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 Needs: NFC South

I began going through the NFL division-by-division last week, writing about what each team needs to address this offseason. I have covered the bases in all four AFC divisions and half of the NFC, so today I move on to the NFC South.

I won’t pretend to know every detail of what each team needs, but am open to comments from those who may know better what their teams need.

Atlanta Falcons

Tony Gonzalez has been wavering in his resolution to retire this offseason. We know that if he returns, it won’t be any city other than Atlanta. The Falcons are being very patient with Gonzalez, but they can only do so much this offseason without knowing if they can count on him to return in 2013.

William Moore is another free agent the Falcons need back. Their secondary needs some work, but if they can hold on to Moore, that’s one less piece they have to add from outside the organization. There are also rumors that Atlanta is one of the teams looking at Darrelle Revis. If they can get him for the right price, and if he is healthy, Revis would be a huge addition to their secondary.

John Braham is gone, which means the secondary is not the only area of concern for Atlanta. The Falcons played much better against the run during the postseason than during the regular season in 2012, but Abraham was a big part of that improvement. Without him, they need a new pass rusher, someone strong enough to stop running backs, including the bruisers who seem to be making a comeback, and versatile enough to contain the increased number of mobile quarterbacks, including Cam Newton.

On offense, the only real concern to address is in the run game.

Carolina Panthers

A lot of analysts keep talking about how much less confident they are in the Panthers heading into 2013 than they were heading into this past season. Cam Newton went through some sophomore growing pains, but played pretty well down the stretch. If he puts in good work this offseason, I can see the Panthers really making an improvement on offense. They question will be whether they can compete with three other good teams in their division.

Carolina found itself a fantastic young middle linebacker to build their defense around in Luke Kuechly. The defensive line and secondary need some work though and it may be a multi-offseason job to get this team into playoff contention in such a competitive division.

Depth at receiver is also an area that needs major attention. Steve Smith has enjoyed a couple of breakout seasons with Newton in town, but he isn’t getting any younger. Even while Smith is still around, the Panthers don’t have a decent second option for Newton to look to.

New Orleans Saints

Sean Payton is back, and that’s the most important thing New Orleans needed for this offseason. Even if they were to do nothing else this offseason, that would be enough for a major improvement on purely a mental level.

Rob Ryan is in town, so the defense will hopefully see an improvement. It would be hard for it to get any worse, but I’ll try not to jinx it.

The defense needs an almost compete overhaul, especially if Will Smith and Jonathan Vilma don’t take the pay cuts they’ve been asked to take. On offense, New Orleans may want to add some depth to their line and have to make decisions about what to do with their running backs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After seeing him pull what I consider to be cheap shots against the Giants and Cowboys this season, to say I am not a fan of Greg Schiano would be the understatement of the year. Still, he is a hell of a coach and showed this year that he can handle the task of leading a professional team. The Buccaneers finished the season 1-5, but that is still better than the 0-10 finish they had in 2011. They also won three more games, and I see more improvement to come in 2013.

Josh Freeman returned to form and is likely going to be considered Tampa Bay’s franchise quarterback from here on. They also found themselves an incredibly talented running back in Doug Martin. Offensively, I can’t think of a time when Tampa Bay has looked better, even going back to the Tony Dungy/Jon Gruden era.

Defensively, Tampa Bay was the best in the NFL against the run in 2012, but their pass defense was atrocious and the Bucs will have to put a lot of work into their secondary to avoid a duplicate performance in 2013.

Tomorrow I will cover the NFC West’s offseason needs, team-by-team. Keep up with new posts as I publish them by ‘liking’ my Facebook page and by following me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

2012 Season in Review, Last 8 Weeks

The tandem of rookies RG3 (10) and Alfred Morris (46) is the
basis of everything the Redskins do on offense.
Photo credit to NY Daily News.

