Atlanta Falcons Archives | Sports Talk Line

Week 1 of the NFL Season is (almost) in the bag. We do still have 4 teams to go on Monday Night Football, yet why wait? There is a ton to talk about. Cannonball! NFL Week 2 Cowboys 31 Redskins 21 If you are a Dallas Cowboys fan it was a great game. If you wear pig noses and dress for Sunday tea you probably did not like the taste of your crumpets. Let's boil it down. Dak Prescott, Amri Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott and crew are for real. The OLine is healthy. The defense is impressive except for one thing. They lack the killer instinct. For two weeks in a row, the defense eased up and let the clubs swap scores in the 4th while holding a comfortable lead. Super Bowl teams go for the throat. Something to keep an eye on. Oh wait, that Dak Prescott kid? He's going to get PAID! Colts 19 Titans 17 Is this the year Mariotta and company bring it all together? Not if Andrew Luck's replacement (17/28/146yds/3TD) has anything to say about it. The Colts' are talented from top to bottom, a fact that is easy to forget if you focus on them losing their All-Pro QB. Focus on what is here, not what isn't. A stifling defense with an opportunistic offense that is finding it's way with their new QB at the helm. The Titans had a team on the ropes and let them get away. That speaks volumes. Look for another sub-par year for the Nashville club. Seahawks 28 Steelers 26 Near the end of the 1st half, Big Ben Roethlisberger winced as he threw a pass and that, as they say, is that. Big Ben is out for the season as the team announced today surgery will be required. The game is a reflection of the Steelers woes. They have now lost All-Pro players at QB, RB, and WR. It's going to be a long year if you are into the Steelers offense. The defense, on the other hand, is built to compete. Yet Russell Wilson (29/35/300yds/3TD) has too many toys to play with now and the Seattle Seahawks defense is just nasty. Two teams going opposite directions. Bills 28 Giants 14 So let me get this straight. A kid who is a Giants jersey-wearing fan last week was ignored by Cowboys DE Demarcus Lawrence when approached to sign a jersey. Giants RB Saquon Barkley heard about this, gave him a signed jersey AND flew him (and his parents) up to the Bills/Giants game. So the kid got to watch his team get drilled two weeks in a row, got ignored by DeMarcus Lawrence but hey, he does have a signed Saquon Barkley jersey. He's in better shape than most Giants fans at the moment. The Bills, on the other hand, look dangerous. Josh Allen went 19/30/253yds/1TD and as the offense grows and the pieces start to fit it's only going to get better. They still need to work on their running game but their WR corps looks to be just what the doctor ordered. Patriots 43 Dolphins 1st NFL Draft Pick Antonio Brown played, though that was actually more of a distraction. Matter of fact media were not allowed into the locker room until his area had been vacated, nameplate removed, etc. Hmmmmm. Regardless, the New England Patriots do what they were built to do. They mercilessly attacked the tanking Dolphins and took no prisoners in the effort. The Sun may rise in New England right now, but the NFL flushes in Miami. The league should not allow this shameless effort while the club is actually charging fans for the display. Jaguars 12 Texans 13 The Texans got a gift. The Jaguars are a still a team in disarray and the huge talent haul they managed in the NFL Draft is being squandered. The head coach and best player are in visible arguments on the sidelines and the team is an utter mess right now. The Texans are trying to find a running game. Until they do it's all on DeShaun Watson and 16/29/159yds and zero TD's isn't going to cut it most Sundays. Vikings 16 Packers 21 Aaron Rodgers has an actual defense on the other side of the ball. The Vikings have a running game this year but still have an overpaid QB. Put all that on the field, add 60 minutes and some fans and you get another Packers victory over a talented but ill-led Vikings club. It's sad to watch. Chargers 10 Lions 13 The Los Angeles Chargers lost more than the Lions won. Sorry Detroit fans. It's the truth. Yet it's the score that matters and Matt Patricia at least has that going for him. The Chargers had so many self-inflicted mistakes there is no way they could have won, yet they almost did. RB Melvin Gordon would indeed make the team better, but he would not have made a difference on Sunday. 