Return of the Dirty Birds | An Atlanta Falcons Revival (M15)

[TylerHL]

Sept. 14, 2014
Bungle in the Jungle

Cincinatti, OH — The Falcons headed into Paul Brown Stadium to face off against 1-0 Bengals. The Bengals won a close one in their opening game versus the Baltimore Ravens. Their defense is something to be feared with the likes of Vontaze Burfict, Geno Atkins, and Carlos Dunlap. The Falcons needed to limit the turnovers and move the ball on offense if they wanted to come out with a win.

Once again, it was a battle of the defenses in the first quarter. Neither team could keep a drive going. The Falcons get on the scoreboard first with a Matt Bryant field goal, capping off a short drive. The Bengals responded immediately, Dalton led a near perfect drive with help from a big 26 scamper from Giovani Bernard. In the red zone, Dalton finds Marvin Jones on a cross between the safeties and he cuts it upfield at the 5 and into the end zone. TOUCHDOWN Bengals, a 20 yard throw and catch. Bengals 7, Falcons 3.

Marvin Jones celebrates his first TD of the game.

The defensive battle continued in the second quarter. Bengals driving, handoff to Bernard and William Moore lays the WOOD! Its a FUMBLE! Moore with the recovery. Like a heatseeking missile, Moore flew down from his safety position and blew up Bernard, forcing the fumble, and recovering his own doing. Ryan comes back out to lead the offense and is immediately PICKED OFF! Leon Hall with a coverage interception on a poor forced throw. Bengals would convert on a field goal off the turnover going into halftime. Bengals 10, Falcons 3.

William Moore, the heat-seeking missile.

To start the third, Bengals are putting a nice drive together. On the Falcons half, Dalton drops back looking for Jones on the sideline and its PICKED OFF! Desmond Trufant jumps the route and gets his first pick of the regular season! The Bengals defense keeps them alive forcing a short drive and a punt. Bengals get the ball back, driving again, Dalton looks deep to AJ Green and its PICKED OFF AGAIN! Robert Alford this time goes up and comes down with the ball preventing a long gain. Falcons try to establish the run, but Steven Jackson can’t get anywhere. 3rd and long, Ryan drops back looking for the first and Rey Maualuga jumps the route! INTERCEPTED again! Ryan’s second of the day and sixth on the season. Late in the third the Falcons are driving again, Devonta Freeman got his opportunity and ran the ball well. Inside the redone, the handoff to Freeman, he spins outside at the line of scrimmage, at the ten, the five, and gets dragged down at the one by three Bengals. The Falcons come out in a strong I and give it back to Freeman, he POUNDS it down the middle, following DiMarco and stumbles into the end zone. TOUCHDOWN Falcons! Bengals 13, Falcons 10.

Defenses continued to battle the whole game and it wasn’t until late in the fourth, that either team had a good drive. The Bengals, trying to run off some clock, get the ball to Giovani Bernard, and he doesn’t disappoint. Gio breaks a few big runs and the Bengals are in scoring position. Inside the 10 yard line, Dalton drops back and hits Marvin Jones again on a quick slant in between two Falcons for a TOUCHDOWN. Bengals take a 2 score lead with 5 minutes remaining. Falcons offense takes the field and need to score on this possession. Ryan dropping back throws a deep ball for Julio and its INTERCEPTED by Terrence Newman. That’ll do it. Ryan with his third interception of the day and seventh of the season. Ryan completed only 50% of his passes on the day and finished with a career low passer rating of an abysmal 23.8.

Marvin Jones with his second TD of the day, a game winner.

[TylerHL]

Week 2 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Box Score

Atlanta Falcons at Cincinnati Bengals
Sep 14, 2014	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Atlanta Falcons (1-0)	3	0	7	0	10
Cincinnati Bengals (1-0)	7	3	3	10	23

Team Stats Comparison
	ATL	CIN
Total Offense	226	431
Rushing Yards	86	153
Passing Yards	140	278
First Downs	11	21
Punt Return Yards	4	--
Kick Return Yards	63	--
Total Yards	293	431
Turnovers	4	3
3rd Down Converstion	5-12 (41%)	6-15 (40%)
4th Down Conversion	0-1 (0%)	--
2-Point Conversion	--	--
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	1/0	2/2
Penalties	--	4-35
Posession Time	18:25	33:35

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		ATL	CIN
4:20	(ATL) M. Bryant, 49 yd FG	3	0
0:31	(CIN) M. Jones, 20 yd pass from A. Dalton	3	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		ATL	CIN
5:12	(CIN) M. Nugent, 26 yd FG	3	10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		ATL	CIN
6:21	(CIN) M. Nugent, 35 yd FG	3	13
1:50	(ATL) D. Freeman, 1 yd run	10	13
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		ATL	CIN
5:31	(CIN) M. Jones, 6 yd pass from A. Dalton	10	20
4:06	(CIN) M. Nugent, 39 yd FG	10	23

