Archive for the ‘Atlanta’ Category

How the Chargers ended up with LT, and not Michael Vick

“We were taking Michael Vick – unless we got the trade we wanted,” says Chargers GM A.J. Smith, then Butler’s assistant and confidant. “We wanted Tim Dwight. If he wasn’t included in the deal, Michael Vick was going to be the quarterback here.”

We were committed to taking him,” Smith says, “and I don’t speak out of both sides of my mouth. That’s a fact. John Butler was committed to Michael Vick – unless we got an attractive package. The only player interested was Atlanta. John said, ‘No Tim Dwight, no Michael Vick.’

NFL | 2006 | Week 13 - Atlanta Falcons

24-14 at WAS

My problem with the Falcons’ offense is that they have been designing plays to let Michael Vick freelance and improvise. But that’s really like letting a teenager out of the house for a night but sending a chaperone with them.

Any defense that tries to play man coverage against the Falcons is crazy. They have the receivers who can beat DBs one on one and if Vick drops back and sees 7 defenders turn their backs on him to run with receivers, he’s going to take off and run for 20 yards.

It’s been shown that a combination of zone defenses have given this Falcons offense most of their problems - in part because of Vick’s accuracy issues on short 5-10 yard routes and in part because he hasn’t had a bona fide possession receiver since Brian Finneran went on IR.

So, if you’re running this offense, why not just call plays based on that assumption; flood zones and see how the defense reacts. If they roll coverages over to the strong side, then there should be plenty of running room for Vick.

This idea of calling bootlegs for #7 seem counter-productive. Why would you call a blocked play for someone who does his best work in space, making things up as he goes. All those rollout pass plays do are limit the options Michael Vick has to throw or run to.

The Falcons, are at least, back to running the football. Although as this table shows, rushing attempts don’t necessarily translate into wins, but you can certainly see where the offense lost it’s way at mid-season.



GAME	RUSHES	RESULT
@CAR	47	W 20-6
TB	44	W 14-3
@NO	23	L 3-23
ARZ	40	W 32-10
NYG	26	L 14-27
PIT	39	W 41-38
@CIN	38	W 29-27
@DET	26	L 14-30
CLE	29	L 13-17
@BAL	25	L 10-24
NO	45	L 13-31
WAS	41	W 24-10


Results show that Atlanta is 6-1 this season when rushing 38 times or more and 0-5 when running for 29 times or less. No middle ground there. No games where they ran 34 or 35 times.

2006 | Week 4 - Atlanta Falcons

32-10 vs ARZ

This was certainly not as impressive as the score indicated. Atlanta’s defense was in control, but that was in part due to Kurt Warner’s day in hell. He really struggles against defenses that are fast - and this Falcons’ team is as fast as any.

Atlanta’s offense could not move 1 of their drives into the end zone. They settled for FGs 6 times, threw a INT on the 1 yard line, and punted 2 other times. Only Jerious Norwood’s 78 yard TD run produced the Falcons offensive touchdown. But that was more due to Norwood’s sprinter speed and terrible tackling angles by the Cardinals than anything else.

Ashlie Lelie again showed he’s one of the best deep threats in the game. He just has this natural talent to pick up the path of a deep ball before almost anyone else does. And he’s tall, with great control of his body. It really makes him a weapon.

Michael Boley had his second strong game in a row. Boley was a force rushing the QB from the edge, and also dropped back in coverage well - including the play he made to break up Warner’s pass that ended up falling to DeAngelo Hall for the TD that broke this game open.

Targets:
Free resource at Football Die Hards.
They have many helpers.

2006 | Week 2 - Atlanta Falcons

14-3 vs TB

Targets stats only this week.

CATCHES / TARGETS:
Lelie - 3/5
Jenkins - 2/5
Crumpler - 1/1
White - 1/1
Norwood - 1/1
McCrary - 1/1
Hall - 1/1

2006 | Week 1 - Atlanta Falcons

20-6 at CAR

We should have seen this coming. The Falcons were right: no one was talking about them coming into the season. But their defensive line is legit, already among the best in the league and they added one of the best pure pass rushers in the game. Vick is into his third year with this offense, and the team is finally deep enough to allow guys like Michael Jenkins to play where they are suited to play - not just where they are needed to play. Warrick Dunn’s best qualities, vision and experience, are similar to those of Tiki Barber; ones that get better with age. And Dunn is running as well as he ever has.

Jerious Norwood is still more sprinter than he is running back; he runs too upright at times and needs to work on his instincts to find a crease. At times he showed that he can lower his pads into a hole but the consistency isn’t there yet. As a change of pace, he can play in a role that fits.

Back to the defense, you have to run the ball at John Abraham. You have to take him out of the game early or he’ll stay hungry for 60 minutes if he knows he can just rush the QB all day. The Falcons did a good job of moving Abraham around on the line, so at least the Panthers couldn’t call a play expecting #55 to be in the same place every time.

As good as they were, remember that Patrick Kerney, their best all-around lineman, was forced to leave this game after injuring his right triceps on the first play of the game. And John Abraham suffered a groin injury in the final minutes of the game. Both expect to play week 2 vs Tampa Bay.

Targets/Catches:
Jenkins - 3/6
Crumpler - 3/6
White - 1/5
Lelie - 1/2
Griffith - 1/1
Dunn - 1/1
Norwood - 0/1

Week 11 - Atlanta Falcons

27-30 vs Tampa Bay

The Falcons’ offense came out as flat as could be for a game this important. They seemed much more concerned with Tampa’s cheap shots than they were in executing their offense As a team, they committed 7 penalties (1 was declined) in the first eight minutes. At one point, they even lined up on offense with 12 men. How do you do that? How does someone on the field for Atlanta not realize that on this certain play, the position you’re supposed to be in is being played by someone else? Did they practice that week with 12 guys in that formation? As for Vick, Tampa has always done a good job at containing his ability to move out of the pocket. One of the reasons they’ve been good at that is because they good have great speed on the right side of their defense (Brooks and Rice) and the style of defense they play allows all 11 set of eyes to look in on the quarterback. So Vick has struggled in the past because he wasn’t able to provide a balance to his skills set. What we’ve seen lately from Vick, however, indicates that he and his receivers are turning certainly the corner. Yet despite putting together some of his best passing games of his career over the last three weeks, the Falcons are 1-2 in those games. Is it possible he’s not running enough? Yes. It may even be possible he’s taking more hits by trying to stay in the pocket more. But in the long run, I think it’ll be for the best. In the last two weeks, fumbles have kept the Falcons from staging a late game winning drive. But it’s in the two minute drill, that Vick is at his best. He’s not throwing interceptions, and he’s not missing his targets. And make no mistake, the Falcons are losing games right now because their defense is letting them down. They have injuries all over their defensive line. at middle linebacker, and at cornerback. TARGETS(catches):
Crumpler- 11(5)
Jenkins- 8(5)
White- 6(4)
Finneran- 4(3)
Dunn- 4(2)
Griffith- 3(0) Duckett- 1(1)
McCrary- 1(1)

Wednesday Football

Week Nine Game Reviews
Carolina - Tampa Bay | Seattle - Arizona | Atlanta - Miami

Carolina Panthers:
Carolina always seems to take their games with the Bucs more seriously than Tampa does. The stats don’t really show the blowout that this game was. Carolina was balanced on offense, they didn’t turn the ball over, and no one can stop Steve Smith.

Julius Peppers again had Kenyatta Walker playing scared. Peppers has just owned Walker over his career.

The Panthers rank 4th in the NFL in points per game, 3rd in third down efficiency, and yet they are 31st in average gain per rushing attempt. The Panthers have forced 20 turnovers this year (tied for 3rd), but they’ve given away 15 themselves. But they are in first place by a wide margin in red zone touchdown percentage (77% versus second places’ 70%). The Panthers do have some holes in their game, and they’ll struggle when facing a team as disciplined and well coached as they are, but there are few out there. Carolina is essentially a NFC contender based on their third down and red zone efficiency alone. Anyone who wants to beat them will need to focus on what Carolina is doing when they need to convert a play.

The Panthers have won five in a row but they still have both games against Atlanta on their schedule.
TARGETS(catches):
Smith- 8(5)
Foster- 3(2)
Colbert- 2(1)
Davis- 2(1)
Proehl- 1(1)
Gardner- 1(0)
Mangum- 1(1)


Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
I don’t think Jon Gruden and his staff are doing a good job at getting their team ready to play. I think they are underestimating their weaknesses and overestimating their strengths. The difference between the Chris Simms that played against SF and the Simms that played against Carolina was clear. Against the 49ers, Simms was in over his head, unsure of the offense, and confused; even though he had a bye week to prepare for the game. Against the Panthers, Simms looked like the player most expected to see. He was getting the ball out on time, and his throws for the most part were where they needed to be.

Now, that said, he’s still a young QB and he’s making mistakes. The INT TD he threw to Chris Gamble wasn’t pretty. It was a 5 yard out that Simms has to make an adjustment on, even as he’s delivering the ball. Gamble broke on the first move and when you see that as a QB, if you’re already throwing you still have the ability to throw it high and over both targets. Simms has always had the label of being a better practice QB than a gamer, and I think a lot of that has to do with how he delivers the ball. Simms has a great arm, and a good throwing motion, he’s just a little too casual with his throws. He’s a reps and rhythm guy who isn’t a playmaker.

Anthony McFarland and the rest of the Bucs was really working hard in this game. The entire defense again gave a good effort, but these safeties still aren’t good enough in coverage to make their system work properly.

TARGETS(catches):
Galloway- 13(5)
Clayton- 8(2)
Pittman- 6(4)
Hillard- 5(4)
Smith- 3(3)
Williams- 3(3)
Becht- 2(2)
Alstott- 2(2)




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Seattle Seahawks:
Seattle used a lot of draws against the attacking Cardinals defense, especially on their opening drive. And it definitely was effective at keeping the Cards off balance on defense.

