Falcons-Jaguars Coverage

Friday, Sept. 14

Thursday, Sept. 13

Wednesday, Sept. 12

• NOTEBOOK: Falcons looking to improve in running game
• VIDEO: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
• TRANSCRIPT: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
• VIDEO: Quarterback Joey Harrington
• TRANSCRIPT: Quarterback Joey Harrington
• VIDEO: Defensive end John Abraham
• VIDEO: Wide receiver Joe Horn
• VIDEO: Defensive tackle Grady Jackson
• VIDEO: Guard Justin Blalock
• VIDEO: Center Todd McClure
• VIDEO: Running back Jerious Norwood
• VIDEO: Cornerback DeAngelo Hall
• VIDEO: Fullback Ovie Mughelli
• CONFERENCE CALL: Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio
• CONFERENCE CALL: Jaguars defensive tackle Marcus Stroud
• NEWS:  Falcons to open Physical Therapy Centers
• FEATURE: Falcons continue partnership with Emory

Monday, Sept. 10

• NEWS:  Falcons review film, look toward Jacksonville
• VIDEO: Head Coach Bobby Petrino
• TRANSCRIPT: Head Coach Bobby Petrino

 

J. Mike's Missives

Somewhere on I-95

We're rolling down the highway now... well away from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and I can't say my head has cleared too much. The Falcons are now 0-2 on the season and looking to rebound. But, I must say there's no better place to do that than at home in front of friendly fans against -- what many could say -- is your biggest rival.

Players won't report back to practice until Wednesday. Until then it's about film and physical recovery. But, for the most part, Panthers week starts now.

It was a tough loss but quarterback Joey Harrington made it a point to say the team was not discouraged, but frustrated. Discouraged implies giving up. Frustrated drives righting the ship.

5:12  p.m., Sunday Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

Fourth Quarter Notes

14:10 -- Garrard finds Reggie Williams in the back of the end zone. Eight plays, 80 yards, 4:58, 14-yard touchdown pass. 10-7 Jacksonville.

12:03 -- The Falcons offense again falls victim to back-to-back sacks. This time Harrington is dropped at the Atlanta 21, which forces a punt.

10:45 -- A shoe-string tackle by defensive back Antoine Harris on wide receiver Matt Jones keeps the Jaguars short of a first down. But, Jacksonville again elects to go for it, this time on fourth-and-1. The Falcons line up everyone for the run, but Jones-Drew finds a hole and got just enough for the first down.

8:13 --An 11-yard gain on third down gives the Jaguars a first down at the Atlanta 31 with the clock rolling. Two plays later Garrard finds Northcutt for a 21-yard gain and a Jaguars first down in the red zone.

5:41 -- The Jaguars are inside the 20 and I am inside the game story. Check back after the game for my final blog post. For now, I'm off for some web site work. Take care.

3:31 p.m., Sunday Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

Third Quarter Notes

10:09 --A 16-yard completion to Matt Jones on third down puts the Jaguars in position to go for it on fourth-and-6 at the Falcons 34. Garrad's pass goes to Maurice Jones-Drew but knocked away by... John Abraham. The defensive end got placed in coverage twice in the drive, once on Jones.

8:10 --Michael Jenkins makes a tight-rope catch on the Jaguars sideline that gives the Falcons a first down inside Jaguars territory. The play is challenged by Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio (insert Jeopardy music). The play stands, giving Atlanta first down at the Jaguars 42.

7:19 -- Pass interference on Jaguars cornerback Brian Williams. Harrington's pass for White sales out of bounds, but the team ends up with another first down, this time at the Jags 22.

4:40 --An untimely sack on third down brings on the field goal team. Prater misses again, this time from 26 yards.

2:44 -- A 33-yard completion to Ernest Wilford gives the Jaguars first-and-10 at the Atlanta 42. Two plays later Garard finds Northcutt at the 10 and the Jaguars are in the red zone.

0:10 -- Defensive tackle Grady Jackson picks up his first sack of the season.

3:06 p.m., Sunday Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

Second Quarter Notes

13:30 -- John Carney connects on a 35-yard field goal. 3-0 Jaguars.

12:45 -- The second of two straight runs by Warrick Dunn gives the Falcons first down at the Jaguars 31. The game has now settled in to a routine-feel, with the Jaguars breaking the ice with a field goal at the Falcons carefully working the snap count and formations.

11:39 -- To this point the Falcons are converting on 50 percent of their third downs. It's now third-and-1 from the 40, I-formation. Artose Pinner gets the carry straight ahead into the pile, short of the first down.

9:21 -- Pressure on Garrard results in a wild, off-the-back-foot throw to no one in particular. The Jaguars get called for intentional grounding and face third-and-26 from their own 22. A quick pass on the next play falls well short, bringing on the punt team.

8:54 -- Harrington buys some time in the pocket on the next offensive play and finds White deep down field for a 35-yard gain into Jaguars territory.

7:48 -- Two incompletions and a short run brings up a field-goal attempt by Matt Prater. The attempt flies wide right and the Jaguars take over at their own 33.

5:22 -- After four straight runs, the Falcons are forced to pass on third-and-5. Babineaux gets a sack and a forced fumble on the play, but the Jaguars recover and get a chance to punt. The punt is nearly blocked by Michael Boley, giving the Falcons solid field position at their own 27.

4:14 -- Twenty-six yards and a first down as Harrington finds Horn deep down the right side. Rasheen Mathis overruns the coverage on the play, leaving Horn open to make the catch.

3:01 -- Another sack by the Jaguars brings up third-and-4. Harrington stands tall in the pocket and finds Crumpler for a 13-yard gain on the play.

0:57 -- The Falcons are on the board and in the lead after a 4-yard touchdown run by Dunn. The team worked in the shotgun formation for most of the drive and again this time as Dunn got the inside handoff and jumped outside the tackle and weaved his way into the end zone. 7-3 Falcons.

0:18 -- The Falcons defense forces a three-and-out by the Jaguars and gives the ball back to the offense at it's 46 (after a punt) with on timeout. An illegal formation penalty backs the team up and Harrington takes a knee to end the half.

2:19 p.m., Sunday Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

First Quarter Notes

15:00 -- The Falcons win the toss and elect to receive the opening kickoff. The offense will move from right to left on your radio dial (or computer screen). Jerious Norwood fields the short kick and returns it out to the Falcons 29.

14:44 -- Joey Harrington hits tight end Alge Crumpler for a 35-yard gain right out of the gate. The two hooked up off a play-action roll out and Crumpler used his size and speed to fight to the sideline and sprint for extra yardage. First-and-10 at the Jacksonville 36.

13:05 -- The Falcons drive ends with the second of two-straight sacks. Harrington was sacked by defensive tackle John Henderson and linebacker Mike Peterson for a total loss of 15 yards. The Jaguars defense is showing its trademark agressiveness early with plenty of pressure up the middle and varying looks coming off the edge.

12:36 -- Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor finds some daylight up the middle and bounces the ball back outside for a 29-yard run on first down.

11:22 -- The Falcons have forced third-and-13 at the Jaguars 46 after John Abraham's -- and the team's -- first sack of the season. Quarterback David Garrard showed poise on the next play, however, finding Mercedes Lewis for a 14-yard gain and a first down inside Atlanta territory.

8:44 -- Well, officials said they were going to crack down on spiking the ball. Now I've seen it. Northcutt just threw the ball to the turf after coming up short of a first down. Officials initially called it delay of game -- a 5-yard penalty. But, since Lewis Sanders and DeAngelo Hall were in the area, they changed the call to taunting -- a 15-yard penalty that forced a punt, which was downed at the Falcons 3.

7:01 -- Roddy White catches a quick slant to get the Falcons out of a hole on third down. The play goes for 10 yards out to the 18.

5:11 --A great down-field block by Joe Horn frees White for a few extra yards after a catch on a crossing route. The play gets the Falcons offense a spot right at midfield and 25 receiving yards for White.

4:20 --Veteran tackle Wayne Gandy is spotted on one knee after the play. He rises a few moments later and walks gingerly off the field. He is replaced by Renardo Foster on third-and-13 from the Falcons 47. Harrington escapes the rush and gets back to the 50 -- not enough for a first down.

3:15 -- Call just came in from sideline PR man Ted Crews. Gandy injured his left hamstring two plays ago. His return is questionable.

0:40 -- Defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux picks up the team's second sack of the day and takes a little air out of a Jaguars offense that has marched out from the shadow of its end zone to midfield. The first quarter ends on the next play, when Garrard finds Lewis open over the middle for a 25-yard gain down to the Falcons 24.

1:34 p.m., Sunday Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

Notes on Inactives

Wide receiver Laurent Robinson is among the Falcons inactives today as he works to get over a hamstring injury that's been with him since the closing days of training camp.

Other inactives include safety Chris Crocker (knee), defensive tackle Rod Coleman (knee), offensive lineman D'Anthony Batiste, tackle Quinn Ojinnaka, guard Tyson Clabo and defensive end Josh Mallard.

Casey Bramlet is listed as the emergency quarterback

Robinson had three catches last week at Minnesota -- all in the second half.

12:23 p.m., Sunday Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

Hot, Hot, Hot

Did I mention it's hot?

The first wave of Falcons players and staff just arrived at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and we were greeted with a tropical blast of humidity -- at 10 in the morning no less. You can't walk for more than three minutes outside without developing a healthy coat of sweat.

Of course, the Falcons were talking about the heat of this game -- one of four outdoor games this season -- since training camp.

Get continued weather updates here.

10:24 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 16
J. Michael Moore

A 16-Round Fight

The Falcons are 0-1 but a shot at a win in the NFL is never more than six or seven days away.

Consider for a moment that half the teams that played last week (half the NFL, 16 teams) are currently 0-1. I'd be willing to guess that at least one of those teams will rebound to make the playoffs, as the Denver Broncos did in 2005 after losing to a heavily-underdoged Miami Dolphins team. Denver went on to a 13-3 season and the AFC Championship Game.

You may also recall that the 2002 Tennessee Titans started 1-4, finished 11-5 and made it all the way to the conference championship game.

It's tough to lose hope in the NFL, not when a team like the Eagles last season can win five straight games to close the year and make the playoffs.

I can go on forever looking up examples of teams that rebounded from adverse records to make history or simply recover and have good seasons, but it's easy to see through that (I'll also let the title be the only boxing cliché). That said, this is my fifth year in NFL locker rooms and I've never seen a team put a loss in the rear-view as quickly as the Falcons did this week.

Sure, questions swirled around about the Vikings pass rush or the offensive execution in last week's 24-3 loss, but through it all the Falcons kept that same, loose attitude needed for true focus.

But don't think for a second they've lost their edge.

"They're a good team," fullback Ovie Mughelli said when asked about the Jags. "They're going to be even better since they lost. Just like us they want to win that much more. Especially losing at home, they're not going to allow themselves to do that twice...

"But they're not going to have a choice."