Hooray! And give it to Foster - that was a vicious run defense he had to get through. And who knew who hard the refs were going to work at screwing us over. NFL apparently put locked out NBA refs to work this weekend.
For anyone who hasn't seen it, check out my post in the AFC South thread. We clinch with a win next week coupled with Tennessee loss, correct?
Magic number is essentially two. Any of the following scenarios: TEN loss + win against Colts, Bengals, or Panthers Two wins including Colts plus Bengals or Panthers Beat Colts plus TEN loss to Saints Beat TEN on NYD Titans lose to Saints and also lose to one other team
As bummed as I am about the likelihood of Dre missing more time (looked he was back to form too, 97 yds) I'm bummed about Hartmann too. He was really good at touchbacks on kickoffs which Rackers does not have the leg to do. He's been a solid punter too, boots it deep when he needs to and has been decent with his pooch punts. He's been a huge upgrade over Matt Turk (who's apparently available, please Rick, anyone but him).
I said it before and I'll say it again... that's the fastest he's moved on the field in his entire career! :grin:
Touchbacks on kickoffs are overrated. In fact, with the kicking team being CLOSER to the receiving team on kickoffs, if you get enough hang-time under the ball, you can stop teams well within the 20 yard line nearly every time. Rackers was killing kickoffs earlier this year when I think Hartmann's leg was too sore to kickoff. I do like his touch at trying to pin teams within the 20, but its not like he was elite at that either. He was better than Turk... which isn't saying much.
AJ is certainly a guy who gives us a prime target downfield... but other guys will have to step up. Jacoby needs to get back to running routes correctly, Daniels will be looked for more, Kevin Walter gets back into it, and Derrick Mason will get some looks. Dreesen has been ultra consistent in the red zone. Foster is still a weapon out of the backfield. The ideal passing game does not need to rely on just one receiver. See what the Saints do week-in/week-out. The system allows any of these WR's to get looks as long as they run their routes well. AJ80 is the big home run threat that will be missed if he's out, but there are still some talent in the receiving core for Yates to go to.
I wish I would have DVR'd the game to hear how loud it came across on tv, but being at the stadium, it was deafening. I know that stadium can get loud but this was just insane. It seemed like every defensive stand the crowd was just loud. i cant wait so see some of those replays on tv, the TJ incomplete/fumble call seemed like complete bs but the calls did seem to go both ways at times.
even on tv, it was ridiculous. you even had a hard time hearing the announcers. I missed out on tickets at the last minute
I loved how the crowd got even more frothy and amped when Matt Ryans would do the hesitation no huddle act that did nothing for them ...
Yeah, that got real old, real fast. All I saw was at least two false start penalties (another one was missed), and a chance for our defense to really start reading the snap count. I felt they were far more effective in the no huddle. Mike Smith seems to outcoach himself at times.