There has been talk this season that the team chemistry on the Seahawks is in a place it’s never been before. There appears to be something special going on here. Their offense is first in the NFL in total yards per game, average gain per rush, first downs per game, average gain per play, and they are 5th best in points per game. Don’t sleep on them.
TARGETS(catches):
Jurevicious- 6(4)
Engram- 5(3)
Stevens- 3(2)
Hannam- 3(1)
Strong- 1(1)
Morris- 1(1)
Urban- 1(1)


Arizona Cardinals:
New quarterback, same red zone struggles for Arizona. They have scored a touchdown just 3 times in 21 red zone trips this year. And six times they’ve come away with zero points.

I still put this on Kurt Warner. He never had great arm strength, and now it seems he’s a little wary of it and so he holds onto the ball too much. And in the red zone, when passing windows are open for less time than they are anywhere else, Warner is struggling the most. And he had time to throw against the Seahawks, but for almost three full quarter the Cardinals couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone.

The unfortunate part about all this is that Arizona has someone who could potentially be one of the best red zone WR in the game (Fitzgerald).

Someone needs to ask: Why is Kurt Warner starting? This offensive line cannot pass block. Kurt Warner cannot throw on the run. Connect the dots. Why is Kurt Warner starting.

J.J. Arrington is officially back on the radar. He’s been improved over the last few weeks but this was the first game I’ve seen him run with a purpose since his days at Cal. Arrington is still a fish out of water in this offense, however, so I don’t expect anything big to happen. He needs to play in a west coast hybrid system.

Bryant Johnson may have had a nice fantasy day, but he made a couple of key mistakes in this game; including dropping a slant pass in the end zone and blocking from behind on Edwards’ long catch and run. There’s a reason Johnson, a former first round pick, has been a third receiever for most of his career.

And losing Bertrand Berry for the season is going to kill this defense. Take the Cardinals out of the grill, it’s over for them.
TARGETS(catches):
Fitzgerald- 14(8)
Johnson- 11(6)
Newhouse- 7(2)
McCoy- 4(3)
Arrington- 4(4)
Ayanbadejo- 3(2)
Shipp- 2(1)
Bergen- 2(2)
Edwards- 2(1)



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Atlanta Falcons:
Michael Vick’s numbers for this game were certainly impressive, but the Dolphins- who don’t really have a good secondary to begin with- did him a lot of favors by blitzing frequently. You just cannot send 6 or 7 guys to rush Michael Vick. He’s going to be just as fast or faster than any of those blitzers and what you’re doing with the biltz is handing him a decision on where to throw to ball. His one weakness, pass selection, is taken away when you tell him off the snap of the ball where he should go. It becomes a much easier choice for Vick. That’s why Tampa has always been effective against him. They get pressure off the left tackle and they drop seven in coverage.

Atlanta’s defense is still soft against the run, but that is offset by their third down efficiency. The Falcons are 2nd in the league at getting off the field on third downs, a stat that is supplemented by their 4th best QB sack percentage. In this game, their speed was too much for Miami to contend with.
TARGETS(catches):
Finneran- 11(8)
Crumpler- 8(6)
White- 5(3)
Dunn- 4(4)
Griffith- 2(1)
Blakely- 1(0)


Miami Dolphins:
Teams who run the ball are going to be able to move down the field against Atlanta. And Miami’s ground game is still it’s strength. Still, this game wasn’t as close as it needed to be. During the first half, the Falcons gave the ball up on Miami’s 10 once and on their own 15 once, essentially giving the Dolphins 10 points. That allowed Miami a chance to stay with their run game, and stay in the game overall. To their credit, the Dolphins were technically in this game until late into the fourth quarter. Miami can stop the run and they can run the ball pretty well themselves. But they are 30th in the league in time of possession and in order to be competitive, they have to keep the ball out of the air- on both sides.
TARGETS(catches):
Chambers- 6(3)
McMichael- 4(3)
Brown- 4(2)
Booker- 3(2)
Welker- 2(1)
Morris- 2(2)
Williams- 1(0)



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I should have a couple more games up tonight.

Wednesday Football

Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons lost this game purely because they have more weaknesses than the Patriots do. And while people are speculating whether or not Atlanta is better off with Matt Schaub or another traditional drop back passer (just because Schaub threw for 300+ yards) know that what Michael Vick does when he’s on the field not only compliments the run game, but he also helps mask how poor the Falcons receivers really are. I mean, I really like Brian Finneran, but he should not be the most dependable pass catcher on any Super Bowl caliber team. And that’s not to say that Matt Schaub is not a good quarterback, we found that out during his rookie season that he is, but I don’t know if he can make all the throws yet. Schaub missed a number of deep passes on Sunday that championship quarterbacks, like tom Brady, make.

Michael Jenkins had a terrible game in particular. He dropped a few, and failed to fight for the ball on a number of other occasions. Dez White dropped a few too, and he almost didn’t get credit for his touchdown catch because it fell to the ground too. For the season, Brian Finneran is now one target behind Jenkins for the lead among Falcons WRs, and again, Finneran has been terrific.

