GDT Week 2: Broncos [1-0] @ Falcons [1-0] MNF!

[elliot878]

Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia ~ Kickoff: 8:30pm ET / 6:30 pm MT ~ TV: ESPN ~ Line: Falcons -3

Atlanta Falcons Depth Chart

Offense
QB: Matt Ryan - Luke McCown - Dominique Davis
RB: Michael Turner - Jason Snelling - Jacquizz Rodgers - Antone Smith
FB: Lousaka Polite
WR: Roddy White - Julio Jones - Harry Douglas - Drew Davis - Kevin Cone
TE: Tony Gonzalez - Michael Palmer - Tommy Gallarda
LT: Sam Baker - Lamar Holmes
LG: Justin Blalock
C: Todd McClure - Joe Hawley - Peter Konz
RG: Garrett Reynolds - Peter Konz - Mike Johnson
RT: Tyson Clabo - Mike Johnson - Lamar Holmes

Defense
LDE: Ray Edwards - Kroy Biermann - Jonathan Massoquoi
DT: Jonathan Babineaux - Vance Walker
DT: Peria Jerry - Travian Robinson
RDE: John Abraham - Lawrence Sidbury - Cliff Mathews
WLB: Sean Weathersoon - Robert James
MLB: Akeem Dent - Mike Peterson
SLB: Stephen Nicholas - Mike Peterson
CB: Asante Samuel - Robert McClain - Dominique Franks
FS: Thomas Decoud - Charles Mitchell
SS: William Moore - Chris Hope
CB: Dunta Robinson - Chris Owens - Terrence Johnson

Special Teams
KR: Jacquizz Rodgers
PR: Harry Douglas - Tim Toone
K: Matt Bryant
P: Matt Bosher
LS: Josh Harris

Denver Broncos Depth Chart

Offense
QB: Peyton Manning - Caleb Hanie - Brock Osweiller
RB: Willis McGahee - Knowshon Moreno - Lance Ball - Ronnie Hillman
FB: Chris Gronkowski
WR: Demaryius Thomas - Eric Decker - Brandon Stokley - Matt Willis - Andre Caldwell
TE: Joel Dreessen - Jacob Tamme - Julius Thomas
LT: Ryan Clady - Chris Clark
LG: Zane Beadles - Philip Blake
C: J.D. Walton - Dan Koppen** - C.J. Davis
RG: Manny Ramirez - Chris Kuper (INJ)
RT: Orlando Franklin - Chris Clark

Defense
LDE: Derek Wolfe - Malik Jackson
DT: Kevin Vickerson - Sealver Siliga
DT: Justin Bannan - Mitch Unrein
RDE: Elvis Dumervil - Robert Ayers
SLB: Von Miller - Nate Irving
MLB: Joe Mays - Steven Johnson
WLB: Wesley Woodyard - Keith Brooking - Danny Trevathan
CB: Champ Bailey - Chris Harris
FS: Rahim Moore - Jim Leonhard
SS: Mike Adams - Quinton Carter - David Bruton
CB: Tracy Porter - Tony Carter - Omar Bolden

Special Teams
KR: Omar Bolden
PR: Jim Leonhard
K: Matt Prater
P: Britton Colquitt
LS: Aaron Brewer

Broncos @ Falcons - Keys to the Game


Offensive Line Play
---Once again, the Broncos offensive line will be tested. The Falcons have a solid set of pass rushing ends in Jon Abraham and Ray Edwards, and their defensive tackles play to get up field and after the quarterback. The Falcons offensive line will face an equally difficult task in defending a stud tandem in Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil. Derek Wolfe has shown he's no slouch as a pass rusher either.

Defending the Tight End
---In order to have a chance the Broncos D will have to do a better job handling the tight end. This has been a weakness since last season, and the Steelers used Heath Miller effectively against us last year. Champ and Tracy Porter will have their hands full on the outside defending the Falcons duo of Roddy White and Julio Jones. The safeties and linebackers will be tasked with keeping Tony Gonzalez in check.

