NFC South | Atlanta Falcons Tickets

Falcons prep for Lions after dismal loss to Ravens

The defense of Baltimore reared its head Sunday as Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons were smothered by the Raven’s D. Ryan was sacked five times for a loss of 42 yards.

“I think they’ve got a big menu in terms of what they do defensively,” Ryan said. “I thought we were on top of schematically what they wanted to do. Our issue came down to execution. I thought they out-executed us. They played better than we did.”

The Falcons got back to work this week preparing for the Detroit Lions who are coming off a 24-23 victory over the New Orleans Saints. The game will take place in Wembley Stadium, in London, U.K. at 9:30 A.M. Eastern time. The game is sold out.

Falcons ready to fly again

Former Head Coach Tony Dungy gives the team a 5-point plan

After losing to they NY Jets, the Atlanta Falcons used their bye week to regroup and hopefully rebound after a rough 1-4 start. They got a little extra incentive from former Tampa Bay Buccanneers and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Tony Dungy who espoused a 5-point plan to right the ship.

Dungy, in town for Comcast’s Internet Essential Program, Dungy spoke with D. Orlando Ledbetter for his webpage AJC.

Here’s what Dungy thinks the 1-4 Falcons must do to fashion a turn around:

STAY MENTALLY STRONG: The mental approach must be strong. They can’t let the injuries get them down.

GET JACKSON BACK: Quarterback Matt Ryan would benefit greatly from the return of running back Steven Jackson, who could return some balance to the offense. Basically, the Falcons are passing too much behind a revamped line.

FIND A PASS RUSH: The defense needs to ramp up the pass rush. “What they don’t have is those one or two guys that can put that pressure on the passer,” Dungy said. “That’s what this league is all about now. Protecting your passer and rushing the passer.”

PUT TOGETHER A MINI-STREAK: The Falcons have enough firepower to get this season turned around. “They just have to keep going with the idea that ‘if we can get on a three-game winning streak, we can get back in this,’ ’’ Dungy said. “They have enough firepower to do that.”

PLAYER BREAKTHROUGHS: Under the current roster structure which was fashioned after the Colts, some of the late draft picks and undrafted players need to turn into major players like Robert Mathis and Antoine Bethea did for him in Indianapolis.

The Falcons take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday. Great seats and tickets are still available.

Falcons face 49er’s for NFC Title

The Atlanta Falcons will face the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC Title this Sunday after narrowly defeating the Seattle Seahawks 30-28. Now the Falcons will face a 49er’s squad that pummeled the Green Bay Packers 45-31 in a game that set an NFL record for quarterbacks (which stood for 93 seasons) when Colin Kaepernick rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns all the while passing for 263 yards.

”Our offensive line did an amazing job today,” Kaepernick said. ”They shut everybody down inside. Our receivers, our tight ends, blocked great outside, and our running backs were running hard, so it made it easier on me.”

The Falcons took out the Seattle Seahawks and their QB Russell Wilson but will face another challenge with the 49er’s/Kaepernicks read-option attack. They will also have to deal with one of the if not the fastest QB in the NFL.

“You’ve got to have vision on defense,” Coach Mike Smith said. “You can’t match up and play match coverages or man-to-man because when he gets in the secondary he’s a guy that can go the distance. He outran a number of fast players in the ball game on Saturday night.”

The game kicks off at 3 pm on Sunday afternoon.