The Pats game was decided late by three plays in particular. With 8 minutes left and the Falcons driving near midfield, a line judge called Schaub out of bounds two yards before the first down even though Schaub was clearly more than a foot in bounds. The Falcons punted, and while they did soon get the ball back and score a tying touchdown, but New England was left with just enough time to win. And on that game winning drive, the Pats were facing 1st and 25 from their own 20. Kerney was call off-sides even though he was drawn by a false start and then on the very next play Allen Rossum interfered with Deion Branch on a ball that he didn’t need to interfere with and the Pats got a free first down. Game over.
TARGETS(catches):
Jenkins- 10(3)
Crumpler- 9(6)
Finneran- 6(5)
DWhite- 3(1)
RWhite- 3(0)
Dunn- 2(2)
Griffith- 1(1)

New England Patriots
This Patriots’ offense is just rolling. Brady’s 54 yard TD pass to Bethel Johnson was especially nice. He threw it off his back foot, with two Falcons in his face and hit Johnson with a perfect rainbow that fell perfectly into the receivers arms. Brady’s ability to move within the pocket is helping out his rookie LT and LG. Daniel Graham obviously had a huge game, and he gets more playing time because he’s a more complete tight end right now. But I still think Ben Watson has a big game in his near future. He picked up the first TD of his career on Sunday, and despite only having 3 catches on the year, he’s been thrown to 13 times (2 more than Graham’s 11). Deion Branch, after being almost forgotten last week, was heavily featured against the Falcons. And he picked up his 8 catches and 107 yards while matched up against DeAngelo Hall most of the time.

On defense, tight ends vs NE have had some success this year. Gates picked up 108 last week, Courtney Anderson had 2 TDs in the opener, and Crumpler had 99 yards against the Pats. New England looked like they had linebackers on Crumpler to start the game and then swtiched to using more DBs to cover him. Neither technique was effective. And Chad Brown is being abused in coverage.

The Pats also rushed rushed the passer much more than they did last week, showing perhaps less respect for Schaub than they did Drew Brees. This left a lot of Falcons’ receivers in single coverage, but on too many occasions (for ATL, at least) Schaub either missed his throw or the receiver wasn’t able to make the catch. The Falcons attacked down the field all game, they just couldn’t come up with many plays. Against a team with a little better verticle offense, New England will have to go back to protecting their secondary with 7-8 men in coverage, and they won’t be as effective against the pass. There are real problems here for New England.
TARGETS(catches):
Branch- 8(8)
Graham- 5(5)
Givens- 4(2)
Dillon- 4(2)
Pass- 2(1)
Johnson- 1(1)
Brown- 1(1)
Dwight- 1(1)
Watson- 1(1)

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Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Burger showed on Monday night that he’s making good progress as an NFL quarterback. He’s finally becoming more than just a half field passer, it seems. I expected Willie Parker to be more of a force than he was in this game. For a guy who’s never carried a full load before, it looked a little like he may have lost a bit already. Take for example the 14 yard run he had that ended as he was tripped and couldn’t keep his balance. I can’t help but think that a fresh Parker finds a way to stay on his feet there.
TARGETS(catches):
Ward- 10(6)
Miller- 6(4)
Randel El- 4(3)
Wilson- 2(1)
Morgan- 1(0)
Haynes- 1(1)
Parker- 1(1)
Bettis- 1(1)

San Diego Chargers
After getting just one pass thrown to him in his first two games, LaDainian Tomlinson has picked up a total of 18 targets in his last three. Antonio Gates is on pace for 75 catches this year (81 in 15 games last year), but his 341 yards through 4 games puts him on a 1279 pace for the season. He’s had 33 passes thrown to him in ‘05. That’s good for a pace of 124 for the year. He picked up 111 targets in 2004. Also of note, Keenan McCardell received another pass in the red zone, giving him 8 on the season. Gates has just 3 RZ targets so far.
TARGETS(catches):
Gates- 11(5)
Parker- 7(5)
Tomlinson- 7(7)
McCardell- 6(1)
Caldwell- 1(1)
Osgood- 1(1)
Neal- 1(0)

—
Indianapolis Colts
Edgerrin James looks more decisive with his running as each week passes. He’s not only giving a better effort than ever before since his knee injury, but James is also getting all the chances he can handle because of the way teams are playing Indy. The only problem is that he’s still being taken out in the red zone way too often for his fantasy owners’ likings. James also fumbled on the goal line against the 49ers. He’s just finding ways to not score.

