Re-Focused: Falcons @ Panthers, Week 14

[jtnc]

Here it is, a classic game of two quarterbacks; both getting decent if not great protection, both getting great help from one of their wide receivers, but one looking as though the broadside of a barn door may not be big enough. That’s Cam Newton in a nutshell. We’ll go into it more detail later but in one game he’ll throw the ball with great accuracy and the next balls will sail further than the Cutty Sark. As you might expect Matt Ryan (+3.0) has had a far more consistent season and if he wasn’t exactly great in this game, he was very good and composed enough to put a mediocre second quarter to the back of his mind and bring his team back. While the Panthers try to build on positive strides, if not great results, over the next three games and understand how to best attack the offseason, the Falcons are still favorites to win a Wild Card berth, but they’ll need to improve in many areas to get beyond their first opponents, never mind Green Bay.

Atlanta –Three Performances of Note

It’ll be all White Early in the first quarter Roddy White (+1.5) pushed off Captain Munnerlyn and was flagged for offensive pass interference (as an aside it was nowhere near as flagrant as the one Tony Gonzalez got away with on his 18 yarder with 13:29 gone in the fourth quarter). After that he hardly put a foot wrong as he did everything to help Ryan and his team win, including reeling in the diving catch to allow the Falcons to run out the clock. He was particularly harsh on Munnerlyn after the penalty (4-of-4 for fifty yards and a touchdown) but did well against everyone except Chris Gamble (+2.7). Gamble is having a fine year and in that individual battle, despite how well White played overall, the honors went very much to the Panther; thrown at four times, only one catch allowed and getting his hands on two of the other three, knocking them down.

First Round Bust, Free Agent Stop-Gap

So what happens when your “franchise” left tackle eventually goes “pop”? You plug in your next best option, a guy you picked up as a free agent in 2009 and hope for the best. So far it’s gone better than hoped and while Will Svitek (-3.6) is giving up pressure it’s at nowhere near the rate, 2008 first rounder, Sam Baker had. Unfortunately there’s a reason Svitek was available to all and it’s started to show up and escalate over the last three games; his run blocking has been poor. Sure he gave up a sack and a pressure to Charles Johnson, but against a player of his caliber, on 44 pass plays, that’s a borderline win. The issue is the way he was handled in the running game. Jordan Senn twice got outside his blocks to make tackles but by far the worst example was with 10:41 left in the final quarter, Johnson rocked him back with such ease he was able to pick up Michael Turner and spear him for a one yard loss. For those who still think Baker might be a better option, seven snaps of pass blocking at right guard for Joe Hawley dispelled that notion. He was beaten for two sacks including a safety.

Dunta Discrepancy

On the back of a fairly bland season in 2009 with the Texans, Dunta Robinson (-2.8) somehow picked up a huge six year, $57 million contract with Atlanta. Last year he was hardly good value for money, but at least performed like he had the season prior. He certainly wasn’t giving the Falcons any less than they saw on tape, just no more. This year however his play has slipped and he’s currently among the graded corners we have. It could be a lot worse, but he’s always been a good corner against the run and that stops the situation being worse. He’s the type of player who seems to get reasonable position on a wide receiver but then give up the catch anyway; he’s often close but never close enough and that proved the case again here. Against Steve Smith (+3.1) he gave up 4-for-5 when was targeted (all first downs) and gave up 102 yards. In the past he was simply overpaid, but if he can’t turn a few of those close calls into pass break-ups soon, then his own salary may make him susceptible to more than yardage given up.

Carolina –Three Things of Note Newton’s

Law Isaac said “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. Physicists everywhere cringe as having already screwed that I’m going to go even further add my own version: “For every great game that Cam Newton (-1.8) plays there is an equally appalling display just around the corner.” So as if by magic, hot off a superb showing at Tampa Bay, he decides in this game to single-handedly squander a 13 point lead. The two interceptions were some of the worst I’ve seen this year (and we’ve had some shockers) but when you start throwing left-handed and underarm you set new standards for this sort of thing. He is unique in two ways: a huge percentage of his bad throws are overthrows and when he does go astray, I’m not sure anyone misses by a bigger margin; the second interception must have sailed at least 10 feet over his target. The truth is if you take away his running he’s a bottom third quarterback, if you include it (which obviously you must) he’s at the bottom of the top third. If he can sort out the issues with accuracy and inconsistency he could go much higher than that.