Yesterday, I reviewed the first nine weeks of the regular season. So today, naturally, I am looking back at the second half of the regular season, which was very different for many teams and all too similar for others. My predictions for this weekend will come tonight on The All-Sports Crew’s blog and in each of my Wild-Card previews, which will start coming out tomorrow.

These are the NFL standings for the final 8 weeks of the regular season:

AFC East	AFC North	AFC South	AFC West
1. NE (7-1)	1. CIN (5-3)	1. IND (6-2)	1. DEN (8-0)
T-2. MIA (3-5)	2. BAL (4-4)	2. HOU (5-3)	2. SD (3-5)
T-2. NYJ (3-5)	3. CLE (3-4)	3. TEN (3-4)	T-3. OAK (1-7)
T-2. BUF (3-5)	4. PIT (3-5)	4. JAC (1-7)	T-3. KC (1-7)
NFC East	NFC North	NFC South	NFC West
1. WAS (7-0)	T-1. GB (5-2)	T-1. ATL (5-3)	1. SEA (6-1)
2. DAL (5-3)	T-1. MIN (5-2)	T-1. CAR (5-3)	2. SF (5-2-1)
3. NYG (3-4)	3. CHI (3-5)	3. NO (4-4)	3. StL (4-3-1)
4. PHI (1-7)	4. DET (0-8)	4. TB (3-5)	4. ARI (1-6)

Of course the talk of the NFL in the second half of the season was the Redskins entering their bye week 3-6, voting Robert Griffin III a captain when they returned, and then going on to win their final 7 games to clinch the NFC East for the first time since 1999. Hidden in the shadow was the Colts’ run to nearly take back the AFC South and Cincinnati doing the same in the AFC North.

AFC East

The Bills had a decent offense, but their defense was atrocious. Ryan Tannehill did not carry his momentum into the second half of the season and the Jets were at the mercy of Mark Sanchez. The Patriots didn’t need to win 7 of their last 8 to run away with this division, but they did and now hold the AFC’s #2 seed.

AFC North

Baltimore seemed hot in the second half of the season, winning their first three games. They’ve dropped 4 of 5 now and only a win against the reeling Giants kept the Bengals from claiming the division. An injury to Ben Roethlisberger hurt Pittsburgh more than some people want to admit.

AFC South

Houston struggled late and Indy didn’t, allowing the Colts to come within a Week 15 loss in Houston of winning the AFC South. Jacksonville repeated their first-half record and the Titans struggled despite Chris Johnson getting into a groove and Jake Locker putting up big numbers in several games.

AFC West

The Broncos had an easy schedule but never let an opponent give them a serious scare as they rolled through the competition. The question for them is whether the lack of competition will hurt them in the postseason. San Diego only had the second best record during the second half because their competition was Oakland and Kansas City.

NFC East

The Giants suffered their typical late-season collapse and for once there was a team there to take advantage. In fact, there were two teams. The Redskins, as I mentioned, never lost in the second half of the season. The Cowboys made a late run at a division title but came up short in Week 17 against Washington. Philly has won just one game since the Phillies last victory and Andy Reid was fired the day after the regular season ended.

NFC North

Green Bay and Minnesota went neck-and-neck for the NFC North title and Green Bay held off the Vikings, despite losing to them in Week 17. Chicago, as I said early, was a product of an easy schedule. They lost to the good teams they faced in the second half.

NFC South

Carolina, as they did last year, picked it up in the second half. The hole was too deep for them, but they had the same record as the Falcons. If they can put things together for a full season, 2013 could be a scary year in the NFC South.

NFC West

Seattle scored over 170 points in their final four games – 150 points between Weeks 14, 15 and 16. They make fans of every other team nervous. The only thing that gives other teams’ fans a little relief is that they won’t be able to host a playoff game unless they play the Vikings in the NFC Championship. San Francisco held them off the division championship by virtue of a tie against the Rams.

2012 Season in Review, First 9 Weeks

The 'Monday Night Fiasco' finally put an end to the NFL's
replacement officials. Photo credit to CBS Chicago.