The Colts don’t seem to be doing anything new with their offense yet. The 49ers just didn’t play the game like others this year have. And despite the score, the Colts were real sloppy in this match. They lost a fumble (as I mentioned, on the one yard line), Peyton threw 2 picks, and Indy had 10 penalties for 80 yards. Very uncharacteristic. But still they dominated. Harrison’s injury seems to be limiting him right now.
TARGETS(catches):
Wayne- 10(6)
Stokely- 8(6)
James- 5(4)
Clark- 3(3)
Harrison- 3(2)
Rhodes- 1(1)
Walter- 1(1)

San Francisco 49ers
I know he threw 4 INTs, but Alex Smith looked much better in the pocket than he has at any point I’ve seen him this season. He still has most of the way to go before he’s a good QB, but at least Smith has made significant progress past that whole first year ‘deer in headlights’ thing. It seems he’s always going to have that awful release though. It’s the only thing about Smith that is slow. Oh, and Smith certainly earned every one of his INTs too. They were all ugly. Only one pass was completed to a WR (cato June had two INTs), and 13 of Smith’s 23 passes went to either a back or tight end.

Kevan Barlow is basically a head down, straight ahead runner at this point. Frank Gore has been running with much more explosiveness, but it’s still the veteran who’s getting most of the carries.
TARGETS(catches):
Barlow- 4(3)
Lloyd- 3(0)
Battle- 3(0)
Morton- 3(1)
Gore- 3(1)
Jackson- 2(0)
Amey- 1(0)
Bush- 1(1)
Bajema- 1(1)
Beasley- 1(1)
Hetherington- 1(1)

Wednesday Football

A friend of the Beach, DVR, pointed me to a couple of places that offer free target stats (one and two). Thanks for that.

STL- The Rams came out throwing and never stopped. Of the 10 carries Steven Jackson did get, most were designed draws or delays, He was used, however, inside the red zone a total of 4 times and giving him 11 on the season. The Giants defense played a lot of the game with their corners 10 yards off the line and St Louis threw a lot of quick stops and slants to take advantage. New York’s secondary has a lot of injuries and they seemed resigned to give those plays to the Rams. So yes, Marc Bulger threw 62 times but in Martz’s partial defense, the Giants were really giving him 4 free yards through the air on most downs.

St Louis has the kind of offense where they are vulnerable against opposing defenses who can provide pressure on the quarterback by just rushing their front four linemen. And the Giants did a good job in this game of doing just that.

At half time, the Rams had 234 yards on offense and not a single one was gained on the ground (after accounting for yards lost by sacks). And while both the final score and the pace of the game were dominated by the Giants, St Louis really could have made this a game. Right before the half and down by 10, the Rams missed a 48 field goal. After the break, St Louis took the kickoff and drove 13 plays down to the six yard line before running some ridiculous reverse. Right there are 10 points they could have tied this game up with.

So despite throwing 62 times and only rushing 15, St Louis held the ball for 32:04 (compared to NYG’s 27:56). Yet it seemed that the more they threw, the more the Giants defense got comfortable defending against St Louis. All three of Bulger’s INTs came in the second half.

With Issac Bruce out, Dane Looker saw plenty of action as the fourth WR and played well. It was hard to tell if Kevin Curtis was the #2 WR out there or if it was Shaun McDonald. Most likely, they alternated. TARGETS(catches): Holt- 14(7), McDonald- 13(9), Looker- 11(8) ,Curtis- 7(6), Jackson- 8(5), Faulk- 5(3), Williams- 1(1), Hedgecock- 1(0), Robinson- 1(0).

NYG- I was very interested to see how Burress picked up his 10 catches and after watching the game, I was impressed. Burress was used on all kinds of patterns. He’s not just been someone Eli Manning can rely on, Burress has been a playmaker. Adam Archuleta misplayed the ball on Burress’ first touchdown, but it was Plaxico’s size that allowed him to shield off the Rams’ safety. Burress only made one catch in the second half. He was thrown to 6 times, catching one pass, having another called back on offensive interference, and then drawing defensive interference on another play. While it looked like the Rams were making an effort to contain Burress a little better in the second half, he still was made a few plays that didn’t show up in the box score. This was the second straight shootout the Giants have been in. If they ever get this defense sorted out, New York is going to make some big time noise.

Amani Toomer took in a red zone score, and Jeremy Shockey beat Archuleta in single coverage for his 31 yard TD. Burress picked up 4 RZ looks, but Barber was the team leader with 8. TARGETS(catches): Burress- 17(10), Shockey 10(4), Barber- 4(2), Toomer- 3(3), Shiancoe- 1

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BUF- The Bills came out and put together a decent enough touchdown drive to start the game. They went 75 yards on 10 plays. McGahee ran well and Losman did his best Michael Vick impression and the Bills were up 7-0. For the rest of the game, Buffalo gained a total of 101 yards. Losman continues to look terrible. He’s showed little rhythm in making his reads, missing throws everywhere, and he runs running out of the pocket at the first sign of pressure- and sometimes even when there is no pressure.

Losman’s first INT was another case of him having just absolutely zero feel for his deep throws. Like I mentioned last week, J.P. just sort of wings it out there hoping his guy runs under it. It didn’t help that Buffalo faced third and long all game. After that opening drive, the Saints defense would put 8 in the box on first down, play base on second, and then blitz on third. McGahee had just 50 yards after the first drive, and the Saints just let Losman do the rest.

