2007 Falcons franchise (VICK INCLUDED)

[thatwizardguy]

• The Atlanta Falcons announced that they had extended 27 year old star quarterback Michael Vick to a $112.01M deal through 7 years with a signing bonus of $44.80M. Vick became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for over 1000 yards. Is he worth that money? We will find out.

• The Atlanta Falcons traded their 4th round draft pick to the Baltimore Ravens inexchange for strong safety Gerome Sapp and a sixth round draft pick in next year's 2008 NFL Draft. The Falcons announced Sapp will start the season at strong safety ahead of Lawyer Milloy.

• The Falcons announced they signed punter Rodney Williams to a 1 year deal worth $760k with a signing bonus of $100k. Williams will battle throughout the pre-season for the starting position.

• The Falcons released strong safety Omare Lowe, Joe Horn and Aaron Elling.

• The Atlanta Falcons open the season against the Minnesota Vikings, both teams will wear throwback uniforms to start off the season opener.

[thatwizardguy]

ATLANTA FALCONS at MINNESOTA VIKINGS SUN SEP 9 - 1:00 PM



Injury Report: No Injuries listed

• This will be a very interesting game, the Vikings defense last season ranked #1 against the rush allowing 61.6 yards per game, that's phenominal numbers, in the first game of the season they face the #1 rushing offense from last season, the Falcons averaged 183.7 yards per game, those numbers too are phenominal, it will be interesting to see how will get the upper hand in what could be a defensive battle throughout the entire game.

• The Vikings defense was ranked last in the league last season in defending the pass, they allowed 238.6 yards per game and quarterbacks averaged a rating of 73.1 per game, Michael Vick will need to be aware of Darren Sharper at all times, Sharper recorded 4 interceptions last season but recorded 9 the year before, if Vick can avoid throwing towards Sharper and take him out of the game, the flow of the offense will be a lot more fluid.

• The Falcons will probably go almost 50/50 on offensive plays against the Vikings, I wouldn't see Vick throw more than 20 times and prepare to see a lot of Warrick Dunn/Snelling combinations throughout the game to wear down the Vikings run defense which was so solid last season. If Vick throws for over 250 yards and at least runs for over 50 yards, the Falcons will most likely end up with the win.



Injury Report: No Injuries listed

• The Minnesota Vikings will be able to see how good Adrian Peterson will be in his first game, the Falcons defense last season gave up 103.6 rushing yards per game, Peterson rushed for 125 yards on 38 carries for no touchdowns and fumbled the ball three times, it may be that Chester Taylor get's the start who averaged 4.1 rushing yards per game, if the Vikings will want to win they will need to grind it out through the ground game, the Falcons have a pretty good cover corner in DeAngelo Hall and a solid defensive line, but the safety and other cornerback spots are their weakness, it just so happens that the Vikings main weakness is their quarterback spot which means it should be an even contest.

• The Vikings will need to stop the elusive Michael Vick from making huge splash plays, if Vick can get outside of the pocket and make a big play, it's most likely the Vikings will lose, if they bring a ton of pressure and make the not-so-great passing quarterback throw it could lead to turnovers and the Vikings would walk out with the win, if Vick doesn't throw a turnover or fumble in costly territory, the Vikings will lose.

• This could be a slobber knocker game which is in favor of the Minnesota Vikings who possess the better defense, the Vikings will need to play lights out on the defensive side of the ball if they want to win. Pat and Kevin Williams will need to dominate at the line of scrimmage, expect 2nd year cornerback Cedric Griffin to be targeted more often that Antoine Winfield.

Prediction: I'm taking the Vikings, 17-13.

[rise]

You are officially the Thierry of this section.

[kibaxx7]

Good luck man, hopefully you don't kill this one too.

[thatwizardguy]

You are officially the Thierry of this section.

LOL

Good luck man, hopefully you don't kill this one too.

Thanks, hopefully I dont Im liking this one much more, have a crappy team with a one man show player lol.

[thatwizardguy]

[thatwizardguy]

ATLANTA FALCONS at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS SUN SEP 16 - 1:00 PM



Injury Report: No Injuries listed

• The Falcons almost on-the-borderline blew out the Vikings before playing prevent defense, and it wasn't their offense that blew them out, their defense kept the game in the Falcons' hand. Apart from the 46 yard completion, the first completion by Bollinger (on his eight attempt), the Falcons played very sound, Michael Vick made the most of his chances, but Roddy White dropped two would be touchdown passes in the endzone that could of led the Vikings to a 30-13 win. Vick only threw 19 times and recorded 92 yards, that's not great numbers, the Falcons didn't take many long deep shots, not one at all and played pretty one dimensional and conservative throughout the game relying on their defense to come through.

• The Falcons didn't run the ball well at all against the Vikings, throw Vick's numbers out of the window and the stat is slightly embarrasing. Giving the Vikings' defense credit where it is due, the Falcons will face a much easier run defense this time around. However the Jaguars did have the #2 ranked defense last season allowing just 283.6 yards per game and 17.1 points per game. The Falcons should move the ball pretty easily against the Jaguars once them have schemed Rashean Mathis out of the equation.



Injury Report: No Injuries listed

• The Jaguars are going to come into this game with all the momentum, they just whopped the Tennessee Titans, 28-6 at home and now in come the dirty birds of the NFC South. Maurice Jones-Drew should have a nice day, Jones-Drew rushed for 941 yards off of 166 carries which resulted in 13 touchdowns and an average of 5.7 per attempt, beast numbers and Jones-Drew looked hot on that streak again as he rushed for 87 yards off 18 carries. If the Falcons can shut down Jones-Drew, this could turn into an Atlanta Falcons fest.

• Judging on their season-opening performence against the Vikings on the road, the Falcons are going to have one of the best secondaries, the Jaguars should and most likely will be forced into running the football early and often, the Jaguars however have the better offense and defense, although both teams are matched very close together which should result in a good game of football, however if one team's defense doesn't stop the opposition's offense, this could turn into a blowout.

Prediction: I'm taking the Jaguars, 28-24