Atlanta? Whipped cowpokes but whats that mean??

[MDSkins]

Alrighty, Atlanta is up next. They surprised me a bit yesterday but didn't see anything that should scare the Redskins, on offense or defense. Special Teams coverage could be tightened up but the game will not be decided on that.

Early prediction: 24-14 Skins, with the Falcons scoring a TD in the last couple of minutes to make it seem closer than it is.

[Skaggsrules]

there secondary looked bad a good amount of the time yesterday. the man that scares me is Alge Crumpler. Put Lavar on him then a we should worry about the Dunn and Duckett running attack ( Price will be shut down by Champ, and Finneran broke his hand i think)

[Spence]

Doug Johnson looked terrible in the first half, but very good in the second half. TE Alge Crumpler is excellent. TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn looked good against the Cowboys. Plus, the game will be played on artificial turf in Atlanta. I don't see the Falcons as pushovers. Who did the Redskins beat? The Jets? We stole their second-best player and their best player was injured. And we barely won the game.

I'm not ready to start counting wins just yet.

[SkinsKY]

What did Atlanta do different in the second half that allowed them to succeed? I think Bowen would be fine on Crumpler and man their WRs and have Arrington key on Dunn, with Trotter on Duckett/FB. If Dunn isn't in, blitz em to hell and back. I don't think the others will be able to run the screen well, especially if we have a safety watching for that. Our defense matches up really well, it's just a matter of getting pressure on Johnson that our LBs will have to provide.

[dj_stouty]

The Jets are still a decent team with plenty of playoff experience, even minus their top QB and WR. The problem is that Vinny T had absolutely zero preparation. That is the fault of the coaching staff. Lets not discount our win. We beat a very experienced Playoff team with a solid D and a future HOF running back in Curtin Martin.

How can we improve? We can stop the stupid penalties and do better on the turnover ratio. Had the ref not blown that whistle early (ONCE AGAIN), that Vinny fumble would have been ours.

Our D is strong enough to get turnovers...and in time, we will see better field positioning and better scoring opportunties once they do. That is the edge we missed against the Jets.

That being said...I think the Skins can work on their stupid penalties, and improve on their first win. It will be important for the Skins to maintain an offensive drive in the 3rd quarter. The Cowboys had 4 offensive drives in the 3rd, and the Falcon's D forced them into a 3-and-Out every time.

I also think Ramsey will be effective with the long ball. The Cowgirls had 6 passing plays of 16 yards or more (26, 16, 49, 16, 23, 54)...with 2 additional catches of 18 and 44 yards nullified by stupid linemen penalties. That tells me that the Falcons are prone to giving up the big chunks of passing yardage at a time. Ramsey to Coles could be a dangerous combination against them.

This team has 10 days to prepare for a beaten up Falcons squad. I'm seeing a great opportunity for our boys, who should still be pumped up over their win on Thursday.

[Skins57]

We do have a good chance to start this year 2-0 and this rough part of the schedule, but if we are going to loose any, the Atlanta game or the Jets game might have been better than NYG or Philly.
This is key this year we have to win the eastern division games to go anywhere, we must sweep Dallas and split with Philly and NY to make a true push in the east

[hail2skins]

We can take em but we have to stop the run and contain Crumpler. We do that, we win big.

By the way, welcome to hR MDSkins, glad you joined us here.

[JoeDaSchmoe]

This isn't a good week to have Crumpler as a starter on my fantasy squad.

Maybe I can hope for him to score a meaningless TD late in the fourth when we're up by enough to not care.... Pretty damn optimistic, but hell, it's worth a shot.

If we stop the run, we've got this game. Doug Johnson's decent, but I'd never trust him to win a game on his shoulders, especially against Champ and Smoot with a third-stringer in at the #2 reciever spot.

[Green-Is-Good]

I think that if the Falcons would start Cory Hall and not Gerald McBurrows, their secondary would be more stable.

Finneran's injury will HELP the Falcons. McCord, Gaylor, Jenkins, and Olinger will all get some playing time. Especially McCord and Gaylor.

[truant]

Yeah... McCord and Gaylor should definately get more looks than Jenkins since he was cut last week, =)

Contain Alge, lock up Champ with Price and concentrate on stopping the run. Johnson seemed to force the ball and that should create some turnovers.

I hope we figure out a good game plan against the 3-4. The Falcons did give up big chunks... i think that's another reason as to why Canidate is getting the nod.

[Chief Seeway]

Hopefully the Falcons will over look the 'skins for their week 3 matchup with the Bucs, but I don't think Reeves will allow that to happen.

[Patrick]

To win #2, all the above memtioned is sound advise. The only thing I would add is: Like last nights MNF game -
Take the crowd OUT OF THE GAME!! Atlanta can be a very loud & intimating place.

[dj_stouty]

Originally posted by Green Is Good
Finneran's injury will HELP the Falcons. McCord, Gaylor, Jenkins, and Olinger will all get some playing time. Especially McCord and Gaylor.

Not really...Brian Finneran is an AMAZING WR who gets no publicity. His absence next week only hurts their club.

[camasterton]

I agree about Finneran, DJ. He is a similar receiver to Joe Juravisus (sp) of Tampa Bay. I'm glad we won't have to see Smoot flailing at the highballs that Johnson would have tossed to Finneran. btw- Did you see that volley ball set to himself that Joe J. pulled off last night? That was embarrassing for the Eagles DBs!

[camasterton]

Don't read any articles from the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. All thier stories are gloom and doom for the Falcons-Injuries to two LBs, injuries to three DB starters, Price complaining of double teams... I was getting too excited over thier misfortune which is the wrong way to act. I have to admit, when Price whines, I am so so glad we bid on Coles (a proven #1 rec.) instead of Price.

[dj_stouty]

Originally posted by camasterton
I have to admit, when Price whines, I am so so glad we bid on Coles (a proven #1 rec.) instead of Price.

Me too!

A lot of us knew that Price would have a hard time adapting to the #1 WR role, facing #1 CBs. He had it easy in Buffalo...

[skinswin'emALL]

Originally posted by dj_stouty
Me too!

A lot of us knew that Price would have a hard time adapting to the #1 WR role, facing #1 CBs. He had it easy in Buffalo...

Coles has much better work ethic, route running, blocking....and he faced #1 corners last year. price benifited greatly from Moulds gettting all the attention..

I hope our 2nd rec reap the same rewards this year:D

[Shabba]

Originally posted by seeway
Hopefully the Falcons will over look the 'skins for their week 3 matchup with the Bucs, but I don't think Reeves will allow that to happen.

They're not gonna overlook us. Remember this is a Dan Reeves coached team...one of the best.

[Green-Is-Good]

Finn is a great route-runner, but has horrible hands. He dropped too many passes last year.

[dj_stouty]

Originally posted by Green Is Good
Finn is a great route-runner, but has horrible hands. He dropped too many passes last year.

I'm curious....

How many?

[Green-Is-Good]

I didn't count the passes he dropped. That's where I draw the line!

[skinswin'emALL]

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