Still, down by just three, Ryan Lindell missed a 45 yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the half. The Saints took the ball and kicked a field goal on their own. And with just seconds remaining, Terrance McGee returned the kickoff 82 exciting yards all the way to the four yard line just before tripped and fell with time expired.

Kelly Holcomb came in a couple of minutes into the 4th quarter but it didn’t do anything to help the Bills. I don’t think there should be a QB controversy here. Losman hasn’t shown much, and Buffalo needs to find out if this guy is their future. Their defense is soft without Pat Williams and now Takeo Spikes and their season is over. So they might as well find out what they have with Losman. TARGETS(catches): Moulds- 6(2), Evans- 3(2), Smith- 3(0), McGahee -3(2), Shelton- 2(0), Reed- 1(1), Williams- 1(1), Campbell- 1(0), Neufield- 1(0)

NO- Aaron Brooks played a real smart game against Buffalo. He ran with the ball when it helped the team, and stayed in the pocket at times when he needed to. The Saints had zero turnovers, and Brooks was in control of the offense for the entire game. Donte Stallworth had a big game, but I don’t think he can be the team’s #1 guy for the long run. Stallworth is a perimeter guy and while he did catch a couple of balls over the middle, he was wide open for both against spread out zone coverage. Duece McAllister looked much better than he did last week, carrying the ball 27 times. He also got 9 red zone chances.

A good home crowd really helped here too. The Bills picked up multiple penalties aided on by the noise. With 11:14 left in a 7-13 game, the Saints defense stopped Buffalo on third and 1 and again on fourth and 1 at midfield. But with 5 minutes left in the 4th when the Saints had a chance to put the game away, they had to settle instead for a 20 yard field goal. The New Orleans defense played well and with McAllister had his best runs of the game on the team’s last drive. TARGETS(catches): Stallworth- 11(8), Henderson- 3(1), Conwell- 3(1), McAllister- 3(2), Karney- 1(1), Smith- 1(1), Hall- 1(1)

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MIN- Not much to say here. Minnesota did the same thing last week but this time they were playing a much better defense. When you look at these numbers, consider that the first catch made by a WR came almost five minutes into the second half. The Vikings have a bye this week. Troy Williamson has 7 catches and 2 TDs over the last two games. TARGETS(catches): Taylor- 8(5), Moore- 8(6), Williamson- 5(4), Robinson- 4(1), Wiggins- 3(3), Kleinsasser- 2(2), Bennett- 2(2)

ATL- Up 7-0, with third down and 9 to go from the Vikings’ 25 yard line, the Falcons ran Dunn on a shotgun draw. Dunn took the exchange but then fumbled as he stiffed armed past a lineman. He had so much room around him, however, that he was able to calmly gather the football and run just enough of the nine yards he needed to get the first down. And that pretty much summed up the rest of the game Atlanta had against the Vikings. The Falcons just showed up, ran their offense and went home with a victory. This game looked like the equivalent of a starting pitcher throwing a complete game by just throwing his fastaball the entire time.

I’m sure Vick would have played more had this game been a real contest. Also, Dunn’s 36 yard touchdown run was just sick. The Vikings brought a blitz on first down into the right side of the Falcons’ offense (and the wrong side if you’re playing against Michael Vick). The play had Dunn running to the left, so already he had three Vikings beaten. He got into the second level easily and then undressed Corey Chavous with a double move 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage. Good down field blocking by his receivers allowed Dunn enough room to just squeeze into the end zone. TARGETS(catches): Crumpler- 8(3), Finneran- 5(3), White- 4(2), Jenkins- 1(1), Griffith- 1(0), Dunn- 1(1), Blakely- 1(1)

Saturday Football II

ATL- This was a sloppy game for the Falcons but they had a good game plan and did what good teams do. Brian Finneran stepped up with a huge game (relative to Atlanta receivers). He finished with 4 catches on 7 targets and made some key grabs along the way to keep drives alive. Alge Crumpler also had 7 targets, but he pulled in only 3 for 35 yards. Michael Jenkins is the #1 wideout though. He went 4 for 5 with a score. For most of the game, however, the Falcons’d ground game gashed a suddenly soft Bills defensive front. This week the Falcons host Minnesota.

BUF- The Bills opened this game with back to back deep throws down the left side; one to Eric Moulds and the other to Lee Evans. J.P. Losman wasn’t even close on either of his throws. After seeing the Bills play three games now, I don’t know what the Buffalo brass thought they had with Losman, but the second year QB is running plays that don’t really seem to be suitable to his talents. He plays a lot like Michael Vick, but with less touch than Vick on the deeper throws, and should probably be learning how to get the ball out of his hands sooner.

The Falcons spent a lot of this game with only 7 men in the box, in order to protect their banged up secondary. So Buffalo was able to run the ball a little better than one would normally expect. At the end of the third quarter, the Bills had 129 yards rushing and just 44 passing. Yet they trailed just 16-17.

The pass patterns for the Bills this year has been consistent. Moulds has gone 7-7-8 in targets. Evans, 5-5-5. And Josh Reed, 4-7-3. With the offense unable to move the ball through the air, and now with Takeo Spikes out for the year, things are certainly not looking up in upstate New York.

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OAK- The Raiders aren’t really playing bad football, they just can’t come up with any plays when they need then. They played NE tight for three quarters, were 10 yards away from beating KC, and then last week Oakland stayed with Philly all the way up to the final play. Oakland has not, however, run the ball well yet this year. And against the Eagles, they picked up just 21 yards rushing (and just 2 of their 18 first downs via the ground). Courtney Anderson score 2 TDs in week one, got zero targets last week, and then picked up 5 catches on 9 passes for 100 yards. With all these perimeter types, Anderson’s chances should continue to come. And without Ronald Curry, Jerry Porter saw a lot of throws. But he picked up just 5 catches on 11 targets. Randy Moss had 7 more targets. Tied for second on team in targets for the season is Lamont Jordan, who had 9 against the Eagles giving him 27 on the year.

PHI- The Eagles’pass blocking has been tremendous this year and they’re going to need that to continue with Donovan McNabb dealing with an abdominal tear. Greg Lewis is doing well as the team’s #2. He caught 6 passes on 9 targets for 70 yards against the Raiders. T.O. went 9 for 14, and Westbrook went 6 for 11. L.J. Smith continues to produce, catching 5 of 8. In the red zone, TO got 5 looks, Westbrook had 3, Lewis and Smith each had one. The Eagles front seven dominated the Raiders’ offensive line, and that bodes well for them with KC on the schedule next.

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TEN- The Titans are going to be trouble this year. Norm Chow is really doing some good things with this offense and Steve McNair has been sharp. Rookie Brandon Jones has played well, and against the Rams he caught 5 passes on 9 targets and a touchdown. Drew Bennett is still putting up good numbers too, he went 6 for 10. Erron Kinney is surprisingly getting more throws than Ben Troupe. In St Louis, Kinney picked up 7 catches on 7 targets while Troupe had just 3 balls go his way (but he does have two scores on the year).

STL- Issac Bruce missed the second half of this game, and ended up with just 1 target. Torry Holt led the team with 11, and Kevin Curtis stepped into Bruce’s role and picked up 5 catches on 5 passes for 56 yards and a score. Shaun McDonald, after getting 10 targets in week one, had just 2 last week and 1 against the Titans.

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DAL- One of the few games I didn’t see from week three, the stats show that Drew Bledsoe is spreading the ball around well to Terry Glenn, KJ, Jason Witten, and Patrick Crayton. But in the red zone, Keyshaun was targeted 3 times against the Niners, and he has 6 RZ targets on the year. It’s also nice to see Julius Jones involved in the passing game. He had 5 targets in week three and has picked up 16 passes his way for the season.

SF- Arnaz Battle is still producing. 6 more catches for him on 9 targets and a score. With Eric Johnson out for the year, the tight end position is all but gone from the team’s passing offense. Only three balls have gone to a 49ers TE all year. Seeing the highlights of Bradon Lloyd scoring twice against Dallas proves that the Cowboys are still vulnerable to the small, quick receiver (Moss).

Wednesday Football

ARZ- The Cards really struggled against a Rams defense they should have performed better against. Arizona failed to score a touchdown on four different drives inside the 30. Kurt Warner, despite throwing for 327 yards, had a tough time finding targets when it mattered most. After getting 15 throws in week one, Larry Fitzgerald only got 5 against the Rams. Anquan Boldin led the team with 9 in week two, including three looks inside the red zone. Poor Bryan Johnson has just 4 catches on 18 targets through two weeks.

Marcel Shipp had a solid game, but he was underused with just 12 carries. He did catch five of the six passes thrown his way. With J.J. Arrington struggling (he’s not a good fit for this offense), I’ve expected Shipp to take over the running duties for the Cardinals.

And just on a side note, there’s not a better home field kicker in the NFL right now than Neil Rackers.

ATL- Rising star Michael Jenkins had another strong game, he led the Falcons with 6 targets. But inside the twenty, Vick looked to Brian Finneran three times. Since there’s a good chance that Matt Schaub is starting this weekend against Buffalo, I expect Finneran to have another good week- especially if he gets matched up against the 5′9 Terrance McGee near the goalline.

CHI- Mushin Muhammad is going to led the way as long as he’s healthy, and the former Panther got 9 passes thrown to him on Sunday. But inside the 20, with a rookie QB, the Bears are a running team. On the season, Thomas Jones has 6 redzone carries and Cedric Benson has 1, while Orton has thrown just three passes (all against the Redskins).

DAL- Jason Witten picked up 6 targets on Monday night after just getting one pass thrown his way in week one. Terry Glenn was the Cowboys’ leader against Washington, with 9 targets, 6 catches, 157 yards (long of 70) and a score.