Happy New Year, everyone! To kick off 2013, I am reviewing the 2012 regular season. Today I will cover the first nine weeks and tomorrow I will review the last eight weeks of the season. My predictions for this weekend will come Wednesday on The All-Sports Crew’s blog and in each of my Wild-Card previews, which will start coming out Thursday.

Heading into Week 10, these were the standings in the NFL:

AFC East	AFC North	AFC South	AFC West
1. NE (5-3)	1. BAL (6-2)	1. HOU (7-1)	1. DEN (5-3)
2. MIA (4-4)	2. PIT (5-3)	2. IND (5-3)	2. SD (4-4)
T-3. NYJ (3-5)	3. CIN (3-5)	3. TEN (3-6)	3. OAK (3-5)
T-3. BUF (3-5)	4. CLE (2-7)	4. JAC (1-7)	4. KC (1-7)
NFC East	NFC North	NFC South	NFC West
1. NYG (6-3)	1. CHI (7-1)	1. ATL (8-0)	1. SF (6-2)
T-2. DAL (3-5)	2. GB (6-3)	2. TB (4-4)	2. SEA (5-4)
T-2. PHI (3-5)	3. MIN (5-4)	3. NO (3-5)	3. ARI (4-5)
4. WAS (3-6)	4. DET (4-4)	4. CAR (2-6)	4. StL (3-5)

It seemed clear at the time that Atlanta and Houston were a close one-two in the NFL. Houston had picked up right where they left off when Matt Schaub got hurt in 2011 and the Falcons were flat-out winning, even if some games were closer than they should have been.

AFC East

The Patriots had suffered a few tough losses, and they didn’t have a feel of consistency to them. They seemed to be in line to win the division, but mostly on the merit of everyone else in the division being bad. Down in Miami, Ryan Tannehill was turning heads with pretty rapid improvement through the first several weeks.

AFC North

Baltimore kicked off the season with a big win over Cincinnati in which they showcased a very efficient hurry-up offense. Things settled down for them after that game but they kept control of the division early. Cincinnati started the season slow but Andy Dalton and A.J. Green were starting to make their offense look like a serious contender.

AFC South

Houston, as I mentioned, was considered one of the league’s best teams. Losing Brian Cushing seemed not to hurt as much as we thought it would, thanks mostly to J.J. Watt’s phenomenal play. Indianapolis, meanwhile, was in the middle of a CHUCKSTRONG campaign to win games for Coach Pagano, who was away from the team receiving treatment for leukemia.

AFC West

San Diego controlled the division early on, but a memorable second-half collapse handed the division on a silver platter to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, allowing Denver to lead the division with the hard part of their schedule completely out of the way.

NFC East

The Giants struggled in their season opener against Dallas, becoming the first defending Super Bowl champs to lose the NFL Kickoff Game. Dallas cooled off after that game and New York caught fire, winning six of their next eight.

NFC North

Chicago was rolling through the first half of their schedule, mostly due to a weak schedule. Their only loss was to Green Bay and they hadn’t played another good opponent otherwise. The Packers, meanwhile, were hot and cold early one but seemed to be on the rise. The Vikings were the surprise of the NFL. Adrian Peterson hadn’t been noticed as much as Christian Ponder as the second-year quarterback was playing excellent ball in the early part of the season.

NFC South

Atlanta was running away with the division and was the only undefeated team left after Week 9. Tampa Bay seemed to be picking things up and a young man named Doug Martin seemed to be inserting his name in Rookie of the Year discussions while Josh Freeman was throwing for 300+ yards seemingly every game. New Orleans was suffering the effects of having their head coach, and their interim head coach, on top of a few players, suspended.

NFC West

The 49ers had suffered a few letdowns but still seemed to be a close second to the Falcons in the conference. Seattle seemed more of a pretender than anything with a home win over New England in a game when Tom Brady played awful and of course the infamous ‘Monday Night Fiasco’ against Green Bay.

