Falcons News and Notes


By Dean Legge Publisher
Date: Aug 24, 2005

FLOWERY BRANCH - Renowned assistant coach Alex Gibbs, whose offensive line paved the way for the NFL's No. 1 rushing attack last year, was livid when left tackle Kevin Shaffer and left guard Matt Lehr each drew a 5-yard offside penalty near the end of the first quarter.

On the first snap of the second quarter, officials hit Shaffer with a holding penalty that Tennessee declined. Quarterback Michael Vick, who threw an incompletion on the play, was sacked for an 8-yard loss on the next snap.

"We had a lot of pre-snap penalties out there," fullback Justin Griffith said. "That's not our football team. So I think we're going to come back this week and work on that and start over again. I think we should put more points on the board, but things didn't work out tonight. We're going to go back to work."

--After Vick and Brian Finneran connected for a 4-yard touchdown to convert the team's first third down on the opening drive, the offense missed on six of its last seven chances.

Not surprisingly, the Atlanta defense was on the field for 43 minutes, 24 seconds -- an unmanageable situation even in a preseason game -- but it still looked horrendous in allowing 31 first downs and a third-down conversion ratio of 12-for-20.

"I certainly wasn't happy with our performance past the first drive and the return for the touchdown," Mora said. "I don't think we played up to our standard, and I told the players that. They understand that, and they felt the same way. I was extremely happy with our first drive. We talked about starting fast. We had a rhythm going, and if our offense would have been able to get back on the field, circumstances might have been different."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's necessary, especially after a game like this because we'll have a little more time on the field with the amount of penalties and mistakes that were made on the field today. We kind of need to get more game-time situations because camp can only help you to a certain extent. You have to transition over into the game. I think that will be important next week." -- Wide receiver Dez White on the team's preseason game Thursday night at Jacksonville.