Playing with Fire If you look solely at James Anderson’s grade (+0.8) you’ll assume he had a fairly average day but sometimes the constituent parts of a rating simply don’t do the overall performance justice. Yes he got pushed around on occasion but he never missed a snap and played with a fire inside him for the whole game. He made 13 tackles, more than twice as many as the next defender, without missing one and seven of these constituted stops. In addition he notched a sack and a hit on seven pass rushes and also picked up a pass defense. The relatively average grade was the result of getting pushed about by Justin Blalock in the running game and having a few problems covering Gonzalez. He was also late getting across on Jacquizz Rodgers’ touchdown catch. In summary he had a fairly mixed day but one I enjoyed watching and wished had rated rather higher.

Hardly Hardy Greg Hardy (-3.6) has had a pretty good year to date in his first season as a starter. Up until this game we’d never graded him lower than -0.6 but this was his worst showing by far. He only generated a couple of pressures on 43 rushes and was handled by tight ends in the running game. Perhaps it’s more reasonable to say he just got handled by one of the better pass-blocking right tackles around in Tyson Clabo (+3.9) and leave it at that but the underlying question is: “is he running out of gas”? He’s played 731 snaps to date or 88% of all snaps. In his rookie year he played 400 all year. Perhaps the last three weeks will give us an answer.

Game Notes - Blitzing Ryan here didn’t work. On the 29 times he wasn’t blitzed he graded -1.3, on the 13 times he was +3.9 with a QB rating of 144.4 - Every starter in the Falcons back seven missed at least one tackle. There was 12 misses in total with Mike Peterson and Sean Weatherspoon both whiffing three times each. - After being elevated from the practice squad and playing in his first game since 2008, Jason Shirley picked up a sack and two hurries on 18 rushes. Not an inconsiderable return.

http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/12/12/re-focused-falcons-panthers-week-14/

I like Hardy and all but he isn't consistent, and Mcdermott's blitzes have failed again.

[Cat'sGrowl]

Oh joy. The weekly determiner of truth for half the huddle is here

[mav1234]

The truth is if you take away his running he’s a bottom third quarterback, if you include it (which obviously you must) he’s at the bottom of the top third. If he can sort out the issues with accuracy and inconsistency he could go much higher than that.

Ouch!

[JawnyBlaze]

Well he does have a good point in that Hardy has already played almost twice as many snaps as last year, maybe he's getting worn out a bit. He's still young, I still think he has a bright future here.

[jtnc]

Ouch!

Meh, Cam's mobility and athleticism is what makes him special. He also has shown the ability to thread the needle which he did many times during the game. But of course you'll ignore that because you'll never accept him.

[Herbert The Love Bug]

Hardy is an average player. Nothing special. Face it. We need special play makers at every spot. And NO Quinton Coples is not the answer. Not close to the answer. Applewhite is more of a difference maker at this point.

[jtnc]

Mav and trd are two sad individuals.

[mav1234]

Meh, Cam's mobility and athleticism is what makes him special. He also has shown the ability to thread the needle which he did many times during the game. But of course you'll ignore that because you'll never accept him.

Mav and trd are two sad individuals.

lol, I spend all day defending Cam and I'm a sad individual because I think that a commentary some writer made was pretty damn harsh (and, at least yesterday in the 2nd half, was pretty darn accurate :()

Cam isn't as good this year as some of you think, but that doesn't mean he'll never be better, and he's still damn good for a rookie. I swear, some of you guys are so sensitive about anything anybody says that could even vaguely be construed as negative.

[TheRealDeal]

Mav, you're just another troll, one more trolling comment and you'll be bant!

[Sol]

PFF is usually a fairly credibly source, but I have to disagree on the Hardy assessment this game. I felt he was making a significant impact seeing time at the 3-technique (something they fail to even mention), alongside Applewhite. At least one of them was playing DT virtually each down (and sometimes Charles Johnson as well), and they did a great job generating penetration, though not necessarily pressuring Ryan as much. I was more impressed with the versatility Hardy showed in this game by capably filling in and doing well for many snaps out of position than I have been with the amount of pressure he has generated all year.

To all Hardy doubters, there is more to a DE's impact than a high sack total, and I'm sure what he brings to the team is much appreciated by Rivera and the coaching staff.

[pantherj]

"Game Notes - Blitzing Ryan here didn’t work."

Ya don't say? Doesn't he know we love letting QBs off the hook with our sh!tty failed bitzes? Get ready for a 3-4 or some other scheme next season. I'm calling it now.

[SOJA]

Ouch!

yea that doesn't sound too good