Bills-Falcons Preview
Associated Press
Posted Dec 25, 2009
AA
Although they won't get a chance to make a playoff run this season, the Atlanta Falcons still have something to play for in their final two games.

With a chance at the first back-to-back winning seasons in the 44-year history of the franchise, Atlanta (7-7) hosts the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

The Falcons were eliminated from playoff contention last Saturday when Dallas knocked off previously unbeaten New Orleans. Atlanta took a step back this year after going 11-5 in 2008, when it made its first playoff appearance in four seasons.

"We're disappointed in terms of not having an opportunity to play past 16 regular-season games," coach Mike Smith said. "We still have a lot of internal goals that can be reached. Those are things we talk about as a team. We don't talk about them publicly."

Smith's team snapped a two-game skid with a 10-7 road victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.

Tight end Tony Gonzalez leads the Falcons with 78 receptions and needs six to reach 1,000 for his career.

"As a man taking pride in what you do for a living and loving what you do," said Gonzalez, who caught the winning TD against the Jets with 1:38 remaining. "You owe it to yourself and the fans and the organization to go out there and play your butt off. That's what we did."

After missing two games with a toe injury, Matt Ryan went 16 of 34 for 152 yards and threw his career-high 17th TD pass Sunday. He needs 557 passing yards to reach 3,000 for the second straight year.

While Ryan can lead the Falcons to another winning season, the Bills' quarterback situation is uncertain. Buffalo (5-9) re-signed Gibran Hamdanthis week after Ryan Fitzpatrick and backup Trent Edwards suffered ankle injuries in a 17-10 loss to New England on Sunday.

Fitzpatrick did not practice Wednesday, opening the possibility for second-year pro Brian Brohm to make his NFL debut. Brohm spent a majority of practice working with the first-team offense, ahead of Hamdan.

Interim coach Perry Fewell declined to rule out Fitzpatrick on Wednesday, saying the quarterback was feeling better. He did rule out Edwards.

Whoever starts at quarterback will have no chance of leading Buffalo to the postseason. The Bills were eliminated from contention Sunday and missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year, tying Detroit for the longest active drought in the league.

There doesn't seem to be much for the Bills to play for in the last two games besides individual accomplishments. Running back Fred Jackson needs 189 yards to reach 1,000 for the first time in his three-year career.

"It's something I'm aware of," Jackson told the team's official Web site. "My (twin) brother (Patrick) more than anybody keeps me updated on how close I am. It would be a good way to finish the season. With us not being able to go to the playoffs, that's definitely something that's in striking distance."

Atlanta ranks 20th against the run, allowing 116.5 yards per game.

Suffering through one of his worst seasons, Terrell Owens is two receptions shy of become the sixth player in history with 1,000. Owens, on pace for 54 catches, needs 88 receiving yards to pass Tim Brown for third all-time with 14,935.

Michael Turner, second in the NFL with 1,699 rushing yards in 2008, may not play the rest of the season due to an ankle injury. After missing the previous two games, he was injured on his first carry against the Jets and did not return.

The Falcons, looking to snap a two-game slide at the Georgia Dome, have won three straight at home against Buffalo. The teams have not met there since 2001.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/200912270 ... ls@falcons

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"Tis The Season, Fa la la la la LaFontaine" - Rick Jeanneret

i know i know it's christmas nobody wants to hear about the buffalo bills.

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"Tis The Season, Fa la la la la LaFontaine" - Rick Jeanneret

Top 3 Individual Matchups
1. Lee Evans vs. Christopher Owens – Owens is a rookie, but has appeared in all 14 games for the Falcons. He’ll have his hands full with a veteran of Evans savvy and speed. However, a new signal caller for the Bills with all of four practices with Evans could level the playing field a bit.

2. Jonathan Scott vs. John Abraham – Abraham hasn’t been nearly as productive as he has been in the past with just 4.5 sacks this season, but the Bills have had their share of problems protecting on the edges this season. In a road atmosphere in a dome, noise will be a factor and an advantage for the veteran pass rusher.

3. Reggie Corner vs. Roddy White – White (6’0” 214) will have a clear size advantage against Corner (5’9” 175) so the cornerback will have to time his jumps well to challenge for the ball at its high point on deep balls down the sideline and jump balls in the end zone.

Bills Top 2 Advantages
Good advantage – Punt return – The Bills haven’t been wildly successful on punt returns this season, but Roscoe Parrish might be finding his groove after a 20-yard return last week. The Falcons have struggled covering punts as they rank 30th in the league giving up over 11 yards per return including a touchdown on the season.

Best advantage – Pass defense – For a Falcons offense that has passed 57 percent of the time this season, the Bills might not be the defense they want to see. Buffalo ranks third in the league in pass defense and leads the NFL in interceptions with 26.

