The Falcoholic
The Falcons suffered a tough loss yesterday, but we still saw a lot of promise from the faces of this franchise’s future. Here’s the Week 1 3 up and 3 down.
The Falcons appear to have a real inside linebacker again. Deablo was as good as advertised in his Week 1 debut. The imposing figure was all over the field, flashing his sideline-to-sideline speed in both the run and the pass. He had a near interception, multiple tackles for loss, and was a heat-seeking missile when blitzing.
It was a promising debut and one that should give fans hope that the team has found a legitimate field general for its second level. We’ll want to see Deablo stack multiple games like these before getting out of hand, but he already looks like the best free agent signing of the offseason.
The lights were dim for the Falcons starting rookie safety. Watts made plays everywhere. He had two near interceptions, an impressive pass breakup, and made a shoestring tackle on a play that would’ve likely been a touchdown without it. The team will want to see those near interceptions converted going forward, but it appears the Falcons have found their answer at safety next to Jessie Bates. This team needs early returns from this year’s rookie class, and Watts delivered in his debut.
A devastating loss after the quarterback drops the family jewels on the table and does everything to give his team a chance to win. Welcome back, the Matt Ryan era Atlanta Falcons. Penix Jr. did not blink when the game was on the line; instead, he gave fans a rush of adrenaline and nostalgia with his Superman stretch at the goal line, a la Michael Vick. This kid is already the best we’ve seen since Ryan, and it is not close. He has the respect of the locker room and the confidence of this staff behind him. In just four performances, he’s proven that this team is never out of the game. The most exciting part is that we haven’t seen the best of him yet.
The play caller’s day wasn’t as bad as his loudest critics will tell you, but it was still an uninspiring performance to kick off the year. Robinson deserves credit for keeping Penix relatively clean while dealing with injuries at right tackle, but outside of that, the play caller did not do his offense many favors. ZRob’s offense hasn’t grown much; we still saw a desire to run out of the gun and pistol while utilizing almost zero under center formations–two plays total. The red zone offense asked players to do the heavy lifting, with zero play action calls in this area. Getting the run game going without McGary was going to be a struggle, but Robinson didn’t seem prepared for this obvious outcome. He’s going to have to do some heavy lifting as...
