as time expired.

The better team won. The Falcons deserved to win for about 40 minutes of that game, but conservative offense and prevent defense betrayed them. Colin Kaepernick took full advantage as the Falcons lack of aggressiveness on defense completely nullified any effects of a very loud home crowd.

Once Kaepernick was able to make some plays throwing the ball down the field, it opened things up for the read-option and the Falcons were doomed. Frank Gore ran for 90 yards and a couple of scores, mostly out of the read-option. LaMichael James added another 34 yards on the ground with a score of his own out of the same set.

Neither Jacquizz Rodgers nor Michael Turner reached James’s rushing yards mark in the game.

As I expected, Julio Jones and Roddy White were just too much for the 49ers’ secondary to handle. They are very physical, and Jones in particular made some pretty impressive catches. They also have more speed than a lot of defenses are aware of. When you throw Tony Gonzalez into that mix, this is probably the best receiving corps in football, followed closely by teams like Baltimore and New Orleans.

For Atlanta, their season ends in disappointment, but they finally won a playoff game with Matt Ryan under center. If Atlanta can remain competitive in the NFC South, there will be plenty more over the next several years. One of the biggest hurdles facing them will be replacing Tony Gonzalez if he does in fact retire. Yesterday he said their loss to San Francisco was “probably” his last game. “I’ve been very blessed. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I’ve had a great ride, an unbelievable ride. I have no regrets,” he said.

San Francisco, meanwhile, advances to their franchise’s sixth Super Bowl. They are 5-0, putting them one short of Pittsburgh’s record for most Super Bowl victories. They will play as the home team in New Orleans on February 3.

Check back with my blog daily over the next two weeks, especially next week when the focus will be fully on Super Bowl XLVII. For updates on when new blog posts are published, ‘like’ my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @cpuffnfl.

NFC Championship Preview: Falcons vs 49ers

Sunday, January 20, 2013

3:00pm – FOX

San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons

The 49ers return for a second straight year as they tie Dallas for the most
NFC Championship Game appearances, with 14. This is Atlanta's third
appearance and their first since January 2005.

I did not have an easy time coming up with my predictions for either of Sunday’s games, but this one was definitely the tougher of the two.

San Francisco, of course, has had a fantastic season. Alex Smith played great football early in the season, and when Colin Kaepernick took over, he impressed right away. As bad as I feel for Smith, Kaepernick earned the right to continue starting for the 49ers and he has continued to play great in big games.

Not only has Kaepernick shown an ability to win big games, he’s shown that he can do it regardless of the venue. The Georgia Dome, however, may be the loudest venue in the NFL – no offense to the Superdome or to CenturyLink Field.

I think being at home played a fairly significant role in Kaepernick overcoming an early pick-6 and leading San Francisco to victory last week. I’m not ready to bet on him having as big of a game against Atlanta.

The Falcons have been wanting for a postseason win for several years now, and they finally got one by holding off the Seahawks last week. I think Matt Ryan will benefit a great deal from that confidence boost.

The 49ers dealt with Green Bay’s massive receiving corps quite nicely. They likely won’t get beat too badly by Roddy White or Julio Jones, but I don’t know that they can compete with White and Jones on a physical level.

The one thing that makes me real nervous about this pick is the questionable status of John Abraham, who was severely limited against Seattle with an ankle injury and might not be active at all tomorrow.

Still, I think the home field advantage, a confident Matt Ryan and a defense that is much better than Green Bay’s will be enough to send Atlanta to their franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.

Puff’s Pick:

San Francisco 49ers – 20

Atlanta Falcons – 31

MVP: Matt Ryan


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Divisional Round Afterword: Falcons vs Seahawks

Julio Jones intercepted Russell Wilson's Hail Mary attempt as time ran out,
clinching Atlanta's first playoff win since January 2005. Photo credit to AL.com.

Here is the snap, Matt Bryant with the kick, and it is NO GOOD!! But wait, a timeout was taken by Seattle! And Pete Carroll wants to know who called for the timeout.

Video clearly showed Carroll asking for the timeout just before Atlanta’s snap, but what most people don’t know is the actual reason Carroll was upset. Before the game, officials told the coaches that they would not allow practice kicks in a situation like that. Carroll made it clear during his post-game press conference that he was displeased that Bryant was allowed to take that practice kick after the timeout was called. In my opinion, though, it was Carroll’s own fault for waiting until the last moment to ask for the timeout.

Bryant had a second chance to kick the game-winner, and he made it to clinch Atlanta’s first postseason win with Mike Smith and Matt Ryan. It was also Tony Gonzalez’s first postseason win in his career, which is expected to end after this season.

Matt Ryan played a very good game overall, though it was far from perfect. He threw two interceptions, but the first one appeared to be at least partly the fault of Tony Gonzalez. The second looked identical to an interception Robert Griffin III threw down the left sideline during last week’s playoff game against Seattle.

Russell Wilson had many more passing yards than Ryan, but that was mostly because of soft defensive play during the second half by Atlanta, who had a 20-0 lead at halftime. Wilson had to throw a lot because Marshawn Lynch was held to just 46 yards on 16 carries.

Atlanta, meanwhile, had the dominant ground game on Sunday. Michael Turner ran for 98 yards on 14 carries while Jacquizz Rodgers had 64 yards on 10 touches.

Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Jason Snelling each had touchdown receptions for Atlanta. Julio Jones was a big part of the passing game, with six receptions, but his only touch in the end zone was a game-ending interception when he came in to defend a Hail Mary attempt by Russell Wilson, who already had a game-winning interception this season. This one, however, was ruled correctly and Seattle’s impressive season came to an end.

Atlanta is the only team advancing to the conference championships this season that was not in this round last year. Atlanta will host San Francisco Sunday at 3:00 p.m. on FOX for the NFC Championship.

Divisional Round Preview: Falcons vs Seahawks

Game 3:

Sunday, January 13, 2013

1:00pm – FOX

Seattle Seahawks @ Atlanta Falcons

Despite consistently being one of the best regular season quarterbacks
in the NFL, Matt Ryan has yet to win a playoff game. He will try to win
his first on Sunday against Seattle. Photo credit to SBRforum.com.

This was a very tough one for me to dissect, as it is the only Divisional Round game that is not a rematch of a 2012 regular season game. The Falcons only game against the NFC West this year was a narrow win over the Cardinals in Week 11. The Seahawks lone meeting with an NFC South team was a 4-point victory in Carolina early in the season.

Atlanta had a solid season. They were undefeated against all non-NFC South opponents, losing in road games to New Orleans and Carolina and at home in Week 17 to Tampa Bay. Speaking of that home loss, it was their only loss at home this season and Matt Ryan has never lost consecutive home games in his collegiate and professional career.

Seattle’s defense looked shaky on the road in Washington. They were torched on their first two defensive drives and it’s hard to believe that their later success wasn’t primarily because RG3 was not himself.

Atlanta is in the bottom half of the league defending both the run and the pass, and that will play into Seattle’s favor. Marshawn Lynch had a terrific game against Washington’s stingy defensive line and I don’t expect much to be different this Sunday.

One piece of news that could affect that, though, is the possible returns of John Abraham, Dunta Robinson and William Moore. Abraham practiced Wednesday and Moore returned last Saturday. Robinson suffered a concussion against Tampa Bay in Week 17 but may be cleared in time for Sunday’s contest.

Seattle just does not play the same on the road and their ‘high-scoring offense’ is looking more and more like a three-week phenomenon. The Redskins’ defense held them to 24 points. The Redskins! Seattle won’t get the same big plays through the air they found in Washington and I’m not sure Lynch will be enough to get back-to-back road wins for Seattle.

Puff’s Pick:

Seattle Seahawks – 17

Atlanta Falcons – 27

MVP: Matt Ryan

Saturday Night Football Afterword: Lions vs Falcons

Calvin Johnson got a chunk of his 225 yards on this
3rd quarter reception. Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

Being a Lions fan is not something I envy. Then again, I’m sure being a Redskins fan hasn’t been something any of them would envy until this season.