Replacement Refs

The first three weeks were dominated by talk of how poor a job the replacement officials were doing. We may have been a little too hard on them and not hard enough on the league for not getting a deal done with the officials’ union, but it was pretty bad and it all culminated on that Monday Night game between Seattle and Green Bay. Thankfully the madness ended within a couple days of that game and we the real refs were back from Week 4 on.

Bounty Scandal

The New Orleans Saints had to deal with a lot with the NFL’s crackdown on their bounty system, which we still don’t really seem to have concrete evidence of. They lost the first several games of the season, including an overtime loss to Kansas City, who never led during regulation of any game in the first half of the season.

Rookie Quarterbacks

With five rookies starting under center in Week 1, an NFL record was set. Never had so many rookies been named the starter of their team to kick off a season. Robert Griffin III, the 2011 Heisman Trophy Winner, was starting in Washington and quickly made the Redskins into one of the best rushing teams and one of the highest scoring offenses in the league. Andrew Luck was not very efficient, but always seemed to come through in the clutch in Indy. Russell Wilson pissed a lot of people off against Green Bay on Monday Night when he threw the winning interception for Seattle. Ryan Tannehill showed improvement early in the season for Miami and Brandon Weeden was doing the same in Cleveland.

Thursday Night Football Afterword: Falcons vs Saints

After NBC covered the Thanksgiving Night game last week,
NFL Network took over last night night's NFC South affair.
Photo credit to NFL Network.

For just the second time in his career, Matt Ryan’s Falcons topped the Saints in the Georgia Dome. Atlanta jumped out to a 17-0 lead thanks to a fantastic opening drive and solid defense. New Orleans didn’t die easy, but the Falcons defense never let them sustain anything.

Michael Turner answered critics with a solid game on the
ground against the Saints. Photo credit to SB Nation.

After a solid outing against Tampa Bay, Jacquizz Rodgers appeared to be the man to rule the Atlanta backfield. Instead, Michael Turner ripped off a 35-yard run on the game’s first play from scrimmage and rode that to the first score of the game and 83 total yards on 12 carries, one of his best games of the year right when people were beginning to call for Rodgers to take over his role.

Riding a solid running game, Matt Ryan looked fantastic on the opening possession, but was inconsistent the rest of the way. His lone touchdown pass of the game came on a possession with a short field after a New Orleans turnover.

Drew Brees was undre pressure all night and never
looked comfortable. Photo credit to Sports Illustrated.

On the other side, if it looked like Drew Brees was off last night, it’s because he was. He completed 56% of his 50 pass attempts, a low percentage for him. Most of his incompletions looked terrible and even some of his completions weren’t very accurate. He continues on his NFL-record streak of consecutive games with 20+ completions but another streak ended as he failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 55 games. The Falcons defense also picked him off five times.

A big part of Brees’ difficulty came from the Falcons doing a fantastic job getting pressure on the veteran quarterback. The other part came from excellent coverage from a thin secondary, made even thinner because of Asante Samuel’s departure early in the first quarter.

New Orleans got decent production from Pierre Thomas, and their lone touchdown of the game was a run by Mark Ingram, but the five interceptions were too much to overcome in the 23-13 loss. But the very fact that the Falcons had a +4 turnover ratio in the game and only won by 10 points should be concerning for Atlanta.

The loss essentially kills the playoff hopes of New Orleans. They are not mathematically eliminated, but with upcoming matchups with the Buccaneers and Cowboys, both of whom are fighting for the playoffs, it will be difficult to win out. In addition, they don’t have the tiebreakers to make it likely for such a situation to result in a playoff birth. In other words, their future is out of their hands.

The Falcons, meanwhile, move another step closer to clinching the division and a first-round bye in January.

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of Week 13. I’ll be back Monday with my Sunday Afterwords!