Atlanta Trip

[varaven45]

Not to digress but rather to reflect on the Atlanta game and the experience at the Georgia Dome, here are my personal thoughts on the

venue and game:

 

1. The GA dome is a great venue. The place was electric, and was whipped into a continuous frenzy by Samuel L Jackson. The Falcons and their fans were pumped all night long. It was like their Super Bowl !

 

2. The fans in Atlanta are passionate but still seem more like a NASCAR crowd to me. Oddly (or maybe not so oddly) they still hate on Ray Ray. I got hate comments before during and after the game.

 

3. On the field, the Falcons wanted this game more than the Ravens, plain and simple. They were more aggressive, energized and made the plays when needed. We were flat, listless, and seemed unmotivated for 3 quarters. We woke up in the 4th quarter.

 

4. Matt Ryan is better than Joe. He's more polished, quicker and makes amazing throws. Joes isnt far behind and was brillaint in the 4th quarter.

 

5. Weve heard it all a milion times but our lack of a pass rush (sans Suggs) killed us. My Falcon buddy (at the game) were joking about the time Ryan had to throw. It was crazy.

 

6. Our shoddy tackling (ability to wrap up) was also on full display.

 

7. Our defense was not ready for this game. Several times (at least 6 times) our secondary barely got into proper position right before the snap. Its amazing we didnt get beat on more balls. It could have been worse.

 

8. Our running game is extremly underutilized. As bad as we played, we could have run all over the Falcons.

 

9. Our passing game is disfunctional. Hot and cold. Boldin is a a beast and Stallworth needs to be unleashed. Now !

 

10. We layed an egg against a possible SB team in their house. Wake up time for us. The Steelers opened the door last night. It will be interesting to see how this team responds. The league is wide open and its going to be decided by who gets the hot hand.

[cravnravn]

Thanks Va, glad you had a good time, I wish the outcome would have been different for you.

 

Yeah, this D has some real soul searching to do. There is no dominate team in the AFC this year, if any time is good to make a serious run at the Lombardi, this is it.

[varaven45]

Thanks Va, glad you had a good time, I wish the outcome would have been different for you.

 

Yeah, this D has some real soul searching to do. There is no dominate team in the AFC this year, if any time is good to make a serious run at the Lombardi, this is it.

 

Agree on the non-dominance in th AFC. Not sure we can change our pass rushing ability or our "spotty" secondary play, but I totally agree it is wide open.

If the Pats and their marginal (but very focused, intense) D can shut down Ben and the Steelers for 3 quarters, we can do the same if not better.

 

In my opinion, our D just needs to refocus on fundamentals, being prepared every game, playing with a sense of urgency. Those are the keys. We arent the 2000 D (not even a shell) but our D is good enough to make it to the dance.

 

Crav, did you see Brady call out his team after they squandered a red zone opportunity last night. Collinsworth & Michaels were interpreting but asserted that Brady was scolding his team mates about how they had to play mistake free ball to win last night's game. Every play was important. He was right.

 

I wonder if Ray and Ed, who want a SB so bad, or even Joe F might have taken notice.

 

Somebody on this team needs to take charge !

[RavensNest8483]

I was at the game also. As much as I want to blame the defense in this game...the offense in the first half was abysmal (particularly the Oline). If they could have put together any type of drive, we would have win this game. Falcons offense was in rhythm the whole first half, they are a top offense. Yes, our D could have played better especially on 3rd down, but they kept us in the game.

 

Our defense isn't dominant like it usually is, but it will always keep us in games. The offense needed to put up more pts in this game, reminded me alot of the Minny game last yr. Playcalling was awful in the first half. First drive we run for 30 yds on 3 run plays and Cam calls 3 straight pass plays. Keep doing it until they stop us, run some clock.

 

I've been too 2 games this yr: Falcons and Bengals. I think I'm going to stop going.

[vmax]

Nascar?

You mean like crav's buddies here?...

 

 

I should have been there.

My response to Falcons fans...

 

They would have loved me.

[papasmurfbell]

1. The GA dome is a great venue. The place was electric, and was whipped into a continuous frenzy by Samuel L Jackson. The Falcons and their fans were pumped all night long. It was like their Super Bowl !

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/11/11/goodell-ties-atlanta-super-bowl-to-new-stadium-says-game-is-meant-to-be-played-in-the-elements/

 

Goodell ties Atlanta Super Bowl to new stadium, says “game is meant to be played in the elements”

Posted by Mike Florio on November 11, 2010, 8:58 PM EST

Commissioner Roger Goodell is in Atlanta for the first Thursday night game of the year. While in Atlanta, Goodell made clear the connection between Atlanta hosting a third Super Bowl and Atlanta getting a new stadium.

 

The NFL has staged Super Bowl XXVIII and XXXIV at the Georgia Dome, which was opened in 1992.

 

“I think this is a great community,” Goodell told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But as I mentioned to the people earlier today, the competition for the Super Bowl is really at an all-time high, in a large part because of the new stadiums. The provisions that they have for a new stadium in this great community, I think that’s a pretty powerful force. We have a history of going back to communities when they have those new stadiums.”

 

The Falcons want an open-air venue, and Goodell made clear his preference for the absence of a roof.

 

“We’ve been here before and we awarded the 2014 Super Bowl to New York,” Goodell said. “The game is meant to be played in the elements.”

 

And there’s the conclusive proof that, even though the New York, open-air Super Bowl was sold as a one-shot deal, it won’t be.

 

Now that the potential universe of locations has been expanded from the New Orleans-Miami-Tampa-Arizona rotation, with periodic stops in Houston, Dallas, and wherever else a Super Bowl was used as a carrot for a new stadium, the NFL has created a continuous leverage mill, in which cities constantly will be looking to one-up each other in the hopes not only of hosting one Super Bowl, but of hosting multiple Super Bowls.

 

 

 

Talking about replacing an 18 yo facility is insane. After your coment it sounds like the dome is nice also.