The final preseason game for the Falcons was more for the players that were on borderline of getting cut. Some regular starters did play such as Thomas DeCoud, William Moore and Curtis Lofton. But they only played a series or two and head coach Mike Smith let some of the second and third-teamers play in what could be their final game of the year.
When the final seconds ticked away, the Falcons could not earn their first win of the preseason as they fell to the Baltimore Ravens 21-7 at the Georgia Dome.
But Mike Smith was quick to point out that even though he would have liked to win, there were other things that the Falcons wanted to accomplish.
“We obviously rested several of our No. 1 players as we get ready to go for the regular season,” Smith said. “Our No. 1 goal is to be as healthy as possible for that first game.”
Smith rested players such as Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Tony Gonzalez and John Abraham. He did that because he didn’t want his starters to risk injury and he wanted the rest of the coaching staff to get a closer look at the younger guys.
“We wanted to get one last look at several players,” Smith added. “There’re a lot of guys fighting for roster spots. We obviously saw some guys step up, we saw some guys didn’t.”
One of the guys that stepped up was running back Antone Smith who rushed for 114 yards on 11 carries and scored the team’s lone touchdown early in the third quarter to put the Falcons up 7-3.
“I think I did pretty good,” Smith said who is fighting for the last running back spot. “I left some things out there but that’s how the game is.”
The defense as a whole stepped up as well. Brent Grimes nabbed another interception on the Falcons’ opening series Ray Edwards was able to pressure Baltimore quarterback Tyrod Taylor which led to a Kroy Biermann sack on the same series.
“With every game no matter win, loss or draw, you go out there and see what you can do better,” Edwards said. “That’s what we feel we can do. Just go watch the film and do better.
Trey Lewis had a sack and Robert James and Carlton Powell each had half a sack for the Falcons.
While the defense was making plays, the offense had its share of struggles. John Parker Wilson played the majority of the game and he made two costly mistakes that led to Ravens’ points.
Late in the third quarter, Wilson threw an interception to Chykie Brown which was returned for a 65-yard score to put the Ravens ahead 10-7. Then later in the fourth quarter after Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff kicked a 44-yard field goal, Wilson was sacked deep in Falcons territory, fumbled the ball and was recovered by Jason Phillips. On the next play, Damien Berry scores on a 5-yard run to ice the game for Baltimore.
But Smith is not worried about Wilson’s play or the fact they finish the preseason with a 0-4 record.
“We want to go out and we want to win ball games,” Smith said. “To say am I’m disappointed, yes I’m disappointed. To say am I concerned, no I’m not concerned.”
Smith said he had a goal for this team during the preseason and they were able to accomplish that during the preseason.
“This football team is a very mature football team,” Smith said “We had a plan in place in terms of things we had to get accomplished looking at, and I think we’ve been able to do that through the preseason.
The reality is the preseason is done and the Falcons now have to focus all their attention now the Chicago Bears because that’s the team the Falcons will face in Week 1 of the regular season and Edwards knows it going to be a tough game to win.
“I came from a division where I had to play those guys twice a year,” Edwards said talking about his time playing against the Bears when he was with the Minnesota Vikings. “They like to run the ball at you and hit you with the play action pass and go deep.”
The game will be played at Soldier Field and kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on Sept. 11.
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