Bills Number 1 Must
Run game – Week after week pounding the football on the ground has been the game plan, but rarely have the Bills been able to stick with it due to the score on the board in some games of late. It’s important that Buffalo has success on the ground against the league’s 20th ranked run defense, especially if Brian Brohm is the starter at quarterback. The offensive burden has to rest on Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch’s shoulders.

Scouting Eye
3rd down doldrums
While the Bills have had a myriad of problems converting third downs on offense, where they rank last in the league (25.3%), the Falcons have just as much trouble stopping their opponents. Atlanta allows their opponents to convert third downs almost 47 percent of the time, which largely explains why the Falcons are the league’s 28th ranked defense. Part of the problem is Atlanta allows an average of six yards against them on first down (5.73) putting their opponents in favorable third down and distance situations.

Dome home
Under head coach Mike Smith the Falcons have developed a true home field advantage at the Georgia Dome. After going 7-1 at home last season, the Falcons are already 5-2 this season with their only losses coming at the hands of playoff bound New Orleans and Philadelphia. Only the Colts and Vikings have more home wins (13) over the past two seasons than Atlanta (12).

Line is fine
Falcons left tackle Sam Baker is still banged up, but Atlanta’s offensive line has done a good job of protecting their quarterbacks this season. The Falcons have given up just 23 sacks this season, good for fifth best in the NFL. Earlier this season Atlanta’s offensive line went a streak of better than four games (18 quarters) without giving up a sack. Since 2008 the Falcons have had 13 games in which they have not surrendered a sack.

Going for it
Falcons head coach Mike Smith has not been shy when it comes to going for it on fourth down this season. A total of 18 times this season Atlanta has kept their offense on the field on fourth down and 13 times they have converted. Their 13 conversions rank third best in the NFL and their success rate of better than 72 percent is second best in football.

Big time players nicked
Two of Atlanta’s most noteworthy playmakers are nicked up. Leading rusher Michael Turner re-aggravated his high ankle sprain last week against the Jets and is not expected to play on Sunday as he’ll turn things over to Jason Snelling and Jerrious Norwood in the run game. Meanwhile middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, the team’s leading tackler, is battling shoulder and hamstring injuries and may also not be available.

Going to Gonzo
When your offense needs a third down conversion it’s hard not to look at a Hall of Fame tight end like Tony Gonzalez. Through 14 games that’s just what Falcons’ quarterbacks have done. Gonzalez ranks sixth in the league in third down receiving. Thus far this season the Atlanta tight end has 26 third down receptions for 309 yards and two touchdowns.

Buffalo Chips
Quote of the Week
“I think everybody just wants an opportunity and if I get the opportunity on Sunday to go out there and play I need to seize it. No matter what the circumstances it doesn’t matter that this is my first week getting reps in this offense. I need to seize this opportunity and try to make the most of it.”
--QB Brian Brohm

Stat of the Week
Fred Jackson is averaging 117 rush yards per game in two starts against the NFC this season.

Milestones in reach
Lee Evans needs 31 receiving yards to move into third place on the Bills’ all-time receiving yardage list.
Chris Kelsay needs one sack to set a new single-season career high.

Terrell Owens needs two receptions to become the sixth player in NFL history with 1,000 for a career.

Paul Posluszny needs one interception for his third consecutive game with an INT.

Final Note
With a win the Bills would improve to 3-1 this season against NFC South opponents.

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"Tis The Season, Fa la la la la LaFontaine" - Rick Jeanneret

Only watching this week because I would like to see Brohm outplay Fitzpatrick and Edwards.

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God this season is pathetic....on our 3rd no-name quarterback. Yay!

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Hold my beer and watch this...

wooo 7-0..... falcons...

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anyone know who our backup quarterback is?

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I will continue to enjoy talking to myself

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Way to go, T.O.! He was probably too busy thinking what his next ~tweet~ on Twitter was going to be.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

That was quite the play.

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yeah, when we fumble we act like we didn't but do it all the time and get caught.. now when we "wanted" to fumble we can't make them believe it... WTF

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Man the Bills are terrible... at least the Sabres are doing well......wait....

Don't jynx it now

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I am now confident that I can go do something else until the Sabres game and not miss a thing worth seeing. Thanks, Bills!

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I like your attitude. At least it's positive

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YES... LETS GO BUFFALLO!!!!!!!

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Brian Brohm.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Well actually, the back-up to the back-up is Gibran Hamdan.

Depth:
Trent Edwards
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Brian Brohm
Gibran Hamdan.

Buncha *bleepin* losers - All of 'em.

Glad I missed this. What is too bad, though, is that I missed the win over the Blues so I could go see Avatar. Well worth it, though

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mechaphil

I was kind of hoping Brohm would get yanked so Hamdan could play lol.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual