A Return to Flight (Atlanta Falcons 2008-????)

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

After a tumultuous year in Falcon-land that saw their beloved, athletic quarterback Michael Vick sent to prison for dog fighting and gambling, their first-year head coach Bobby Petrino jump ship mid-season for the Arkansas job, and 4-12 record, the Falcons set out to right the ship.

They started by hiring 17 year old John Monahan as General Manager to run the front office and former Jag's Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith as Head Coach. The team then signaled its new on-field direction by selecting Boston College QB Matt Ryan with the #3 overall pick. In an effort to separate themselves from the Michael Vick era the team also cut ties with veterans like tight end Alge Crumpler and running back Warrick Dunn.

Now, starting the '08-'09 season, the future looks bright with Matt Ryan under center. The future also looks faraway, however, as the team has a spotty, makeshift offensive line and defensive unit. The team will now try to unite, and win, under the new management of GM John Monahan and QB Matt Ryan.

***********************************

Realistic Goals ('08-'09 Season):

Win 6 games
Matt Ryan finish with more TD's than INT's
>25 points allowed per game
Michael Turner finish with 1,000+ rushing yards


Optimistic Goals ('08-'09 Season):

Win 8 games
Make the playoffs
Matt Ryan win Offensive Rookie of the Year

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

I've been thinking of starting a Football Mogul Dynasty for a while now, and with the recent influx of a couple other Football Mogul Dynasty writers I think I'll give it a shot. This won't be replacing my Kansas City Royals BBM Dynasty, merely serving as a side project and supplement to it. I think I'll do a little better with a football dynasty, though, because the season is shorter (in terms of games) and I think I'll be able to have a little more fun with it.

[RedsoxRockies]

Wow, these dynasties are booming up like crazy!

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Just a couple notes.

First, I'm waiting for the [IMG] tags to be enabled in this forum before getting to the games and stuff. I plan to do a bit more detailed game-to-game approach than the other Dynasties have been using (not to insult the other ones, just the way I like to do things.)

Second, I'm not as knowledgeable when it comes to football as I am when it comes to baseball, especially statistically. I'm not really familiar with what is a below-average, or average, or elite RYPC or RYPG figure, for example. So I apologize in advance for mistakes on that front, because they're bound to happen. Hopefully this will help me learn more about football (as well as providing something for me to do in my spare time :D) in my process of writing it.

Third and last, I'll probably be simming and playing these games, but I'll tell you which games are played and which are simmed.

[DarthJaker]

dont know i might get my mom to spot me 5 more dollars and i might buy this or maybe if 10 has historical rosters idk

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

dont know i might get my mom to spot me 5 more dollars and i might buy this or maybe if 10 has historical rosters idk

I think its a pretty good buy. Definitely worth the money. Plus it never hurts to support the company.

[DarthJaker]

I think its a pretty good buy. Definitely worth the money. Plus it never hurts to support the company.
dont know i got to get a job to keep up with game buying bbm next year and i might buy fbm although im saving up to buy a nintendo DS to get Madden 09 and mlb power pros 2008 for it

[RedsoxRockies]

dont know i got to get a job to keep up with game buying bbm next year and i might buy fbm although im saving up to buy a nintendo DS to get Madden 09 and mlb power pros 2008 for it

I got a DS a few years ago, and I thought it was too blocky, and not really that amazing. The PSP, while slow, in my opinion is better, especially for sports games

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Detroit Lions @ Atlanta Falcons
http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/v/nfl/teams/20080123/80x60/det.gif http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/v/nfl/teams/20080123/80x60/atl.gif
(0-0) (0-0)
Week 1


Lions 14 - Falcons 17
21 Rushing Yards 82
276 Passing Yards 219
297 Total Yards 301
3.0 YPR 2.7
68% Completion % 74%
11 1st Downs 15
2 Turnovers 1
4 Sacks 3
5 for 30 Penalties 2 for 10
1/8 3rd Down 3/12
23:14 Time of Possession 36:46

The Good:

Matt Ryan went 14/20 with 250 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in his first game in the NFL. But most importantly he helped us get a win.
Roddy White caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux picked off two passes.
The defense combined for three sacks, two from Rod Coleman and one from John Abraham.
We held the Lions to only 21 rushing yards.
We held them to 1/8 on 3rd down.


The Bad:

Our offensive line allowed four sacks in the game, all in the first half.
Michael Turner rushed for only 71 yards on 23 carries, for a YPC of 3.1.
Not much else went bad for us overall in this game.


Summary:

We played a pretty good game to start the season.

The game remained scoreless going into the final minutes of the first half, until Matt Ryan led the offense on a four play, 50+ yard drive at the end of the second quarter that ended with him completing a 21 yard touchdown pass to end the half.

We then exchanged field goals with the Lions and the game remained 10-3 Falcons until Jon Kitna torched our pass defense three plays in a row with passes of 13, 10, and 18 yards, the last ending finishing with Shaun McDonald in the endzone to tie the game.

Our final scoring drive was highlighted by a 59 yard pass from Matt Ryan to tight end Ben Hartsock, and ended with a one yard touchdown run by Michael Turner.

After tacking on a field goal shortly after that, the Lions tried to mount a comeback. They nearly did so, but Jon Kitna threw an interception to Jonathan Babineaux on the Falcons five yard line for the final play of the game.

What a way to end it!

Offensive Player of the Game: Roddy White 7 catches, 107 yards, 1 TD
Defensive Player of the Game: Rod Coleman 2 sacks, seven tackles, and Jonathan Babineaux 2 INT's

Looking Ahead:

After playing well to start the season, next week we head to Tampa Bay to play the division rival Buc's.

