‘Sugar and Salt’ – Week I
By Ian Borders
Each week for my post game analysis, I will give one offensive and defensive Falcon player a little “sugar” for his “sweet” playing on the field. I will also give one player on the Falcons a little “salt” for his salty, lackluster play for the week. Please feel free to leave comments and provide your own “Sugar and Salt” for the week. You can also tweet me at @ianborders7 or all of us at bloggingdirty.com at @bloggingdirty to provide input for your picks each week.
Sugar (offense)- Matt Ryan- Anytime a team puts up 40 points in a single game it means that just about everyone is doing a pretty “sweet” job. However, I narrowed it down really to two players…. then eventually one. Matt Ryan, due to his 299 yards, 3 throwing touchdowns, and 1 rushing touchdown earned this weeks sugar on offense. Julio Jones was close, and had it just been based on the 1st half, he would’ve won it, but Matt Ryan’s off-season proved to be helpful as the Falcons literally flew away from the Chiefs. He orchestrated the new offense to perfection, at least from the fans eye. Let’s see if he can keep it up next week.
Sugar (defense)- Stephen Nicholas- Curtis who? Stephen Nicholas made us fans totally forget about the traitor Curtis Lofton who marched off to the Saints in the off-season. The linebacker wracked up 10 solo tackles, 2 assisted tackles, 1 interception, and a fumble recovery against the Kansas City Chiefs. Some players don’t get an interception and a fumble recovery for the whole season! Dude was like air….he was everywhere! If Sean Weatherspoon and Stephen Nicholas can continue to flock to the ball like that, there will be many more turnovers to be forced, which only means greatness the way the offense is already clicking.
Salt- Brent Grimes’ Achilles- The off-season was filled with confusing questions about what to do with corner back Brent Grimes. Eventually, when the Falcons put the franchise tag on him, the organization knew they would have to sacrifice money elsewhere due to the expensive tag. Then, in the first game of the season, the achilles of Brent Grimes decided to rubberband pop its way onto injured reserve for the rest of the season. This has to be frustrating for Grimes and the Falcons, due to the fact he was trying to earn that long term contract and the Falcons money is pretty much wasted away. Thankfully, the Falcons lucked up by stealing Asante Samuel from the Eagles for almost nothing (7th round pick). Dunta Robinson needs to step up from the nickel spot, back to his corner back spot from last year which makes me very nervous about our passing defense for the rest of the season. Please Robinson….No more torpedo tackles…
September 09, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Dexter McCluster (22) runs for yardage as Atlanta Falcons cornerback Brent Grimes (20) attempts the tackle in the second quarter at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE