Tennessee Titans Football

Titans Want to Hold off Dangerous Falcons One More Week

Posted by Mike Keith on November 17, 2011 – 4:20 pm

A week after hearing repeatedly that the Carolina Panthers are a “much better team than their record would indicate,” you probably ain’t buying the same line about the 5-4 Atlanta Falcons.

But you should.

The Falcons are one of a handful of teams capable of getting hot, winning the rest of their games and giving Green Bay all that they want in the NFC playoffs. We’ve seen that potential in spots this season.

Atlanta is 5-4 because of mistakes that they didn’t make during their 13-3 campaign of 2010. Case in point…

  1. * In 2010, the Falcons turned the ball over just 17 times and had a turnover ratio of +15. This season, Atlanta has already committed 14 turnovers and has a turnover ratio of +1.
  2. * Last season, Matt Ryan was sacked 23 times. This season, Ryan has already been sacked 20 times.
  3. * In 2010, Atlanta had 58 penalties for 598 yards (4 for 37 yards per game). This season, the Falcons already have 58 penalties in their first nine games and are averaging 6 penalties for 54 yards per game.

None of these numbers is particularly negative; they just aren’t as good as last season when Atlanta won 13 games. The numbers make it clear that while the Falcons haven’t played great so far in 2011, it does not mean that they won’t end up being a great team. Fact is, if Mike Smith’s team cleans some of this up in the next seven weeks, it would not be shocking to see them as a very dangerous 11-5 or 12-4 entry into the NFC playoffs. And remember: Atlanta is 22-4 at home with Matt Ryan at quarterback. If they can get at least one home game in the playoffs (especially after learning from last year’s playoff experience), they become even more of a threat.

The Titans are facing a really good team this weekend. Ignore the record and look at the potential.


Posted in Keith's Corner | 2 Comments »


2 Responses to “Titans Want to Hold off Dangerous Falcons One More Week”

  1. By Titanman45 on Nov 17, 2011 | Reply

    Falcons are a good team,but for some reason they can’t finish games. If we can keep this game close in the 1st half, an the defense can get off the field on 3rd down. We will defeat the falcons….

  2. By MemphisDude on Nov 20, 2011 | Reply

    Okay so we’re 4-4. We should’ve beaten Cincinatti, but that’s alright..we’ve got 8 games left. I’m thinking the Patriots, Jets, Texans, Steelers, and Ravens will make the playoffs for sure. So that’s ’5′ teams that I just named…I think with that one spot left (the 6th spot) we can win the wildcard..but that means we have to beat out Oakland, Bills, and Bengals. I don’t trust Oakland..I mean come on these guys are just getting a little lucky they seem unstable..the bills play 4 of their next 5 games on the Road! And, the Bengals with Andy Dalton as a rookie I just don’t believe in or trust yet. I think the Titans are an emotional team, but I love it and love watching them..Titans play Colts and Jags=lets assume they win Both. They play Houston at houston but they could win that one. Then they play Saints, Bucs, panthers, and Falcons. I think they have a shot at the panthers cause they’re 2-6 and they play the Saints at home. Matty Ice hasn’t looked that great for ATL and Josh freeman and the bucs could easily have a bad game. My point is these last 8 games are gonna be good for the Titans…Munchak will have our Titans ready. Cincy was a wake up Call with that Loss.

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