Falconslog2005season

And just like that....we'll be home for the postseason...

for folks that read my blog...forgive my late entry...I've been busy at work...coupled with the amount of time it took me to recover from this heartbreaking loss to TB....but at the end of the day...you can lable me like you'd label my team this season...INCONSISTENT!

Let me talk about our QB...since that's what the media wants to talk about more than anything...

Michael Vick responded well after the loss in Chicago...and played an EXTREMELY good football game overall...apparently Greg Knapp got the message from Alge Crumpler last week...and stopped sending our receivers deep...and leaving 1 passing option...with shaky pass protection...

Although the would be Roddy White TD ended up being huge....I really like what I'm seeing from our WRs....I expect big things in the future from this group!  I think a full offseason and preseason will help Vick adjust to having a WR with the speed Roddy White has...I'd venture to say that White is the fastest WR Vick has played with...and you can tell...b/c he typically underthrows White just a tad when he's beat coverage downfield...

Our D....essentially our Achilles heel this year...Patrick Kerney could be seen blowing up on the sidelines after the Falcons gave up the first TD to the Bucs...it's hard to make out every word...but essentially...it appeared that he said something along the lines of "I'm f*&*ing sick of it!"(x2) "It's like their scared to hit someone...", after watching our secondary do what they've done all season...and take half hearted dives at guys ankles...while they ran right past them as Mike Alstott jumped into the end zone!  That pretty much summed it up!  Our mainstays on D definitely showed up for this one though....Brooking with the INT that we'd score off of....Kerney and Coleman being disruptive in the backfield...D. Hall with the INT late in the 2nd quarter....however....these guys were not enough to overcome our weaknesses on D...late in the 4th and OT...after realizing that Kerney was having his way with Kenyatta Walker (and Steussie after Walker was hurt)...I saw TB do something that Greg Knapp didn't do consistently enough this season.....ADJUST!!!  They sent a TE, and a FB...who both sat behind the line...and waited to give Kerney a bump after he beat the OT...Coleman was taking the double team as usual...and as was the norm this year...with Brady Smith out...the right side of our D line disappeared...

and once again it happened...after having a 7 point lead...with under 4 mins left to play...and the Bucs having to cover most of the field to score a TD....WE LET THEM!  Pitiful!  Absolutely inexcusable!  I was hoping that we'd be in the postseason...but the bottom line is with that defense....there's no way we'd be able to do anything in the postseason!

With that being said...you've got to give the Bucs credit...they're a lot better than folks gave them credit for this season...and they never kept fighting.  It's like Vick said....after recovering the fumble on the kickoff...setting up for an easy FG...only to have it blocked seemed like a sign more than anything....I guess this just wasn't our year!  I hate to second guess playcalls....but on 3rd and 2 in OT...with about a minute left....why not run the ball?  2 yards?  Keep the clock running?  Set up 4th and short in a worst case scenario?  But instead we'll take a shot downfield? (a ball that I definitely thought was catchable)  I just don't understand that one....one thing I do understand though...is some changes have to come if we're going to be the SB contenders we hope to be...

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