by Dave Weinthal
posted September 5, 2009
Exhibition football is like kissing your cousin. No matter how hot they are, it really doesn’t matter or count. If you enjoy it, well there’s some thing wrong. Worst is the last preseason game. It’s like the first time you ever walked in on one of your parents in the shower or changing. After the initial horror, the morbid curiosity of the situation sneaks in. So was the case Thursday night at the Georgia Dome as the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Atlanta Falcons 20-3.
The final preseason game is also reminiscent of a Halloween party as well. There were plenty of guys out there – and in all exhibition games this final week that will never wear an NFL uniform again. This was their photo-op to play dress up pretending to be an NFL player. All that was missing was candy being handed out and the Great Pumpkin.
“I want to say tonight’s objective for us as a team was to look at several guys battling for roster spots and to leave this game injury free. I think we were able to get an evaluation on a number of guys and the best thing about it was we did leave the game injury-free. To my knowledge, there were not any significant injuries,” said Falcons’ head coach Mike Smith.
Matt Ryan and the first team did make a guest appearance during the first series. Both he and Michael Turner moved the ball down to the Ravens’ 34-yard line before Ryan was sacked by one of the few Baltimore first teamers to suit up Terrell Suggs.
Third-string quarterback John Beck played the entire game for the Ravens and looked pretty good going 16-28 for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
His counterpart was rookie John Parker Wilson out of Alabama. After a three-and-out including being sacked, Wilson finally settled down and was serviceable as a back up. He played until the middle of the third quarter before giving way to DJ Shockley. Wilson led the Falcons to their only score going 13-of-19 for 80 yards. Another drive ended with Jason Elam missing a 45-yard field goal attempt, his only miss in the preseason.
Shockley on the other hand looked lost out there. A remnant of the Michael Vick era in Atlanta, he received cheers from UGA fans in attendance, but his performance didn’t garner any further cheers. He was 2-of-6 for 15 yards and an interception for a quarterback rating of 2.6.
Beck led the Ravens to their first score during their first possession completing some big passes and mixing in the run as Baltimore went 91 yards to take a 7-0 lead.
After giving up the touchdown the Falcons defense settled down as they held the Ravens to three straight three-and-outs for a total of four yards. In fact both offenses were in check until the fourth quarter when Baltimore ran off 13 unanswered points to finish out the preseason. Beck hit Eron Riley from 15 yards out – probably another guy in his last NFL game. (He actually hunted down the ball after the score to take as a souvenir).
The Falcons finish the preseason 2-2, their sixth consecutive non-losing preseason. Now is the time fancy footwork has to be done by football executives, however. They have until the weekend to trim rosters down to 53 to begin the season. While this was being written seven have already been cut. They include safety Eric Brock, cornerback Glenn Sharpe, offensive tackle Adam Speer, offensive guard Ryan Stanchek, cornerback Tony Tiller, center Ben Wilkerson and wide receiver Chandler Williams. The Falcons have 13 more to release by 4pm on Saturday.
“It’s hard to make an evaluation when you are standing on that sideline. You have to evaluate the tape, and that’s something we’ll be doing tomorrow and into Saturday. There are a number of guys that were competing for spots on our roster, and I really can’t say the specifics, because we’re going to evaluate the body of work, what they’ve done through OTAs, mini-camp, and preseason games,” says Smith.
The Falcons begin the regular season in earnest next Sunday when they host the Miami Dolphins at the Georgia Dome. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm and will be telecast on CBS.
Dave Weinthal
eggman@vol.com
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