Field goals won't be enough to keep pace against the
Đã gửi: Thứ 5 01/08/19 9:06FLOWERY BRANCH Youth Isaiah Oliver Jersey , Ga. (AP) — Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons can't afford to lean on Matt Bryant's powerful right leg this week.high-scoring New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.Bryant's four field goals provided all of Atlanta's scoring until Julio Jones caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Ryan with less than two minutes remaining against Dallas on Sunday. That touchdown tied the game before the Cowboys won 22-19 on Brett Maher's 42-yard field goal as time expired. The Saints (9-1) have won nine straight . They led the NFL with their average of 37.8 points per game through Sunday's games."Field goals against them isn't going to cut it the way they're putting points up," coach Dan Quinn said Monday.The Falcons (4-6) already have lost one shootout against the Saints, 43-37 in overtime on Sept. 23."When we get our chances, we have to convert," Ryan said Monday. "We've been doing a good job of that for the most part of the year. … We've got to be aggressive with our plays when we get our chances."Quinn said the Falcons can win a high-scoring game, even against the Saints."We are. We're equipped," Quinn said. "Certainly when you're going against another team that's high scoring, it was no surprise to see that in the first game, either."Jones has touchdown catches in three straight games, but the Falcons are in a scoring slump. They rank ninth in the league with their average of 26.3 points, but they've been held below 20 points in four games this season, including back-to-back losses to the Cowboys and Cleveland.Atlanta led Dallas 6-3 at halftime despite being held to 110 yards. For the game, the Falcons had 354 yards, their third-lowest total of the season. The two straight losses were devastating to Atlanta's playoff hopes after it won three straight to reach .500.Quinn said the Falcons shouldn't be worried about their fading playoff hopes."Right now we have no luxury of looking at anything big picture," Quinn said. "Right now there's one picture and that's New Orleans and that's Thursday."Atlanta managed only 80 yards rushing against Dallas. Tevin Coleman had only eight carries for 58 yards, even though he gained 11 or more yards on four runs. The eight carries were his second fewest of the season.Quinn said "it's going to be important" to establish the run. But he said he was only seeking balance, not a greater commitment to the run."When you're in the red zone against them you better finish with it in the end zone because they're certainly able to score and they've shown that this year Stitched Tony Gonzalez Jersey ," he said."Whether it's in the run game or it's in the pass game, it's about being able to find explosive games and being able to score. That's the name of the game when you're facing a team with an explosive offense like them."NOTES: The Falcons are attempting to determine if linebacker Deion Jones will play this week. Jones came off injured reserve last week after missing two months with a broken right foot but was inactive against Dallas . Quinn said Jones did not participate in the team's walkthrough practice on Monday, but instead was scheduled for work after the practice "so we'll get a better assessment of where he's at." Quinn said the goal was to "keep pushing and develop to see where he's at with his confidence level with his foot." Welcome to Forgotten Falcons, a 2019 offseason series where we remember some quality players who have been largely forgotten by the fanbase over the years. Today, we’ll take a look back at a..."Welcome to Forgotten Falcons, a 2019 offseason series where we remember some quality players who have been largely forgotten by the fanbase over the years. Today, we’ll take a look back at a current radio personality and former receiver in Brian Finneran.Time in Atlanta: 2000-2005, 2008-2010Stats: 236 receptions, 3,072 yards, 19 touchdowns, 13.0 yards per reception, 31 tackles, 2 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles, 5 punt returns, 9 yards Youth Tony Gonzalez Jersey , 5 kick returns, 47 yardsChances are that you haven’t actually forgotten about Brian Finneran, given that he’s a fixture on local radio in Atlanta at 680 The Fan. But chances are pretty good you’ve largely forgotten about his career, which was a story of quality play, devastating injuries, and a surprising comeback. Let’s remedy that today.Finneran’s career path is a familiar one to those who followed football in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when NFL Europe was a thing and the NFL had something resembling an actual minor league. Legends like Kurt Warner came out of that league, and so did Finneran, who was an All-Europe receiver for the Barcelona Dragons in 1999. That wound up earning him a short-lived look from the Philadelphia Eagles, and more importantly, it led to him latching on with the Falcons in 2000.Finn would go on to play his entire career in Atlanta, and he was one of Michael Vick’s favorites in the early going. He put up a 23/491/3 slashline in 2001, a year that saw him average over 23 yards per reception, and followed that up with a career-best 2002 where he posted 56 receptions, 838 yards, and 6 touchdowns. His versatility was noteworthy from early on, as he factored in as a core special teamer and occasional returner from early on Stitched Deion Sanders Jersey , but primarily he was a useful possession receiver who frequently surprised teams with his speed early on. His height made him a problem at times in the red zone, though he’ll never be quite as legendary in real life as he was briefly in Madden, because EA mistakenly listed him as 6’7” and he became the jump ball champion of the game. Finneran would never get close to those numbers again, but he remained a damn useful player for years on a team lacking top-flight receiving options until a July 2006 knee injury robbed him of the next three years of his career. It’s difficult to understate just how huge of an impact that had on Finneran’s career, given that he was exactly the kind of player who due to his height, hands and special teams value might have played a decade straight without blinking minus that.Despite the injuries, the Falcons held on to him and he wound up returning in 2008, serving as a useful reserve for the Matt Ryan-led Falcons through the 2010 season. He posted 51 receptions, 446 yards, and four touchdowns over the final three seasons of his career, becoming one of the few Falcons (alongside the likes of Jonathan Babineaux) who survived the series of regime chances in Atlanta and continued to contribute.Finneran was never a foundational piece for Atlanta, but he was a fan favorite for several years because he was a talented receiver and useful special teamer for some of the best Falcons teams in recent memory. Again, chances are good you haven’t forgotten him because of his stint on local radio, but his career deserves a hat tip, especially those post-injury years where he clawed his way back to the Falcons after a three year absence.
