Blogging Dirty » Bobby G Copperhead

I Love Vanilla, but not with my Football By Bobby G. Copperhead

Bobby G Copperhead — Sat, 25 May 2013 03:21:41 +0000

Ice cream and Cake but not Football. Vanilla is bad when it’s a description to Football.
“When a great team loses through complacency, it will constantly search for new and more intricate explanations to explain away defeat.” That was a quote from Pat Riley, but I wonder how many would have guessed Mike Mularkey ?
If the 2013 Atlanta Falcons are going to make the playoffs again this year and as all in Falcon nation hope win a ticket to the Super Bowl they will have to rise up in many area’s of play from a year ago, with a tougher schedule and some prime time match ups on slate. Even with a nice draft and of rumors of Seymour coming aboard I think the defense will be challenged from opening day each and every game.
If you look at the 2013 schedule it is set up with teams who own very good offenses and led by very good quarterbacks. Nolan and company this year may be a little better as we all hope, but just look at the 2012 December 9th game footage and realize a little better may not be enough to get Atlanta back to playing in January. Cam Newton threw for 287 yards and ran for 116 also. Carolina is not in par with a New England offense we see on Prime time Sunday night, a Rogers led squad in Lambeau or even close to the best of the west we met last January. If the defense gets a little better it will be because the offense has done the same.
The Atlanta Falcon offense was a solid unit last season, a headache for even the best defenses.
But how does the offense stray away from a previous owned habit of being predictable and too vanilla?
Tough to improve the side of the ball that gave us the fifth best quarterback in yardage, two pro bowl caliber receivers each with over 1,100 yards and a tight end who was fourth in touchdowns at that position in the league. The Atlanta offense was 7th in scoring for 2012, and it is nice to know that of the six in front of them the birds beat four of them (Saints, Skins, Giants and Broncos) and did not play Green Bay and New England but they will this year. Falcon Faithful will knowingly answer the question of how to improve the offense with the running game upgrade, and we all certainly hope so. An offense that can eat clock, get short yardage first downs, keep a pass rush at bay and mix the passing game the likes that the Falcons have will have a top shot at a ticket to the Bowl. Steven Jackson springs hope, Jaquizz may even be more dangerous this year, but success ultimately falls on the offensive line and Vanilla might be the flavor of the month. The O line position battles and play will be the preseason biggest task. Could it be so simple that the pieces fall in place early, Jackson and Jaquizz hit holes and consume time of play like the days of Turner the Burner ? Bradie Ewing comes in and becomes a star. Wish and hope and pray but only time will tell.
Dirk has to keep vanilla out of the playbook and inject a few second options if things don’t go as planned which happens a lot in all sports. The Birds best weapon is flight. We can improve even a super stellar unit with a few well laid schemes. The screen pass was introduced last season and can even get better with Jackson. I strongly suggest a serious preseason look at two tight end sets. The New England team that comes in week four uses it as their biggest weapon, and Atlanta has the talent and size at the position to certainly send a few red zone headaches at the defense. The Pats use the sets nearly all for pass, but checking the size of Toilolo and Coffman the Birds can shuffle in some runs, shuffle pass plays with the extra bulk as a two option call. Whether a war, video game or football season, you really can never have too many weapons. While on the subject of weapons, the slot has to improve as a real threat. H.D is a good receiver, is at prime age, but one touchdown in 2012 must improve. Backup Drew Davis is a little bigger, a little younger, had fifty less targets and caught as many touchdowns as H.D in 2012. I’d like to see a Smitty styled competition at the slot in preseason. It only takes some sprinkles and a few chopped nuts, maybe some chocolate syrup drizzle to make vanilla a whole different treat, and that’s no Mularkey.

March In Georgia By Bobby G. Copperhead

Bobby G Copperhead — Sat, 18 May 2013 12:31:40 +0000

The Heading has nothing to do with Sherman’s march to the sea in 1864, the South was tired and he got Lucky.
It is not about the 1980 Bulldogs march to the Championship, but is in line with Football.
So logically the march I’m talking about in Georgia is not about the Braves 1995 season capturing the World Series title or the grand parade in the 1996 Olympics.
I’m talking the month of March, Earth year 2013 as a point to mark the calander for Falcon fans as possibly the pivotal point in time where the Falcons got over the hump Asante Samuel talked about on an ESPN spot. Weird since preseason has three months yet to come.
March 2013 had some highlights that the Atlanta Falcons and faithful rejoiced at individually when
announced but as a whole have passed with the sands of time and the thrill of building hope in a decent draft. Fans and writers often look at points in the season which turn a teams page in one direction or another
but seldom does an off season Month get credit in the books. I’ll save this article until the Super Bowl.
March 1, 2013 began with the Brass announcing the release of John Abraham, Michael Turner and
Dunta Robinson in an effort to free up money and get a little faster and younger. The release of three
Veteran starters, and popular ones at that, would make a month of moves for some teams in itself.
A surprise to some, and to some maybe not, but the Month of March started definitely with big news.
On March 5th Antone Smith was resigned. Not news at all really, unless Jason Snelling is released in the next two months for cap space to make a splashier move and Antone is asked to cover Jason’s 260 all purpose yards of 2012. The brass must see something other than a very good special teams player.
When March 12th came it was a March of happiness to Falcon nation with the announcement of Tony
Gonzalez returning another year. There had been many articles of this being a big piece for the Birds as they prepared for the draft and it was received as if we had won a game. The hump Samuel spoke of got smaller that day and Tony’s tutoring of Coffman and Toilolo has future analysis to be determined.
The day was also the day we signed Sam Baker for the rest of his career. A team is only as good as an offensive line in protection and opening running lanes. Baker has not always been a fan favorite, is not a pro bowl candidate but is an anchor on our line and one of two veterans left. If he repeats his last season performance the next couple of years the signing is a Super deal and looking back makes a Super day.
March 15th and the Month of March is half over but the news of Steven Jackson being brought in to
replace Turner sets off more fireworks in Georgia and is considered by nearly every football fan across
the country as an upgrade and nice addition to an already powerful offense.
March 26 and it is announced that Todd McClure is retiring. It was time, and Todd deserves a place in the ring of Falcon Honor. The offensive line gets younger, hopefully quicker and more athletic. There may be mistakes with youth, but the future is being established to build a cohesive line for years to come.
On March 27th, the Falcons landed Osi Umenyiora to hopefully produce to Abrahams level , a new blood add and veteran along a young defensive line. The Falcons need a pass rush, Osi is going to be the stable presence and if the youth around him step up then success of improvement in the defense as a whole will take a huge chunk off the aforementioned ‘hump’. This month of moves had a effect on the nice draft Atlanta had to shore up the secondary, add depth and get younger for the future by narrowing the holes to fill that were needing attention. Football is a war, a sixteen game battle that takes a lot of pieces to succeed.
Atlanta is ready to March into war in 2013., because of the pieces we obtained in March.
Is it coincidence that the Month known as March is named after the roman god of war ?