Tonight, Detroit was treated to the Lions’ seventh consecutive loss. The fourth quarter offered a reason for plenty of cheering, but with the Lions in the cellar of the NFC – along with the Eagles – there wasn’t much more excitement to be had.

The source of the stadium’s energy boost in the final quarter was Calvin Johnson, who set three records in the losing effort. He broke Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving yards record with one game left to play this season, and he set records for consecutive 100-yard receiving games and 10-reception games, with eight and four, respectively.

Matt Ryan had a solid game, completing 78% of his passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, tying a career high for scoring throws in a game. Two particular passes toward the start of the fourth quarter were most telling of what level his game is at right now, which I would say is very high. He will ultimately be judged by his playoff productions, which has not been very good in his three career playoff games, all loses. But he continues to be a solid regular season player.

Two of Ryan’s touchdown passes went to Roddy White, who had eight catches for 153 yards.

With the win, Atlanta has locked up the top seed in the NFC and will not have to play a road playoff game in 2012.

The Lions, meanwhile, have fallen oh so far since an impressive 2011 campaign that ended with a playoff loss to New Orleans. Detroit will have a lot to do in the draft and during free agency to move back up in a much-improved NFC North. However, the number one concern for Jim Schwartz this offseason needs to be fixing the team’s off-the-field issues, even if it means cutting problematic players, even Ndamukong Suh.

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 11 Early Games

Robert Griffin III became the second rookie QB to post a
perfect passer rating (Drew Bledsoe, 1993). It was the third such
game for a Redskins QB. Photo credit to NY Daily News.

In just one game, Matt Ryan took himself out of the MVP race. Atlanta held off the Cardinals, 23-19, but the fact that the Falcons could win a game in which their quarterback threw five interceptions goes to show that Atlanta is not relying completely on their ‘star’ under center.

Three games went into overtime on Sunday, but, sadly, no more ties. The Buccaneers held off the Panthers in a game that should not have been as close as it was. It took a late touchdown and 2-point conversion just to push the game into overtime, but a wide open Dallas Clark hauled in the winning score on a throw that wasn’t very accurate for having the receiver so open.

In another overtime contest, the Browns gave the Cowboys a run, and Dallas probably should have lost, but ten times the Browns were called for defensive penalties resulting in Dallas first downs. Penalties were the top story of this game and they ultimately led to an overtime loss in Dallas, 23-20.

The Cowboys have a short week as they prepare for their annual Thanksgiving game. This year, they will be playing the Redskins who, fresh off their bye week, exposed every flaw in the Eagles’ game plan to the tune of 31-6. RGIII threw for a career-high four touchdowns, two of them over 45 yards. The Redskins are still an explosive offense, and are not yet out of the playoff race, but it will be tough because one poor game, one loss, will most likely end any chance they have.

The third playoff game of the afternoon was in Houston, where the Texans, arguably the best team in the NFL, hosted division opponent Jacksonville, probably the worst team in the NFL. Not only did the game go into overtime, but it was a shootout that went to overtime. The Texans became the first team in NFL history to score twice in overtime as the teams traded field goals on their opening overtime possessions and the dagger was stuck when Andre Johnson capped off a career day, and by far his best game of the season, with his first and only touchdown catch. The final score was 43-37.

Green Bay didn’t have as easy a time as I expected but still got the win in Detroit. The Lions, like the Cowboys, will have a short week as they prepare for no small task. They will have to defend home field against the Houston Texans. It will be the Texans’ first Thanksgiving game.

Cincinnati took care of the Chiefs, as most of us expected, but the game that really surprised me was in St. Louis, where the Jets handled the Rams, 27-13. Mark Sanchez, yes, our Sanchise who has rarely topped 50% in the completion percentage column in any game this season, went 15/20 for 178 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, the Jets offense did not turn the ball over once. The Jets will play the Patriots in the late game on Thanksgiving Thursday.

