But I’ll plow ahead.

We love Elam. The guy’s missed a couple of field goals this year, but he carried us through the first couple weeks when we were still finding our offensive identity. Great signing for us.

Zorn I think is a talented coach, and the Redskins made the right move getting someone who has more talent than name recognition. His offensive philosophy is a little timid for my liking, but there’s no doubt that the team has improved under him.

Strengths: One of the best young quarterbacks in the league (Matt Ryan), a bruising running attack led by Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood, one of the league’s best receivers (Roddy White), a competent offensive line, sackmaster John Abraham, an opportunistic secondary and a steady kicker. Oh, and there’s our rookie head coach, who probably deserves the most credit of all.

Weaknesses: We tend to fade offensively in the second half of games. The Falcons also have only a fair defense and tend to give up gobs of yardage. Hard to say what they’ll do when expectations actually catch up with their level of play, too.

We put Domonique Foxworth in our starting lineup; I believe you guys may have heard of him. He was pretty good today. We have some ballhawks at cornerback, though almost all of them are young guys who struggle against elite options.

The real anchor of our secondary so far is safety Erik Coleman, who seems to be near the play constantly. Lawyer Milloy ain’t bad, but he’s not as young as he used to be.

But I always hope it will become the go-to touchdown dance for us. The ’98 team was a great one…at least until we lost to you guys…

Norwood will beat you for a couple of big gains, but that’s pretty much unavoidable if you’re going to plug up the middle against Turner. Once you’ve done that, the Falcons will be forced to throw. The only way to stop Matt Ryan effectively—especially with Champ out—is to put constant pressure on him.

In short, put a lot of guys up front and blitz unexpectedly. That’s the most effective way to do it.

We’re hurting without rookie LT Sam Baker, who is been our best thus far. Still, young LG Justin Blalock and the group have done a good job protecting Ryan while he’s out. They struggle a little with run blocking.

If we can’t thrive on offense, our defense isn’t quite good enough to limit the other teams. That’s especially a concern against the Broncos, who obviously have one of the league’s strongest passing attacks.

As strange as it sounds, one of our worst picks was LB Robert James in the fifth round of this last year’s draft. We didn’t need another linebacker—we arguably really needed a defensive tackle or guard—and he didn’t do much before getting hurt and placed on injured/waived. Bummer.

The 2007 draft was a toss-up. WR Laurent Robinson has been incredibly limited by injuries, but he does still have considerable potential. TE Martrez Milner was a total bust and is now practice squadding for the Giants.

This is not the same team. The Falcons of last year are gone, and so are many of our entrenched starters. Even those who remain have been conditioned to adapt what Mike Smith calls the “process,” which is kind of like a secret recipe at a restaurant. You don’t know what it is, but the results are delicious.

And no, very few fans thought this was going to happen. I was among the doubters, and I have to give credit to the few of those who really thought this was possible. I love the Falcons as much as anyone. I just didn’t give them the credit.

The Georgia Dome can be extremely loud and our guys are comfortable there. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that.

That said, there are teams that could take us at home. The Giants, Titans and Steelers spring readily to mind because of their particular blend of defense and a crushing running game. Not too many I’d say would have an easy time beyond that.

Wasn’t great until this year. Arthur Blank finally put his pride aside and just hired a guy (NE’s Thomas Dimitroff) who he thought could run the franchise. The front office has been nothing less than magnificent this year, but I would like to see a little more attention to positions of need in the off-season. Very happy, though.

He’s got a killer arm, a deft touch and is thoroughly unshakable. The Falcons have given him a decent line and an excellent running game, and he’s just killing defense this year.

His biggest strength is his decision making, and it helps that he has Roddy White to throw to. Kid’s destined for great things.

Most of our pressure on defense comes off the edges. The pass coverage is largely managed through effective man-to-man coverage, but our backs communicate well and the safeties help well.

On offense, we run a metric buttload of plays. We occasionally roll out the Wildcat, we’re very fond of trick runs and the shotgun is employed sporadically. You’ll see a lot of different looks this weekend.

-when an opposing offensive guy goes in motion does a falcon defender follow him?

Can’t explain why, but I both detest and loathe them. I dislike the Saints too, and I’m relatively indifferent toward the Panthers. Except when they win. Then I hate them too.

Saints fans really don’t like the Falcons and Bucs fans aren’t generally very fond of us either. I think most Panthers fans don’t have quite enough history to feel the same way. Except when they lose. Then they hate us too.

Atlanta will give you a cross between the Bucs and the Saints. The defense is competent enough to hurt you, but it’s hardly a juggernaut. Our offense is fairly high-flying, but it’s not quite the same caliber as the Saints’. I think it’s our balance that really makes us a great team. The Panthers simply have a lot of great pieces and are still the class of the NFC South right now.

I’d love to show up on MHR Radio, but I do work a night shift. Might be tricky to finagle that unless it was pre-recorded.

