It seems like defenses know when Matt Ryan is going to snap the ball.  We need to pick up a defender from Arizona who knows what Matt Ryan's tell is.   Pittsburg got off the snap great almost every down and had no problem slowing Michael Turner down in the backfield.

Everyone keeps talking about the playcalling, the execution, the players.  People keep complaining about no sense of urgency.  My guess is that what seems to be missing is a direct result of long and predictible snap counts.

Our offense keeps trying to "outthink" their opponents.  Keep it simple, snap the ball, read the defense, and make a few plays. And on this note, does Matt Ryan know what a pump fake is?

The purpose of this question is evaluate whether Redman deserves to start.  He just pulled a win out of his back pocket.  He played great in preseason.  He has won football games with the Falcons before.  He is mature.  And he makes Michael Jenkins look like a much better receiver.  Did anyone notice that?  This is like getting two players for the price of one....and it doesn' cost us anything.

We have been muttering for weeks about the inconsistency of Matt Ryan and finally got someone from Tampa Bay to make a decision that Mike Smith couldn't....to put Matt Ryan on the bench.

Irrespect of Matt Ryan's toe injury, should Redman be awarded the start next week?

The hub bub is that Mike Smith and his bald assistant(does anyone know his name?) are in line for fines and possible suspension from the league office for behavior unbecoming  the NFL.  Here is the video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI0uJZqr9Us

As the video shows, Mike Smith definitely wasn't trying to break up a fight between 30 Falcons players and Meangelo Hall.   He was telling Meangelo to get back on the ******* field!

Unfortunately, Meangelo had some choice words in order to incense Mike Smith and reportedly called him a "Fat f***!"

It honestly was a major highlight of the season for many of us and hopefully will be a unifying moment for this team if they want to get back into the playoff hunt.

Mike Smith has seen the future, and it isn't good.  The game against New Orleans this week is basically a playoff game.  Without a win, we're just playing for fun.

Michael Turner is cooked.  Michael Jenkins is a girlyman.  The Defensive Secondary is slow and short, and they can't tackle.

And, Matt Ryan doesn't know how to improvise.  Tony Romo does.  Matt Ryan is really smart, maybe too smart. Seems to be playing strictly by the playbook.  Needs to learn to cheat some.  Scrambling, pumpfakes, irregular counts.  Something, anything.

Tony Gonzalez would have helped us out a lot more during last year's playoff run, but wasn't ready to be traded.  Now, if things breakdown, Ryan looks at Tony.  Granted the guy is good receiver.  But it's not gonna happen this year.  So he might play well next year, but he knows he's not the answer to this team's fate.

The bottom line is that Mike Smith needs to shake-up this lineup fast. 

Right now, Jason Snelling is better than Michael Turner.

Right now. Eric Weems is better than Michael Jenkins.

Right now. We need a fullback that can block.

Right now we need a quarterback who can improvise.

Right now. We need a defensive back who can tackle.  UFL, CFL, what about Brian Finneran for Chrissakes?  He'd do it if it meant he could get playing time!  Let's go Dimitroff!

Michael Turner has been having a little trouble matching last year's production.   If the Falcon's hope to make a serious run at the Super Bowl, the running game is going to have to show up in a much bigger way.

Moreover, I've been wondering about Turner's fumbling problem too.   Maybe his sore thumb from last year hasn't totally healed and he's worrying about fumbling with each carry.

He seems to be going down a lot easier as well.  Not as many yards after contact as last year.  With opposing  defense's committed to stopping the run, there have been few running lanes for Turner to shoot through untouched.

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Here is the line on Francoeur's terrible outing 08/21/09:     AVG.  .750   OBS .750   SLG 1.500    OBS   2.250

Manuel put him in the four-hole to see if he would produce against the Phillies.

After the game Frenchy got a call from Chipper Jones to see if  he or Hojo had any pointers on how to get out of slump.  

Okay, this is dumb post, but Francoeur has been pretty good if you don't care about walks.

And, if you don't vote for Francoeur below, explain why since Chipper is 6 for 36 or AVG .166 his last ten games.

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I guess it was a recent Best Damn Sports Show with the clip of Bart Giamatti's death sentence of Pete Rose that reminded me of how unfair this country has become.  If Barack Obama wanted to do something for the me, he would lobby to get Pete Rose reinstated, as well as lobby to get a National Champion Playoff System for Division 1 Football. 

Who did Pete Rose murder?  What drugs did he take? What woman did he beat?  Hasn't he paid the price yet? Or is he simply a symbol of all things wrong with this country and can never be forgiven? Do we have a Double Standard or what? 

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