Posts tagged RoddyWhite at FanHouse

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterbacks: If he develops as expected, and if he doesn't have a hidden dog-fighting hobby, the Falcons have their franchise quarterback for the next decade at least. Matt Ryan will be the team's starting quarterback by the start of 2009 for sure. The question is whether he'll be stepping in to replace Chris Redman early this season. Considering how bad Atlanta will be, the likelihood is he'll be under center by Week Eight, when the Falcons come off their bye. Heat Index: 4

Running Backs: If there is one position on the Falcons' roster where they compare favorably to the rest of the league, it may be running back. Jerious Norwood has been one of the most productive backup running backs in the league over the past two seasons (202 carries, 1,246 yards with a 6.2 yard per carry average), and was expected to step into the starting role whenever Warrick Dunn aged out of the position. Dunn finally left town to head back to Tampa Bay, but Norwood will still be the backup, as the Falcons signed LaDainian Tomlinson's understudy, Michael Turner, to a big-money deal. Turner's resume is very similar to Norwood's--he's been a productive backup for three seasons (228 carries, 1,257 yards with a 5.5 YPC average) who is looking to step into a larger role. The two should complement each other pretty well, as Turner is a bigger, one-cut home run hitter with good speed, while Norwood is a shiftier, smaller back with blazing speed. Together, they could be an outstanding combo if they didn't have to run behind such a brutal offensive line. Heat Index: 7

To get you ready for week 16, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Atlanta Falcons/Arizona Cardinals preview.

2007 Records:

Atlanta Falcons: 3-11 (4th in NFC South)
Arizona Cardinals: 6-8 (2nd in NFC West)

Last Game(s):

Buccaneers 37 - Falcons 3
Saints 31 - Cardinals 24

When the Falcons have the ball: After an embarrassing performance against Tampa Bay last week, the Falcons will look to get anything going tomorrow against the Cardinals. And pending an early hole, you can bet Jerious Norwood will finally get the carries Atlanta has been trying to give him for the last two weeks.

Arizona's defense will likely focus heavily on the run in an attempt to make Chris Redman, who went four of 15 for 34 yards and two interceptions last week, beat them. And if all goes according to plan, they'll be able to sit back and wait for a few costly turnovers to come their way.

Welcome to another successful installment of Five Questions with an Enemy Blogger, where each week, via email, I will be exchanging hot questions and [sometimes] answers with a rival blogger about their team and the upcoming matchup.

This week I sat down with Dave the Falconer of The Falcoholic, a Sports Blog Nation column that covers the Atlanta Falcons.

Dan Benton: "It's been a pretty bad couple weeks for the Falcons. First, Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison, then Bobby Petrino up and quit as coach and more recently, Arthur Blank informed Rick McKay that he would not be returning as GM next year. What toll has this taken on Falcons fans?"

Dave the Falconer: "For your more diehard Falcon fan, this has been an almost laughably awful season. You can now add the Bill Parcells rejection to our list of woes, which serves to somehow make this even worse. It's possible that some quality hires will be made and the ship righted, but I'm just ready for this season to end. It doesn't help that a lot of the more casual Falcons fans have been driven away from the team entirely."

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White has been fined $10,000 for flashing a T-shirt reading "Free Mike Vick" after a touchdown Monday night.

The $10,000 fine is fairly standard in the NFL for things like end zone celebrations that use props and unauthorized personal messages on uniforms, so White didn't get any extra punishment for the content of his message.

The message was flashed less than 12 hours after Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for running the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting ring. White's explanation for his shirt:

"That was homemade. I did that myself," White said. "It ain't too much to say, you know. The team misses him and we really need him this season. There ain't too much more to say about it."

If that was White's point, a "We Miss Mike Vick" message would have said that a little better, and would have avoided the implication that White thinks people who are rich and famous are above the law. Also, just wondering: Where were White's pleas from freedom when another football player in Georgia was in prison?

It was certainly a coincidence that Michael Vick would be sentenced on the same day his former team appeared in a nationally televised game. For both parties, it couldn't have gone much worse. Vick got 23 months and the Atlanta Falcons were throttled 34-14 by the Saints on Monday Night Football.