Check back later for my Sunday Football Afterword for the four late games. Thanks for reading everyone!

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 3 Late Games

Torrey Smith hauled in two touchdown receptions
in an emotional game.

So if the 49ers loss against the Vikings moved them out of first in the NFC West, who took over their spot? Surprise, surprise, it’s the Cardinals! Kevin Kolb faced his old team and played a fantastic game as Arizona hosted Philadelphia. Michael Vick was 17/37; Kolb was 17/24. Vick had 217 passing yards, 28 rushing yards and no touchdowns. Kolb had 222 passing yards, 16 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles better miss him! But it wasn’t only Kevin Kolb who led Arizona to a big win and their first 3-0 start since the 70s; Arizona’s defense has been rock solid, and they came up huge yesterday.

The play that defined the game for me was the final play of the first half. With a few seconds left and the ball on the 1-yard line, Vick dropped back to try one more throw before settling for a field goal. Instead he was hit hard, fumbled the ball, and James Sanders returned for a score to put the Cardinals up 24-0 at halftime. Philly managed to hold the Cardinals down in the second half but only put up 6 points themselves in the 27-6 road loss.

Matt Ryan continues to shine as the Falcons beat the Chargers in similar fashion, 27-3. Ryan was 30/40 for 275 yards, 3 touchdown passes, and just his first interception of the season. A week after being arrested for a DUI after playing the Broncos, Michael Turner was back and carried the ball 14 times for 80 yards and a score.

Philip Rivers meanwhile continues to struggle early in the season. He threw for under 200 yards and after picking off Peyton Manning three times last week the Falcons defense picked Rivers off twice in San Diego.

Peyton Manning wanted to come back from that rough performance against Atlanta as the Broncos hosted the Texans, but for the second straight week, a big fourth quarter come back bid fell short. Houston led 31-11 heading into the final quarter. Manning finished the day with 330 passing yards and 2 touchdown passes, both coming in the final 15 minutes. But Matt Schaub’s 4 touchdown passes were too much for Denver to overcome in the 31-25 Houston victory.

Big Ben Roethlisberger had 384 passing yards four touchdown passes and no picks. That was the best statistical game for any quarterback so far this week, yet it wasn’t enough as the Raiders earned their first victory, 34-31. Carson Palmer played good, not great, but Darren McFadden is a beast. He carried the ball just 18 times but gained 113 yards and scored a touchdown. It took a 13-0 fourth quarter effort, but the Raiders earned their first win of the season.

The Sunday Night game was interesting. There were a lot of penalties, but the game moved at a quick enough pace that it didn’t lose my interest like many games over the past two weeks have.

Of course, the story of the night was Ravens receiver, and Maryland grad, Torrey Smith, who played despite his younger brother Tevin being killed in a motorcycle accident early in the day. Smith had 6 catches for 127 yards and two scores.

Flacco played well, as did Ray Rice. Baltimore’s defense, as always, was strong. But the Patriots did not look very good on offense. Brady had a decent second half as New England finally got Wes Welker involved in their game plan, but Brady has not looked like Brady this year when he’s throwing to just about anyone else.

With little time remaining, the Ravens were in range for a 27-yard field goal try. Last year Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that gave New England the AFC Championship and a Super Bowl bid. This year, rookie Justin Tucker was the man to try and give Baltimore the win. His kicked sailed high over the uprights, but the official beneath said it went directly over, which constitutes a successful field goal attempt. The kick gave the Ravens a 31-30 victory and a 2-1 record.

New England drops to 1-2 with the loss. Their streak of consecutive games played without being below .500 ends at 145, a streak that spanned nine seasons. In 2003 they lost their season opener, 31-0 against the Chiefs. After that they won two straight games, lost to the Redskins, then did not lose again as they went on to win the Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers.