Atlanta Falcons PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Matt Ryan (23.8) 16/32 147 0 3 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Steven Jackson 10 37 3.7 0 Devonta Freeman 10 49 4.9 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Roddy White 5 51 10.2 0 Julio Jones 4 10 2.5 0 Jacquizz Rodgers 2 32 16.0 0 Harry Douglas 2 34 17.0 0 Steven Jackson 1 8 8.0 0 Brandon Coleman 1 7 7.0 0 Drew Davis 1 5 5.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Paul Worrilow 10 0 0 0 Telvin Smith 8 0 0 0 Zeke Motta 7 0 0 0 William Moore 6 0 0 0 Desmond Trufant 6 0 1 0 Jonathan Babineaux 3 1 0 0 Tyson Jackson 2 1 0 0 Paul Soliai 1 1 0 0 Robert Alford 0 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Matt Bryant 1/2 49

Cincinnati Bengals PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Andy Dalton (93.5) 24/34 306 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Giovani Bernard 26 128 4.9 0 Jeremy Hill 8 23 2.8 0 Andy Dalton 2 2 1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Marvin Jones 7 80 11.4 2 Giovani Bernard 5 62 12.4 0 A.J. Green 4 40 10.0 0 Tyler Eifert 4 76 19.0 0 Mohamed Sanu 3 39 13.0 0 Jermaine Gresham 1 9 9.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Rey Maualuga 6 0 1 0 Reggie Nelson 4 0 0 0 Leon Hall 3 0 1 0 Vontaze Burfict 3 0 0 0 Carlos Dunlap 2 1 0 0 Terrence Newman 1 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Mike Nugent 3/4 40

[TylerHL]

Week 2 Results

[TylerHL]

Sept. 8, 2014
BREAKING NEWS:

Ryan Wants Out, Atlanta's Prodigal Son Returns for Reconciliation

After struggling through the preseason and first two games of the regular season, Matt Ryan made a public statement exclaiming that he wants out of Atlanta. Ryan who has been a major part of the Falcons offense for 6 seasons and who holds several Falcons records, has started the year with a career low passer rating of 42.3, and has thrown only 2 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. Ryan publicly stated his dissatisfaction with the team and the direction it is headed, and pointed the blame of his poor performances towards the coaching staff and general manager. He expressed that he did not intend on playing another game in a Falcons uniform.

With this sudden news, the Falcons made a major trade this week. Matt Ryan is headed to the AFC's New York Jets. In hearing rumors of trade, Michael Vick spoke to the Jets organization about the possibly of moving back to Atlanta. Vick was originally drafted by the Falcons in 2001, as the first overall pick. For 6 seasons he led the Falcons and was a constant highlight reel and three time pro-bowler. Vick left on more unfavorable terms however, when in August of 2007 he plead guilty to charges in a dog fighting investigation of Bad Newz Kennels, an organization in which he part-owned and operated. Vick was suspended indefinitely from the NFL, and was soon sentenced to a 3-year stint in prison. He was set free early in July of 2009 for good behavior, but his image in Atlanta was marred. The Falcons released the one time six-figure, star player upon his reinstatement in the league. Vick was mentored by Tony Dungy, and engaged in severable charitable foundations, especially those dealing with animal abuse. He rejoined the league with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 where he filled a backup role for Donovan McNabb. He was voted by the players as the winner of the Ed Block Courage Award in 2010, which honors players whom "exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage". After 5 years with the Eagles, Vick signed a 1 year contract with the Jets worth $5 million dollars for the 2014 season. When he heard of rumors that Matt Ryan might be coming to the Jets, he spoke with both the Jets and Falcons about returning to Atlanta. The talks resulted in a trade of Matt Ryan and a 2nd round pick for Michael Vick and two 1st round picks. The Jets filled their controversial quarterback position, and the two organizations don't have to worry about playing each other anytime soon.

Vick's return to Atlanta will surely be greeted with indignation and confusion. When asked about this, Vick replied, "Man, I'm just happy to be back and become the man I should have been from the start. I was a kid back then, and made selfish, stupid decisions. But things change, man. Going from making millions on the top of the world to a jail cell, makes you think. About yourself and who you want to be. I believe that I have changed as a person and a player, and hope that the city of Atlanta can forgive and accept me. I have matured a lot, and look forward to giving back to this franchise and its younger players. Personally, I can't wait to be back in a Falcons uni. You better believe I'll be playing every snap with 110% hustle and heart, thats one thing the fans can count on. A lot of people can say that I'm old, washed up, whatever, but physically I'm still there and my mental game is probably better than it ever was."

Vick set the NFL record for QB rushing yards as a Falcon. Vick in his rookie season, 2001.

Vick has not been named the starter as of yet, but seems to be working hard to learn the playbook.

[TylerHL]

[TylerHL]

I've been messing around on some new layouts for this. Let me know what you guys think of the one I just posted.

(If there's anything else you'd like to see, etc. feel free to let me know)

[Gronk4M13]

The new layout is awesome.

[Flutie_Flakes]

yea, the new layout is pretty sweet. Easy to read, nice graphics & fonts as well. Keep up the good work!