DET- Joey Harrington is still staring down his receivers and against the Bears, he focused on Roy Williams 13 times. Kevin Johnson tied Charles Rogers for second on the team with 9, and it looks like Harrington has a lot of confidence in Johnson- leaving rookie Mike Williams with very little playing time. Detroit threw the ball way to much against Chicago. What success they had last year, they did by running Kevin Jones 25-30 times and not the 8 he got in Chicago.

GB- With Javon Walker out, Terrance Murphy picked up 6 targets. Donald Driver was the team leader for the second week in a row, this time with 8. Also for the second week in a row, Favre threw to his backs heavily, giving them 13 passes (17 last week). Favre has thrown 44 passes in each of the first two games of the season. It’s going to be a long year. The Packers host 2-0 Tampa Bay this week.

MIN- Daunte Culpepper showed me a side of him I haven’t seen in years, as he threw 5 interceptions to the Bengals. Most of those came late in the game, and after they got down 14-0 early, I can only describe Culpepper as being on Tilt. I don’t know if he’s frustrated with the playcalling, but I sure would be. Losing Randy Moss didn’t have to be a big deal if the Vikings took the off-season to refocus their strategy towards the current strengths of the roster. That seems to have not happened. It’s like they’re still running the same exact offensive system.

Up until the very end of the third quarter, Minnesota’s plays were as unimaginative as they were unproductive. There were few or no slants, hitches, screens, draws, and traps called. Instead, it looked like: run, go deep, go deep, punt. But then towards the fourth quarter, things started to open up. The Vikings started throwing those shorter slants and quick hitches. They mixed in a few runs on pass looks, and they looked to exploit the first 15 yards from scrimmage more than the second. At home against the Saints this week, I expect this offense to finally produce.

That said, I just don’t see how Michael Bennett can be this team’s starting running back. He doesn’t catch the ball exceptionally well. He doesn’t run with exceptional power. He doesn’t really do anything really well except run fast. Bennett did start the Bengals game with a couple of great runs on the edge, but then he fumbled going up the middle and then fumbled again a few minutes later twice and it was all over from there for him and for Minnesota.

And I don’t know if Mewelde Moore is the answer for this season either. The Vikings really need more of a playmaker at that position They need someone like Lamont Jordan. So keep an eye on Ciatrick Fason.

Travis Taylor took in 12 targets against the Bengals, and he caught 7 of them. With Minnesota down 27-0 at halftime, rookie Troy Williamson got some action in the second half. He took in 2 passes on 4 targets.

NO- For as long Aaron Brooks in the Saints’ QB, Joe Horn is as steady a target as they come. After getting 13 targets on Monday night, Horn has had one game since the start of 2004 with fewer than 7 passes thrown his way. I’m also impressed with Donte Stallworth this year. He pulled in 8 passes on 12 targets against the Giants. For the year, Donte has 12 catched on 17 throws. For the second straight week, Ernie Conwell had two red zone targets and he has 10 anywhere targets on the season. Conwell is a big part of this offense.

NYG- Eli seems to really enjoy throwing to the 6′5 Plaxico Burress. After giving him 11 passes in week one, Manning threw 10 more Burress’ way on Monday night. But Burress has just 10 catches on those 21 targets so far this season. Jeremy Shockey went 5 for 6 and is now 7 for 8 on the year.

PHI- After relying to much on TO and BW last week (29 of McNabb’s 45 passes), with a big lead the Eagles were able to spread it around against the 49ers. Greg Lewis was clearly the #2 WR on Sunday, getting 7 targets over the entire game. Rookie Reggie Brown picked up 3, all in the second half. TO had 7, but the team leader LJ Smith broke out with 9 catches on 9 targets, 119 yards and a touchdown. Smith is still the only viable TE on this team and this kind of game won’t be out of the ordinary for the tight end. The Eagles’ offensive line did a real nice job protecting McNabb in the face of a very good SF pass rush.

SEA- Bobby Engram is still going strong, with 8 more targets on Sunday. Darrell Jackson was the team leader with 11, but Jerramy Stevens was again well featured, with 5 targets.

SF- Not much doing for the 49ers against Philly, but Arnez Battle is indeed the best receiver on this team. With 6 targets last week and 7 more this past Sunday, Battle has 9 catches on the year for 103 yards. Alex Smith did come in and run three plays before going off for a punt.

STL- Marc Bulger only had to throw 29 times against the Cardinals. Holt and Bruce are still the top pair, with Holt getting 7 targets and Bruce 8. Kevin Curtis has an ankle injury, and he was limited against Arizona, but he still got 4 passes. The Rams should look to strike through the air this week, as they host the Titans.

TB- With an early lead at home, the Bucs didn’t have to throw much. Joey Galloway’s numbers fell hard, with just 2 targets. Michael Clayton got 8, however, and with the 7 he got in week one, he’s Griese’s top threat.

WAS- Of course Santana Moss caught the two big ones, but he also pulled in three other of the 7 total passes thrown his way against Dallas. David Patten got 5 targets, but the production just hasn’t been there so far. There were no trips to the red zone this week, but Robert Royal still got 4 passes thrown to him and Chris Cooley got 3.