We’re employing a more traditional blocking scheme that utilizes bigger, slower linemen. Guys like C Todd McClure have now been through shifts to zone blocking and back again, but some of our smaller and nimbler linemen are now playing for other teams.

Zone blocking worked very well in the Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett days, but our talent at running back is making it less of a necessity.

DUFFMAN CAN’T BREATHE! OH NO!

But you had a question. DeAngelo Hall has talent, but his attitude and style of play make him pretty much useless as an upper echelon cornerback. He doesn’t see why he shouldn’t freelance, he’s not much of a tackler and he will always go for the ball. That results in a lot of passes whizzing over his head to wide open wide receivers who then chug down the field for lots of yardage or touchdowns.

The Raiders simply weren’t willing to pay him, while the Falcons got rid of him because he was practically poisoning the water fountains in Atlanta. He demanded to be traded to a quality football team and then revealed himself as the money grubber we thought he was when he gladly took a huge contract from the Raiders. So to sum up, he was expensive, a loudmouth and wasn’t anywhere near a true #1 corner.

John Abraham hurt himself during the game and was off and on the field. The big one was LT Sam Baker, who has been an anchor for the line. There’s no timetable for his return at this time.

McClure and Weiner are likely to be listed as questionable or probable on this week’s injury report, with Weiner the frontrunner to actually miss some time. John Abraham suffered a stinger and should be fine for you guys.

But I’d say we’re a bit better against the run. The pass defense is prone to bending to the very precipice of breaking, whereas our run defense is a little less forgiving. We have some great pursuit athletes in the front seven.

He’s gotten me about 20 points per game for me this year, though I have noticed a pattern. Every other week, he has an awesome game, and every other week he’s below average. This week, judging by that pattern, he will have an awesome game. Have you noticed that pattern, and what do you attribute it to?

Also, I would like to thank midseason pickup Roddy White for saving my WR corps (and whoever was so foolish as to cut him). I was relying on Sidney Rice and Donald Driver before. Ugh.

any signals we can look for to see when he should be activated? Is he even worth a roster spot?

I noteiced that the Falcons are middle of the road or worse in most defensive categories EXCEPT the biggie, points allowed, where I believe they are ninth.

Any reason to believe that they might get better in the defensive categories, or worse in points allowed as the season goes on?

Who would you start this week at QB, Matt Ryan or Tony Romo?

About our chances for the wildcard, but the Carolina Panthers are likely to be sitting at 8-2 after next weekend and will be very hard to catch. Given my expectations coming into this season, I’ll be pretty damn happy if we finish 9-7, playoffs or not.

We run more often and we churn out constant yardage. It’s hard to understate just how reliable the passing game has been since about the 4th week of the seasons, but I’d still go with Turner, Norwood and Snelling.

Those are my two favorite colors, as well. It gave me an excuse as a humble young New Englander to wear those colors in a sea of Patriots blue and silver.

Possibly Matt Ryan, if he keeps going on his current pace. A guy with over 3,000 yards, 22 TDs and 10 INTs for one of the better teams in the NFC deserves a spot.

Michael Turner has to go, as does Roddy White. Those guys have been monstrous for us. On the defensive side of things, young linebacker Curtis Lofton deserves consideration alongside safety Erik Coleman.

Of course, John Abraham will probably go, given that he has more than 10 sacks. Dude’s a beast.

Clady, Royal, Harris, and Marshall.

Cutler, one way or the other. Eddie Royal is an obvious choice. Ryan Clady is a beast and must go. Marshall has better numbers than Royal and probably should go, but I’m a fierce Royal supporter.

Their strengths are their passing game and it seems to me special teams is high-quality, as well. Until all your injuries at running back, I would’ve just said offense in general.

I’d definitely chalk your defense up as a weak point.

And they must keep him around for the long term. I never knew the kid was going to be this good, but he’s producing like crazy and even blocks extremely well for a wide receiver. I’ll never stop wishing for Terence Mathis, but this is a good start!

More or less every game is a must-win. Against a team without a stellar defense, I’d say that need becomes a little more urgent.

I’m actually a Boston Celtics fan. Weird childhood, I guess.

Still, I can tell you that the Hawks are and should be reasonably expected to grab the 7th or 8th spot in the East this year. They’ve got considerable talent and play a very aggressive brand of basketball, which I enjoy watching.

If you rile us up, you might be in trouble, but simply showing up in a Broncos jersey shouldn’t cause you any problems. Unless we’re drunk. Then we get mean.

Dear EastCoastBronco,

We regret to inform you that Dave the Falconer is a mere blogger and has no magical powers, tracking devices or a degree in bounty hunting. We wish you luck in finding your woman, and suggest you start by running down the streets of Atlanta calling her name.

Sincerely,
Management

I would’ve done A) and even possibly B), but C) was not cool. That was the happiest day and then one of the unhappiest days of my life as a fan.