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Now we face one of the NFL's top teams - and arguably the best WR in the NFL. When we didn't have the pass rush going against Philly, our defensive backfield was exposed by Bradford going deep to WR's nowhere near as good as Julio Jones. Culliver has to be healthier against Atl - and the safety help (which was awful) has to be much better. Otoh, our offense should be able to move against Atl - their defense is very ordinary. Problem is - Reed might be out. I wasn't clear what knocked him out of the Philly game. If it was a concussion - that's bad news, because he's had at least one concussion before, and you know the NFL is going to be really careful about letting him play. He's the 3rd down go-to guy for Cousins, so the Skins need to adjust their offense. It might turn out to be a good thing - since it'll force Cousins to use his WR's more downfield. Bottom line - a lot of things are going to have to go right for the Skins to be competitive in this game.

Prediction time:

Falcons 34
Warshington 24

Atl gets 5 passes of 40 yards or more.

It'll be interesting to see how much of an edge Kyle's knowledge of Cousins (and guys like Garcon and Morris) give Atlanta.

LyricalRico wrote:It'll be interesting to see how much of an edge Kyle's knowledge of Cousins (and guys like Garcon and Morris) give Atlanta.

It hasn't helped them in the first half. Stunning stat - Atl's thrown to Julio Jones 4 times - none have been completed.

2nd half - the Skins offense has got to take some pressure off the defense, because Atl is more than likely going to get multiple big plays in the 2nd half. Take more shots downfield, and score a couple more TDs.

Geez, Cousins has been high on almost all his throws to Garcon this game.

Wow, a great defensive game for 3+ quarters...and then stupid zone coverage and missed tackles on the final drive. Harkens back to the Norv years.

Captain Kirk great late again! HOPKINS!!!!!!!

Wow - I think we've found a kicker!

What a 4th quarter... after a snoozeful 3 quarter.

Tough way for the game to end. Yes the reciever slipped, but Kirk can't throw that ball. Also seems like they should have checked into more of a hot route once they saw the blitz. Well, another learning experience.

And this 3-headed running attack doesn't seem to be working. They need to pick a back and stick with him IMO. I vote for Morris, more consistent and less fumbles.

LyricalRico wrote:Tough way for the game to end. Yes the reciever slipped, but Kirk can't throw that ball. Also seems like they should have checked into more of a hot route once they saw the blitz. Well, another learning experience.

And this 3-headed running attack doesn't seem to be working. They need to pick a back and stick with him IMO. I vote for Morris, more consistent and less fumbles.

There are just too many 2 yards and under runs with Morris. And he's bad in short-yardage plays and the worst of them as far as catching the ball. Frankly, he'd be the guy I'd probably phase out.

It shouldn't get lost that the defense played really well, and would have won the game for us had the fumble at the goal line taken a better bounce. Between having a GM that made it a priority and a coordinator not named Haslett, it's been a real improvement.

LyricalRico wrote:It shouldn't get lost that the defense played really well, and would have won the game for us had the fumble at the goal line taken a better bounce. Between having a GM that made it a priority and a coordinator not named Haslett, it's been a real improvement.

And Breeland is real good - despite the occasional penalties. Nice to see him catch an int. If he had good hands, he'd be special. And when Culliver gets healthy, that's an excellent combo. Atl beat our defense on a couple of 4th down plays, but at least we forced them into the 4th down situations. Our D tends to run out of steam as the game goes along. Not sure if some of that is from playing softer zones as the game goes along rather than staying aggressive.