Tonight the Packers take on the Seattle Seahawks. Expect the 12^th Man to go all out as Seattle tries to keep pace with the 49ers and not lose too much ground to the Cardinals. It will be a tough task against the Packers, but if there is nothing else the first three weeks have taught us, it’s that the NFL loves upsets and there is never a ‘gimme win.’

If you haven't already, be sure to check out my Afterword on the earlier Sunday games.

Monday Night Football Afterword: Falcons vs Broncos

How frustrating was last night’s game? I was frustrated on so many levels. You all know I am a huge Peyton Manning fan, so seeing him make two terrible decisions and one very poor throw was tough, not to mention the fumble later in the first quarter. Somehow Denver managed to claw their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, but some of the excitement was taken out of it by something else that was very frustrating about that game.

Primetime games supposedly are assigned to the best of the replacement officials. But multiple times throughout last night’s contest the refs showed a lack of understanding of rules and an inability to maintain control of the game.

At one point Denver head coach John Fox got into it with Atlanta defensive back Asante Samuel, and all hell broke loose along the sideline. It took about five minutes for the officials to break up the scrum and then another ten or so before the game actually started again.

The first quarter lasted around 55 minutes of real time, and the game as a whole lasted somewhere between 3:45 and four hours.

The first quarter of last night’s game marked the first time in almost a full 10 years that a team turned the ball over four times in the opening quarter. The last time it happened was in October of 2002 when the Washington Redskins threw 3 picks and fumbled the ball away against the New Orleans Saints (Patrick Ramsey was the quarterback back then).

Manning’s first interception, I don’t blame entirely on him. Jacob Tamme looked wide open from a view behind the pocket. William Moore just had a great reaction on release, tipped the ball to himself, and returned it to the Broncos’ 1-yard-line.

Peyton’s other two interceptions rest squarely on his shoulders. He made poor decisions, tried to fit the ball into tight areas, and didn’t look for his check-downs, as he admitted in his post-game press conference.

Denver’s defense kept the team in the game. After Atlanta’s first interception was returned to just a yard out of the end zone, the Broncos made a valiant goal line stand, and it took three plays before Michael Turner broke the plane for a touchdown. The next two times Atlanta had the ball in scoring position, Denver held them to field goals, limiting the damage to a 13-0 early lead for the Falcons.

After the first quarter, however, Matt Ryan got into a rhythm with his receivers. He looked very solid in the pocket. He looked great last week, and, unlike Joe Flacco who took a small step back this week, Ryan continues to look as strong as he has in his 4+ years in the NFL.

Atlanta’s defense forced the four early turnovers, but during the fourth quarter they had a difficult time containing Peyton Manning. The Falcons entered the final 15 minutes with a 27-7 lead. Peyton battled his team back to a 27-21 deficit, and it came down to a must-convert third down for the Falcons. Ryan was under pressure from Von Miller, but checked it down and Julio Jones managed to get the extra three yards he needed for the first down, barely. But barely was good enough, as Atlanta just had to kill the ball a couple times to end the game.

Atlanta improved to 80-0 in franchise history when entering the fourth quarter with a lead of 20+ points. Manning almost executed another of his trademark comebacks. But, as he also said in his press conference, he “put his team in too far of a hole.” Still, it was good to see the fight-to-the-bitter-end mentality we have come to expect from him.

Tonight we have a special broadcast of The All-Sports Crew on WMUC Sports at 9 p.m. We will still air tomorrow at our regularly schedule time, but a time slot opened up for us to have a second show this week, and we jumped on it. Both of this week’s shows will be on iTunes, as is our show from last week. So be sure to subscribe to the podcast if you cannot listen to the show live.

Thanks for all your support, listening to my radio show and reading my blog. I appreciate it very much, and always feel free to comment. I may not always like your feedback, but believe that I do appreciate it and take it to heart, so please be kind, but as brutal as you need to be in the same breath.

Tomorrow I will publish my 10 Things You Need to Know post, so be sure to check that out. My predictions for Week 3 will be announced on tomorrow’s broadcast of The All-Sports Crew and will be published on the show blog and here on Thursday.