The Buc's are 0-1, but played very well in their season opener, losing by a score of 24-21 to the Saints. They held the Saints to 48 rushing yards, but had trouble stopping the pass as Brees went 33/43 with 282 yards, 3 TD's, and 1 interception, something we'll have to capitalize on. Offensively they played solid as well, rushing for 92 yards total and a YPC of 4.2. Griese was 14/27 with 195 yards, 3 TD's, and two picks.

This game could be a real test. Its on the road and in the division, so it'll be tough to win. But a win like this, if we can get it, could go a long way towards being a surprise contender this season.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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(1-0) (0-1)
Week 2


Falcons 24 - Buccaneers 42
57 Rushing Yards 50
168 Passing Yards 224
225 Total Yards 274
2.7 YPR 3.6
48% Completion % 78%
14 1st Downs 10
3 Turnovers 0
1 Sacks 4
2 for 10 Penalties 2 for 20
6/11 3rd Down 1/5
31:33 Time of Possession 28:27

The Good:

We were 6/11 on 3rd downs
We won the TOP battle.
Matt Ryan had 2 TD's.
Laurent Robinson had 5 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.


The Bad:

We allowed 3.6 yards per rush.
Matt Ryan looked very much like a rookie, completing just 12 of 30 passes and getting picked off three times.
Roddy White had only one catch for 16 yards.
The offensive line allowed four sacks....again.
The list goes on....


Summary:

We really tanked this game in the second half, after a promising first half.

After allowing a touchdown on the Buc's first possession of the game, we promptly countered with back-to-back scores. One was a one yard touchdown run by Michael Turner and the second was a 14 yard pass from Ryan to Brian Finneran. Just before the end of the first half we put another touchdown on the board, via a pass from Ryan to Laurent Robinson from 15 yards out, and led 21-7 going into the second half.

But that's where it all got ugly.

The second play of the second half was picked off and taken to the house by Ronde Barber to bring the game to 21-14. Another score came by the Buc's less than six minutes later, this time a pass from Griese to Galloway. We managed to tack on a field goal before the end of the third quarter, but it wouldn't matter much. During the fourth quarter Matt Ryan was intercepted two more times and the Buc's put three more touchdowns on the board.

Just a bad, bad way to start divisional play for this team.

Offensive Player of the Game: Laurent Robinson - 5 catches, 67 yards, 1 TD
Defensive Player of the Game: Chauncey Davis - 1 sack

Looking Ahead:

After struggling badly this week we fortunately play a struggling, 0-2 Kansas City Chiefs team.

The Chiefs have been outscored 72-45 in the first two games of the season, losses to the Patriots and Raiders. They were -1 on turnovers in both games and allowed a total of 173 rushing yards and 520 yards passing.

Hopefully after struggling this week we can earn a bounce back win against the Chiefs.

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Kansas City Chiefs @ Atlanta Falcons
http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/v/nfl/teams/20080123/80x60/kan.gif http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/sp/v/nfl/teams/20080123/80x60/atl.gif
(0-2) (1-1)
Week 2

Chiefs 21 - Falcons 24
61 Rushing Yards 46
244 Passing Yards 317
305 Total Yards 363
3.4 YPR 2.2
80% Completion % 79%
17 1st Downs 17
1 Turnovers 1
2 Sacks 4
2 for 10 Penalties 2 for 10
6/11 3rd Down 3/8
27:22 Time of Possession 32:38

The Good:

John Abraham was a beast on the defensive front line. He recorded six tackles and three sacks.
Laurent Robinson had a strong game, catching 10 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Matt Ryan played well, completing 22 of 29 passes for 300+ yards and a touchdown.
Erik Coleman picked off a pass and had three tackles.
We dominated on offense, collecting 363 yards of total offense.


The Bad:

We're still having a hard time getting Michael Turner going. This time he collected only 43 rushing tards on 19 carries, although he did rush for 2 TD's.
We allowed 3.4 yards per carry.
Our pass defense got dominated somewhat. Brodie Croyle went 24/31 for three TD's and a pick, and Dwayne Bowe burned us for 10 catches and 121 yards.
We allowed them to convert 6 of 11 3rd downs.


Summary:

This was a pretty exciting game.

We started out fast, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter. One was a four yard touchdown run by Michael Turner and the other was a 5 yard pass from Matt Ryan to Laurent Robinson. The Chiefs managed to punch in a one yard TD pass just before the end of the half to bring it to 14-7, and it got kind of interesting from there.

We nailed a field goal to start the second half. However, the Chiefs managed to score another touchdown on their next possession to bring it to within three. After trading possessions without scores a couple times between the end of the third quarter and beginning of the first, Croyle completed a 16 yard touchdown past to Devard Darling to give the Chiefs a 21-17 lead. Then, with the game on the line, Matt Ryan led the team on a 7 play, 79 yard scoring drive in which he went 5/6 for 77 yards. The game winning drive was punctuated by a two yard Michael Turner touchdown run.

Offensive Player of the Game: Laurent Robinson - 10 catches, 143 yards, 1 TD
Defensive Player of the Game: John Abraham - 6 tackles, 3 sacks

Looking Ahead:

Next week we head to Carolina to take on the 1-2 Panthers.

The 1-2 record is very deceiving, though. Their two losses have come by a combined 10 points, and one of the losses was by a field goal in overtime. So they could just as easily be 3-0 as they are 2-1.

This is a big game for the young Atlanta Falcons. We'll have a tough time winning, but hopefully we can pull it out.