Wow, Tannehill must have been on a lot more teams than I expected!
I actually liked what I saw from Woodside. It’s a better backup situation than when we had Cassel or Gabbert.
49ers on line one. They’d be fine - probably even better with Trey Lance. Hah but that is probably the only credible example - so yah.
Preseason means nothing. Backups who look good only look good because they’re playing against backups. The difference between starters and backups in the NFL is similar to the difference between division 1 and division 2 football in college.
In Woodside's case he looked fine considering the blocking and made some outstanding throws. All his best weapons were not playing. The TD pass was Drew Brees like.
Also, not relevant to football, but how did Woodside make himself look like Mark Wahlberg? Remember those look alike threads? 
Definitely a good qualification. But it remains possible a player doing that against back ups could do it against starters. Time will tell. Better that he can do it against backups than not be able to. Bottom line he did well in his first action and that is promising. No need to give him rookie of the year just yet.
It looks like our offense with Mariota. Can't run, OL sucks, QB sucks, WRs can't get open. Can't underestimate the confidence that the entire offense gained when Tannehill became the QB here. Even our depth guys look like they have something to play for. If Ryan isn't up to the task, Atlanta is going to have a lot of problems.
Seems like a little harsh for preseason game #1.
Falcons should've picked Justin Fields. Pitts is the real deal, but I think the Falcons are in rebuild mode and should've selected a QB over a TE.
Art wasn't blessed with a complete team like Matt LaFluer was.
The Falcons passing on Fields was inexcusable considering the state of that team.
Selecting Fields would not haver helped them win now but would have given them a QB as early as 2023 to replace Ryan. Teams need a backup QB anyway and Fields could develop for a few years.
Hard to jump to conclusions on how good or bad the Falcons are based on one pre-season game where few starters played. In fact it is almost embarrassing how much people put into these games. At best you can look at some individual performances, good or bad, but making general observations doesn't make sense.
Thus we can wait and see if passing on Fields was the right move or not because the Falcons obviously feel they have a team ready to compete for a SB now. I'd lean more to rebuild perspective but they apparently want to milk all they can before Ryan retires.
Hard to jump to conclusions on how good or bad the Falcons are based on one pre-season game where few starters played. In fact it is almost embarrassing how much people put into these games. At best you can look at some individual performances, good or bad, but making general observations doesn't make sense.
Thus we can wait and see if passing on Fields was the right move or not because the Falcons obviously feel they have a team ready to compete for a SB now. I'd lean more to rebuild perspective but they apparently want to milk all they can before Ryan retires.
Their defense and OL are bad and they just traded away Julio Jones. We knew well before this weekend that the Falcons were not contenders this year. Because they will not buy in on the rebuild, pitts rookie contract will be up by the time they can be competitive.
While this makes complete sense, the nature of the NFL does not. You can't take a QB that early and let them sit for two years anymore.
excellent argument AGAINST exhibition games
Missed the game but caught the recap on YouTube. Saw Weaver beating his man a few times. Looked like the blocking held up well and we were able to establish to the run pretty easy. Most importantly, kicking game was perfect.
Anyone care to fill in what I missed? Anyone really standout on offense or defense?
Anyone care to fill in what I missed? Anyone really standout on offense or defense?
As would be the case for nearly every team in the league who doesn't have an elite defense to supplement their offense.
You pretty much covered it. Hard to say much more based on one pre-season game.
-Darrynton Evans hurt his hamstring again, no idea how bad it is
-Weaver was dominating pretty much everyone he lined up against
-DL in general was getting pressure, exactly like what we heard in camp
-Long Jr. was all over the place
-No real standouts from the WR corp:
-Dez Fitzpatrick looked lost, Racey McMath didn't see many opportunities, and Cam Batson had a very nice catch on a back shoulder ball for a TD
-Marcus Johnson barely saw any routes (only 9 total snaps I). That could actually be good for his outlook on making the roster
-Radunz played a ton and was up and down
-Fulton played with the starting D
Not if the objective of pre-season game is to evaluate players. You need to figure out which ones you want to keep or let go. You could do that with a scrimmage like we will have with Tamps but either way there needs to be some reasonable competition to make comparisons. Who should be our 2nd string QB? Do we pick a name out of a hat? Game conditions are impossible to replicate in practice.
Why can't you? Fields is making about what a vet backup QB would make (<$5 mil per year). As long as you know what you have before you pay the 5th year option you can sit them fairly cheap until they are ready.... Oh, and you get the 5th year which makes it even easier to sit a QB a year or two.
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