9 penalties, Red Zone turnovers, and missed field goals will get you every time. They got the Boltz on Sunday. Coach Lynn has his work cut out for him. 49ers 41 Bengals 17 Are you kidding me?!?!? Jimmy Garoppolo was uber-efficient and everything that could go right did go right for the 49ers EXCEPT for the injury to All-Pro LT Joe Staley. Garoppolo went 17 of 25 for 297 yards, 3 TD's and 1 INT. Matt Breida went 12 for 121 yards. Mostert got 83 yards on 13 carries. Deebo Samuel tabbed 87 yards and a TD joined by fellow WR Marquise Goodwin (3/77/1TD) and RB Raheem Mostert (3/68/1TD) as it was just a fun day for the 49ers faithful. The Bengals have to be excited about WR Tyler Boyd (10/122) and John Ross (4/112/1TD), but that is the extent of any good news for them. Cardinals 17 Ravens 23 Two stories here. Kyler Murray 25/40/349yds/0TD is balanced by 11 carries for 20 yards for the entire Cards running game. There is your problem and your upside. Story 2 is Lamar Jackson going 24/37/272yds/2TD and zero interceptions while toting the rock 16 times for 120 yards on the ground HIMSELF. A tale of two cities and two directions. Chiefs 28 Raiders 10 There really isn't too much to take away from this game you didn't know going in. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes (30/44/443/4TD) matched with a perfect coach for his skills in Andy Reid. The Raiders have Derek Carr (23/38/198/1TD/2INT) matched with the worst coach for his skills in Gruden. The results of the game were expected unless you were buying into the Raiders hype train. Nothing to see here. Move along. Saints 9 Rams 27 Just brutal. The New Orleans Saints did not have a good day. Drew Brees is out 6-8 weeks with his thumb injury. The team got screwed (again) by the refs who took a fumble recover/TD off the board. Replay showed they were (again) incorrect. Teddy Bridgewater looked rusty. Alvin Kamara was stuffed by the LA Rams defense and Jarod Goff shook off his deep ball malaise going (19/28/283yds/1TD) and that is not counting scores that were taken off the board due to penalty. The two-headed monster at RB for the Rams was effective yet we are not seeing the running game produce splash plays like it did in seasons past. Bears 16 Broncos 14 A total SNAFU in the truest sense of the word. But first the game. The Chicago Bears Mitchell Trubisky went 16/27/120yds and zero touchdowns. DaBears offense is officially in trouble. It IS time to panic. RB David Montgomery, on the other hand, is starting to get his NFL gig figured out carrying the rock 18 times for 62 yards and score. The defense is again solid. When Matt Nagy gets the offense figured out, the team will be in solid shape. When, is the question. The Broncos are a mess. Joe Flacco was 35/50/1TD/1INT and Elway can't find a QB for any amount of money. Until they do this team will be bad. Very bad. Eagles 20 Falcons 24 I didn't see this coming. I did know the Falcons would play much better than they did last week. They are too talented. I did not, however, foresee the Eagles spate of injuries nor the continuing implosion of their non-Super Bowl-winning QB Carson Wentz. The Philadelphia Eagles could literally have installed a revolving door in their sideline training tent. DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Tim Jernigan, Jason Kelce, and Sidney Jones to name a few. Backup TE Dallas Goedert didn't even make it thru warm-ups before he tapped out. It's a problem, but one that will fix itself. The perplexing decision making by their QB, however, is a head-scratcher and will be watched very closely as the season progresses. For two weeks in a row Wentz has looked both incredible (his escapes) and horrible (interceptions to DB's in space) as he is now banking his huge contract but has yet to deliver anything tangible in the playoffs. Perhaps the pressure is getting to him? On the flip side, the Falcons are deep at WR and every darn one of them is a playmaker. Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Mohamed Sanu are matchup nightmares. Jones and Ridley both totaled over 100 yards and they scored 3 TD's between them. The D is fast, tough and plays with verve. Two teams. Two entirely different directions. Another Left Coast Sports Post on Twitter: Steven Van Over

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