The Falcon perspective on Saturday's game

It's always an interesting exercise to see how a Lions opponent views things following a game, and what insights that can provide on our team. Atlanta Journal-Constitution football writer D. Orlando Ledbetter blogged about "10 things we learned from the Lions game." Ledbetter called the Falcons' 27-26 loss "shocking," apparently forgetting how the Lions dominate the preseason.

Follow the link to read them all, but here are a few I picked out for their relevance to the Lions:

"1. The Falcons front-seven — with two new linebackers and a new nose tackle — has to improve against the run. Perhaps they are just working out the kinks and getting used to each other." Glad they noticed, as we did, a very successful ground game throughout for Detroit on Saturday -- 191 yards and a 5.5 average. Admittedly that was helped by some QB scrambles, but hey, that's part of the game.

"4. Running back Michael “The Burner” Turner’s legs looked pretty fresh on that 40-yard touchdown run." Uh, yeah. That was an awful little flashback to last year, with Lions "tacklers" flailing in futility. An inexcusable big play that should not have been.

"6. Right guard Harvey Dahl is still a beast. He worked out poor rookie Sammie Lee Hill in those first two series. Hill is trying to make the jump from SIAC school Stillman. (Morehouse and Clark Atlanta’s conference.)" I don't know how much credit should go to Dahl. No spin here -- Hill did not look good, and was pretty well manhandled his entire time in the game. Those expecting significant contributions from a guy who played for something called Stillman last year may need to be patient. And the D-line may need some more additions before they start playing for real.

"9. Thomas Brown was a little rusty on kickoff returns. He seem to be running into tacklers." Conversely, you could say the Lions' kick coverage looked pretty good Saturday.

"10. Defensive end Jamaal Anderson needs to stay on his feet to stop getting so easily taken out of plays." Good job Gosder Cherilus neutralizing a solid defensive end in the league. Discuss in The Den!

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