Filed under: Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, NFC South, NFC WestFLOWERY BRANCH -- The Atlanta Falcons have a plan for Mr. Quick Off The Ball, Darnell Dockett. They are impressed with his quickness. They slowed down film and saw that he does not always get away with jumping the snap; he actually does time it up and come across the line legally. The Arizona Cardinals defensive end is quick and eager and the Falcons have a plan for him.
Without breaking rules on his side of the line of scrimmage by jerking his head violently to draw Dockett offsides, Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan is going to use some hard snap counts to catch Dockett in the act. Ryan is going to change the tone of his cadence, and change the rhythm. Dockett likes to anticipate the snap and come across and blow up plays. The Falcons want to make him think twice.
"Those guys are good at jumping the count," center Todd McClure said. "We'll have to keep them honest and mix up the count a little bit. They're already good players so when you give them a head start it makes it that much tougher."
The Cardinals play a 3-4, but it behaves more like a 4-3. While the Steelers linemen skated along the front of their 3-4 defense, holding up the Falcons' offensive linemen, the Cards get upfield aggressively with ends Dockett and the 6-foot-8 Calais Campbell.
"If you didn't know better you would think it was a regular 4-3 defense," McClure said.
The Falcons have to be aware of the inside slashes of Dockett and Campbell. If they drop step too much with tackles, they will fly inside.
Speaking of light-bulb changer Campbell, McClure has watched the third-year pro develop nicely.
"He's turned it on. A couple of years ago he was still developing and right now he has turned into a pretty good player," McClure said. "He's got that length and uses it well."
The Falcons have been talking this week about doing the "little things" to get their run game functioning better. Michael Turner had 42 yards rushing against the Steelers in a 15-9 loss.
So what are the "little things."
"Hands, the right steps, pad level, all the things you work on over and over," right tackle Tyson Clabo said. "Every once in a while every one of us would not do the little thing you need to win and it was at a crucial point, a crucial spot on a particular play.
"The thing about football is that just a little bit here makes a two-yard gain turn into a 20-yard gain. It's O-line, it's receivers, it's running backs. We were all pretty disappointed about last Sunday."
Mike Mularkey, the Falcons offensive coordinator, said teams are not just going to let the Falcons rip the top off their defense with the big pass play. Atlanta is going to have to grind and get the ball into the red zone.
The key, said Mularkey, is drive and protect the ball and take shots when they are there. The long pass plays, Mularkey said, are in every week.
Michael Jenkins, the Falcons split end, stayed on the field with assistant coach Terry Tank Robiskie for 30 minutes after all the other players had gone in for lunch and meetings. Jenkins caught passes and just worked and worked. He is still not going to play Sunday because of his bum shoulder.
"They won't give me the green light," Jenkins said. "That's all I'm waiting for." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
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