Falcons ready to soar over Saints in 2010
It doesn’t look like the pressure from the regular season is getting to these young Atlanta Falcons yet. In fact, they seem rather relaxed and confident that they can dethrone the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South division.
They believe it and why wouldn’t they? Quarterback Matt Ryan, entering his third season, has been locked in the weight room and has added a few extra pounds of muscle. He’s bigger, stronger and most importantly smarter. “First and foremost it is always your fitness, getting your conditioning to where you need to be for the entire year,” said Ryan about his off-season training.
With his nagging toe injury behind him, Ryan can move freely and without pain when he drops back and when he moves outside of the pocket to prolong the play or escape defenders.
“I wasn’t running around a ton at the end of the year with the toe,” Ryan said. “I think anytime you have a foot injury you have to go back to basics and really make sure that you are really on top of your footwork. You have to make sure that your feet are in the right spots.”
Ryan has graduated from youngster to veteran with his stay in Atlanta and now the club has given him leeway in the offence. He has been given the right to call an audible at the line of scrimmage, move guys around before the snap and make the necessary adjustments depending on the type of defence.
Ryan will be handing the ball over to Michael Turner once again. Turner is completely healed from his high ankle sprain that sidelined him for the end of the 2009 season. He was on pace to rush for 1250 yards, but his body was still feeling the pounding it took from 2008.
“I wasn’t in as great a shape,” Turner said about his conditioning last year. “I was a first-year starter [in 2008], and I was used to not being hit my first four years [as a backup in San Diego]. My body felt different. It was too much to overcome, and it bit me in the end.”
Turner had a single 100-yard game in the season’s first six weeks. But Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood paid homage to the falling Turner and boosted the team’s rushing average to an impressive 4.2 yards per carry. Now that Turner is healthy again, he will be the starter at the beginning of the regular season and will split the workload with Snelling and Jerious to help keep the Falcons’ offence balance.
The Falcons have relied on the passing game at the end of last season and Atlanta lit up the scoreboard in their showdown against the Saints, posting 50 points in a losing effort. When your offence can score 50 points against an NFL team, then your offence is doing something right. But touchdowns in bunches mainly come from the air.
And Ryan has had the luxury of having talented wide receivers at his disposal. This has been showcased all of last year and at the beginning of the 2010 training camp and since their number one receiver Michael Jenkins injured his shoulder during Saturday’s practice. It’s not sure if Jenkins will be ready to play for the season opener.
But if that is the case, Atlanta can handle playing their first game without him. They still have Roddy White, tight end Tony Gonzalez and the rookie out of Kansas, Kerry Meier. Meier has been terrific in all the team’s offensive drills and caught the attention of the coaching staff by putting together two solid outings during a scrimmage against the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier in camp. It’s safe to say that the Falcons are loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball.
Tags: