GodsendJen

I went to the Falcons preseason opener against New England and I have to say the most astounding athletic feat was accomplished before the opening kickoff.  In case you missed it one of our beloved Frisbee-Dogs set the new indoor world distance record for catching a Frisbee.  His handler threw the Frisbee down field over 74 yards and the little pooch tracked it down and caught it.  (The handler really should get some of the glory, I mean how many people do you know who could throw a Frisbee straight 74 yards?)  Of course the local media is so wrapped up in their infatuation with D.J. Shockly ("Shock" as they call him) that they have completely failed to include the Frisbee dog in their post-game write-ups. Yes, D.J. managed to complete a 14 yard pass to put is in field goal range---but on his first drive he couldn't quite manage to keep the ball moving. Bryan Randel showed some amazing rushing ability on his drive, but his passing game was just ok.

How did the players who will actually see playing time this year fare? Our starting defense made it clear that all the hype is useless against the run.  Cory Dillon ran through them like water through a sieve.  John Abraham had a nice sack that forced a fumble...but that was against the second tier of New England players.  All I can say is if our run defense doesn't improve DeShawn Foster and Cadillac Williams are going to have their way with us in a most unpleasant fashion. 

As for the offense?  T.J. Duckett had a couple of nice runs.  Jurious Norwood looks like he might provide some sizzle.  Vick looks like his escapability is back, but the much touted chemistry between him and the young receivers might have been overstated. Michael Jenkins had a nice catch for a touchdown in the game (pass compliments of Matt Schaub I believe) but Roddy White didn't do anything worth mentioning.  We let Michael Koenen handle the field goal kicking and I have to say I thought he did a bang-up job.  The kicks all looked a bit lower than I'd be comfortable with, but the distances made up for it.  The distances ranged from 40-50 yards.  Maybe we should keep Yelk around for kick-offs and let Koenen handling the scoring opportunities.  I'll also take this opportunity to share a random fact garnered from the Shayne Graham chat transcript--the balls used in the NFL are harder than college balls.  Something tells me that affects kickers more than QBs and Receivers.

Here's hoping the offense and especially the defense can start living up to their hype when the season starts.