The Home Field Advantage
---The Falcons have been one of the toughest teams to beat at home over the past few years, and if the Broncos want to emerge 2-0 to start the season they'll need to jump out early and quiet what is sure to be a raucus Georgia Dome crowd.
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[elliot878]

hopefully my hot hand continues in making the gameday threads.


Atlanta is one of the toughest places to play. I've got the Falcons 35-31 in a shootout.
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[Denver4Life03]

Can't wait to see Porter after last week. With Julio and White both Champ and him will have their hands full. I might be in the minority after last week but I loved our pass rush. We just couldn't get Big Ben wrapped up. Him being a beast + week 1 I imagine this game will be different in that area. I can see us knocking Ryan down quite abit.

Denver looked real good after week 1. If Denver can come out and steal another win it'll go along way.

Really excited for this game. Great test for the defense and if the defense blunders abit or Atlanta's O just rains supreme than we'll get a really good look at our offense. Wasn't anything to really look into from last week, Denver just got it done on that end whenever they got the chance.

[broncosfan07]

[broncospride95]

Grimes is out for the season for them so that's a huge loss for them. He's a very good CB.

I look for a 28-24 final score with the Broncos winning. I think our defense will look very good this week with the pass rush getting there early and often. Big difference from playing Ben to Matt Ryan.
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Blackhawks-Broncos-Bulls-CU-Cubs

[ToastedOats]

Atlanta is a tough place to play and an extremely tough place to win.

Breakdown

QB's
Matt Ryan played well against the Chiefs, not great, but well.

Peyton Manning played in a dome his entire career....hmmm edge Denver

RB's
Turner did not play a big role in the opener, but he is a stud.

McGhee had a solid day against a good run defense. Edge - even

TE's -
Gonzalez - played well against his former team, but he is not the player Denver played against in his prime.

Tamme/Dressen - will be utilized a ton more because of Manning - Manning makes these two better than they are - Edge Denver

WR -
Jones and White = explosive
Decker and Thomas = up and coming - Edge Atlanta

OL -
Atlanta's line played well against K.C. - different match-up this week.
Denver's line played well against a depleted Pitt defense - again with Manning this helps them out tremendously. Edge - Denver

DL -
Atlanta's front again put pressure on Cassel in the 2nd half which was the difference in the game.
Denver has Dumervil (who had some pressures last week), Miller, and Wolfe and is considerable better this year than last year. Edge - Atlanta

LB's and CB's -
Atlanta is solid, not spectacular
Denver has great corners, so-so LB's and S's - Edge - Push

Atlanta is playing at home with the crowd and a new offense. Denver has Peyton Manning and Porter. Denver hits a 57 yard field goal to win the game 24 to 23.

[JRebar913]

peyton picked apart the steelers defense in a week 1 game which i would think is harder to prepare for, because you are going off of preseason and what you think the team might do. now there is a week 1 game tape to watch which peyton will be able to find some weaknesses in that defense. atlanta wont be able to throw the ball at will because denver has better cb's than the chefs, so id look for atlanta to run the ball more. better test for denvers run d this week.

[dbronx42]

Julio Jones is no joke. He will soon be regarded as a top 3 WR IMO. The guy is a freak of nature... The Falcon's offense is scary good when they start rolling. With Ryan, Turner, White, Jones, and Gonzalez our defense is going to have it's hands full.

On the flip side this will be the Falcons first game without Brent Grimes. Will be interesting to see how they adjust to that. He was one of the best (if not the best) player on that entire defense.

Right now i'm going to guess -

Falcons - 24

Broncos - 27
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[elwayfan07]

I think these two teams are very evenly match. Both have dynamic offenses and good defenses. With these two Qb's, I expect a shoot out. WHen it comes to having a shootout, there is no QB I'd rather have than Peyton Manning. I'm going Broncos 34-31
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[lomaxgr]

I watched the 1st half of the Falcons game against the Chiefs in all-22/endzone camera mode, and I came away impressed. Here are some of my keys to the game :-

* Picking on Dunta Robinson. The guy is awful in the slot. With Grimes going down, will he be moved outside? I don't care if it is Brandon Stokley lined up against him, we need to get at him. Robinson has no instincts, poor footwork (fell twice in man coverage) and he can't tackle either.

* I really liked what I saw from Matt Ryan, but he gets happy feet at times in the pocket. He left the pocket at least 2/3 times prematurely against the Chiefs (without Tamba Hali), so we need to collapse the pocket often to test him early and often.

* With Chris Harris potentially out/hobbled, who will man the slot? Tony Carter came in for Chris Harris for one play, but I can't remember if he played the slot, but I know that Carter didn't play ANY Nickel snaps in the preseason. Would we dare move Champ to the slot in 3 WR packages and leave Carter on Jones/White? Unlikely, but if Harry Douglas starts whooping Carter in the slot, don't be surprised to see us change it up.

* Pass protection on 3rd and long. The Falcons Defense goes all Rex Ryan on 3rd down. Disguised blitzes, lots of movement on the DL, LB's showing blitz then falling back etc. Luckily we have maybe the best presnap QB in the history of the NFL, but don't be surprised to see him get it wrong a couple of times against this 3rd down Defense.

* Attacking the seams of the Atlanta Defense. When in the Nickel, both Nicholas and Weatherspoon played close to their DL aganist the Chiefs and it cost them in pass Defense. Cassel worked the seams well against the Falcons, including a TD pass to Kevin Boss. Now this may well have been the Falcons gameplanning against the Chiefs very good run attack and poor pass attack, but if it wasn't then I suspect to see Tamme and Dreessen involved a lot.

* Tackling on Defense. Matt Ryan gets the ball out of his hands pretty quick on 1st and 2nd down (a LOT of WR screens) so our guys need to be aggressive on the backend and tackle well to avoid yards after the catch. Julio Jones is a nightmare to bring down, but don't sleep on Harry Douglas and Roddy White. Both can make tacklers miss and we have to be wary of them after the catch.

Should be a fun game.
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MUFC OK

[broncos67]

It's gonna be a close game for sure. Atlanta's WR weapons will be a great barometer for where this team really is so far. I think Chris Harris will play, from what it sounds like, his treatment is more preventative than anything.

I'm worried about Tony Gonzalez this game. Probably even more than I'm worried about their WRs. Heath Miller had a fairly good game, and our LBs struggle in coverage. I envision him getting a lot of short yardage gains to move the sticks.

That being said, our performance against the run was encouraging week one, but remember, it was against Steelers backups, and Dwyer actually played very well against us. I don't think Turner is a huge threat, however. He's an overrated RB in my book. Jacquizz Rodgers will be an interesting matchup though, because they like to use him the way we thought we would be using Hillman.

ATL not having Grimes is big. I agree with lomax about Dunta. He's just not very good. We should better be able to attack in the passing game knowing this, and it just so happens Manning looks on point. I think we'll shore up some of our defensive woes this time.

DEN 30
ATL 24
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Thanks, Tzimisce

[paul-mac]

Is Carter ahead of Omar Bolden then?
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[AntiSuperstar]

If the Falcons are going to rely on Tony Gonzalez to beat us, we will win. I could care less about how he performs. This stuff about Heath Miller is massively overhyped. Tony Gonzalez isn't going to break tackles like Heath Miller and since he doesn't have a Quarterback that can extend plays like Roethlisberger does, what's the problem? Woodyard can match up fine to Tony Gonzalez.

[JerseysFinest27]

How about this matchup:

Jack Del Rio vs. Dirk Koetter:
(Former Jaguars Head Coach) Broncos Defensive Coordinator vs. (Former Jaguars Offensive Coordinator) Falcons Offensive Coordinator


You think that will be a fun one to gameplan for?
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[ihatepotholes]