In terms of Xs and Os, there wasn't much to look at for Falcons fans (save the masochists and Chris Redman's family members). In terms of remembering Ron Mexico, though, there was plenty to keep fans busy. During player introductions, Vick's former Virginia Tech teammate, DeAngelo Hall, busted out a Michael Vick poster, signed by the puppy murderer himself.

And wide receiver Roddy White pulled up his jersey to reveal a "Free Mike Vick" t-shirt after scoring a touchdown.

"That was homemade. I did that myself," White said. "It ain't too much to say, you know. The team misses him and we really need him this season. There ain't too much more to say about it."

Hall told the Associated Press that "We did that for the simple fact we wanted to let him know we're still thinking about him ... That was my personal thing for doing it."

The Falcons organization has gone through a lot since the off-season, and most of it is Vick's doing. Hall said he wanted to send "a tribute to Mike", almost sounding resigned to the fact that he'll likely never play with the former quarterback again. Mr. Mexico won't be out of the joint until 2009, and not only is it doubtful he'll return to the Falcons, his NFL career is probably over. All because the guy loved to fight dogs. What a waste.
Sorry, No Photos

You'll have to forgive me if I was a little bit surprised to see Gus Frerotte littering completions all over the field in a first half against the Falcons that included three touchdowns. This was the guy, after all, who couldn't transfer the ball about a yard from the center to the running back last week. But there he was today against the Falcons, all Steve Young and ish.

That lasted solely through the first half, however, as the real Frerotte showed up in the second. As Chris Redman was giving the Falcons new life operating under center, Frerotte was sucking the life from the Rams. He sandwiched two Redman touchdown drives with interceptions, allowing the Falcons to score 16 unanswered points.

To get you ready for week 13, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Atlanta Falcons/St. Louis Rams preview.

2007 Records:

Atlanta Falcons 3-8 (4th in NFC South)
St. Louis Rams 2-9 (4th in NFC West)

Last Game:

Colts 31, Falcons 13
Seahawks 24, Rams 19

When the Falcons have the ball: There hasn't been much to say about the Falcons offense this year that doesn't fall into the "You know, Coach, yards per carry is an important stat. Maybe you should pay attention to it" or "Well, maybe it's time to give Chris Redman a go?" departments. But Roddy White has been a pleasant surprise. The Rams' defense has been steady against the pass all season, and their rush defense has held three straight opponents to under 100 yards.

Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.

Overlooked Player of the Half-Season nominees:

To get you ready for week 7, FanHouse is previewing all of this week's games. Here is the Atlanta Falcons/New Orleans Saints preview.

2007 Records:

Atlanta Falcons: 1-5 (4th in NFC South)
New Orleans Saints: 1-4 (3rd in NFC South)

Last Game:

Giants 31, Falcons 10
Saints 28, Seahawks 17

When the Falcons have the ball: The move to Byron Leftwich from Joey Harrington had less to do with Harrington's play than the overall state of malaise on the Falcons' offense. The team feels the move to Leftwich might provide a spark, but I'm not so sure. Other than a stronger arm, Leftwich doesn't have anything on Harrington. And behind a weak offensive line, the move to Leftwich might be even more detrimental. At least Harrington had some mobility; the downgrade to Leftwich in that department is like going from a moped to James Brown. If Leftwich can remain upright, he might find Roddy White and Michael Jenkins against a Saints' secondary that is susceptible to the big play. But that's pretty much their only hope. The Saints rush defense, bemoaned in the past, is making incredible strides. They've held four straight opponents to under 100 yards.

With the Falcons this year, it seems that every piece of good news comes with bad news as well. The Atlanta paper points out today that Roddy White has emerged as the Falcons' best receiver, seeming to add more evidence to the whole third-year breakout theory for wide receivers.

According to White, losing a little weight and regaining his confidence has made all the difference. He now eight catches for 110 yards in two games.

But this is the 2007 Falcons, so some good news comes with bad news as well. Now the question is what has happened to Michael Jenkins? The fourth-year receiver has slid down the depth chart and has only three catches in two games. It would be easy to say that he's not getting balls because of the arrival of Joe Horn, but Horn only has three catches as well. Atlanta's spent a lot of draft picks and money on the receiver corps. White's now stepping up and earning his keep, but over the upcoming weeks Jenkins and Horn have some work to do.