A nice Falcon Roster Mix By Bobby G. Copperhead

Bobby G Copperhead — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:15:36 +0000

“It is a pity that, as one gradually gains experience, one loses one’s youth”. – Vincent Van Gogh.
Vinny did not know a thing about Football but luckily for Falcon Nation, T.D, Smitty and staff
surely do as a look over the roster they have assembled that has created recent success and high hopes
for the upcoming season and quite possible for the next decade. A run similar to the Braves of the Mid nineties would not be a stretch. I can’t remember a better mix of veteran leaders and athletic youth on a Falcon Roster, perhaps never.
I’ll start dissection on offense, because the game today is all about that side of the ball and Atlanta
has one that can match up with anybody. The squad is led by veterans Ryan (27), White (31),
Tony G. (37), new add Steven Jackson (30). If you look at the age they are not that old, even by football standards, but if you look at their production last season they could pass as a few years younger and that carries weight when leadership is shown by veterans not only filling a roster spot but actually leading.
The four performed at a high level last year and give the Falcons over Forty years of experience.
They all have tread on the tires still and none are close to being done with great careers except maybe Tony G, but that is because he Would and not because he Should. The rest of the starting group and back ups are Julio (24), H.D who at (28) should be entering , we hope, his prime, Jaquizz Rogers (23), and Dom Davis (23), whom I believe a good back up. Throw in the Mix Drew Davis (24), Antone Smith (28), Ewing (23), and even Ronnie Wingo (22) who at 6’ 3” and 230 lbs has time to learn on the practice squad, you have young pieces to sustain long tough seasons of the NFL.
The offensive line on a football team benefits from working together and becoming a cohesive unit.
Blalock is the ‘old’ veteran and won’t turn (30) until the end of the season. With baker (27), Johnson (26),
Reynolds (25), Hawley (24), Konz (23), Holmes (23), and Manley (23) the line may not showcase a perennial all-pro but as a unit they are rather young, have some experience, (none are technically rookies), and the Falcon Brass must see the group with upside which is why the position was left out of the draft.
I’d also like to see Alec Savoi (22) out of McNeese St. stick the practice squad, because anyone young and the size of Garrett Reynolds deserves the chance. Get them to gel and years of great offense will follow.
Van Gogh also once said, “ Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
He never designed a defensive unit but it fits for the Birds. The Atlanta defense was in need of
an injection of youth, which one would think brings a little more speed, athletic ability and a foundation for the future. They addressed this in the April draft. Atlanta brought in a veteran, Uminyiora (31), signed established stars Moore (27) and DeCoud (28), along with last years signing of Asante Samual (32) to lead a young secondary of McClain (24), Trufant (22), Alford (22), Thompson (22) Motta (22), Schillinger (26).
Remember – it is a offensive league, and one that relies on the passing game. Need a secondary for sure !!!
These were all non tabloid headline moves but yet a series of small ones slowly put together.
The defensive line still has solid Babs (31) and a good, not great, assembly of experience and youth, in
Biermann (27), Jerry (28), Peters (24), Massaquoi (24), Robertson (24), Matthews (23), and Goodman (23).
I wish Neal Huynh gets a good look for a squad slot because defensive linemen can always be needed especially when (22) and come in at 6’ 4” and 315 lbs. Nolan will be at test to best fit the pieces assembled, and if he can get some pass rush with schemes and personnel deployed Atlanta will have a good year.
With a linebacker crew consisting of only one age of (30) Nicholas, they have experience and youth in
Spoon (25), James (29), Dent (25), Schiller (24), and Banks (27) whom will have the enthusiasm and desire of a twenty year old. Rookies Clancy (23) and Bartu (22) can fight for a practice squad slot.
Under Nolan, I trust “young mistakes” to be few and will be outweighed in years to come when the ‘kids’ get some experience. With the Atlanta offense, any improvement on defense will fill the wish list nicely.
In the Kicking game, sometimes overlooked but very important, Bryant plays like Tony G, much younger than (37) and Bosher (25) has many years of solid booting. The kicking game is even one area Atlanta has the advantage in over the Vegas favorite Forty Niners.
T.D, Smitty, and the Falcon staff may never be great painters, but they sure have assembled a football team Roster Mix that is a Masterpiece heading into camp.