On the offensive side of the ball, our first legitimate first down (as in, not the one given to us by defensive pass interference) was after almost ten minutes had passed in the first half. The first tme we actually got close to scoring (five minutes into the second half) Maurice Jones-Drew fumbled the ball into the endzone, resulting in a touchback for Miami. We were left scoreless until the fourth quarter.

The defensive side of the ball was no better. Their quarterbacks picked us apart with dink and dunk passes and parted our defensive line like the red sea. There was absolutely no pressure on Henne or Pennington. Last week I found myself saying, “Man, Matt Ryan looked good against us” and this week “Man, Chad Henne looked good against us” and I am wondering to myself if that is what the defense is good for: making rookie quarterbacks feel good about themselves.

To quote from Vic’s in-game blog:

8/16/08 at 9:09 PM

Much will be written and said about the failure of the offense tonight, but it’s the other side of the ball that has me concerned.

However, it was not all bad. Troy Williamson played for a few downs but wasn’t given a chance to prove himself. Mike Walker looked a lot better this time around. I haven’t gotten a chance to look at Walker’s touchdown catch that was taken away from him but other than that he didn’t screw up.

To quote Vic again:

8/16/08 at 9:40 PM

Lemon to Walker for a first down. I’m OK with Walker tonight. He’s getting into the flow. He’s showing his upside.

Todd Bouman almost led the team to a comeback and put 14 points on the board in the fourth. Also, Brian Witherspoon looks like he got himself a job as a returner.

Del Rio pretty much felt the same way as most fans did in his post game interview:

Del Rio is usually able to find the positives in all situations, but it was a struggle for him following the loss to the Dolphins. He settled for no injuries, few penalties and the play of Bouman.

“Those are your positives,” he said.

I knew that our third stringers were better than most team’s third stringers and that it why I assumed we would win. I was right in that respect. Our third stringers put 14 points on the board, making us not look as silly when people only see the gameday scores.

To Miami’s credit, they looked like a team who was ready to succeed. My dad, who grew up a Dolphins fan, said he was happy to see the Dolphins performing better this year. He also commented that the people from last year’s team should have been taken out and shot for wearing their uniforms and sucking so hard at the same time. They have a future in Chad Henne. How he lasted until the second round is a wonder. You go, Miami.

The Story: Cleo Lemon is playing in this game against his old team! So is Ernest Wilford! After talking to Brian it seems like we have the better player, believe it or not. Wilford not being good for them breaks my heart though.

The Players: Derrick Harvey isn’t signed. Boo.

The Players To Watch: It seems like our entire Wide Receiving Corps is hurt so this is Mike Walker, Dennis Northcutt and Matt Jones‘s time to shine. Hopefully David Garrard will help them shine by showing the ability throw some bombs.

The Can They Do it Agains: Brian Witherspoon was an amazing punt returner last game with speed that kills. Greg Jones also had an amazing game on the ground. Reggie Nelson bit on a play that resulted in a touchdown but other than that he looked fantastic. Mkristo Bruce also looked good.

The Prediction: The stadium will be empty if it rains. The Jaguars seem to have more depth than the Dolphins and in preseason that is all that matters. Plus, I beat them in Madden and if I can beat some one in Madden they must stink.

Here’s a wrap up:

Maurice Jones-Drew came out swinging but it took a little bit longer for David Garrard (4/10 for 45 yards) to warm up. Garrard did run well, though. He had one run for 21 yards and then a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.

Neither Fred Taylor nor Troy Williamson suited up.

Reggie Nelson, however, was all over the place and totally owning everyone he came in contact with. He and Drayton Florence got an amazing interception to stop a Falcon’s drive.

Matt Jones did really well. He missed one catch of note but it was because it wasn’t thrown that well.

Mike Walker, on the other hand, was a little iffy. He probably caught as many passes as he dropped and he missed a sure touchdown pass from Cleo Lemon. You can’t blame the guy, though. He hasn’t played a game in almost two years. He is probably rusty.

It was hard to judge Lemon’s performance because he was up against second stringers. He looked solid enough. Compared to the other quarterbacks, he had the best performance of the night with 6/10 passes completed and 46 yards. Did I mention we ran the ball a lot?

Now for the run: Chauncy Washington took a little to warm up but he got himself moving eventually. He got one touchdown, his longest run was 6 yards and he totaled 33 yards for the night.

The guy who accumulated the most amount of yards for the night was Greg Jones.  He ran for 39 yards on five attempts. I have always liked Greg Jones and we signed him to an amazing (for him) contract in the off season.

The story of the night is Brian Witherspoon, an undrafted free agent. That kid is FAST. If he hadn’t fumbled a return he would be the talk of the entire game.

Josh Scobee had some amazing kick offs. The kick hung in the air for a while and then landed on the third yard line. He also nailed his field goals. He did much, much better compared to Jason Elam who missed two field goals.

The tackling was awful. Quentin Groves, however, got a nice sack and a good stop against the Falcon’s running back.

Jackson De Ville is apparently not allowed anywhere near the field when the ball is in play. He sustained a hefty fee last year and afterward stood in a cage for the rest of the season. I guess that has carried into this season. Too bad, he is an AWESOME mascot.

The game ended as the Falcons drove down the field for a touchdown. In the last few seconds of the game, D. J. Shockley threw an interception to Pierson Prioleau in the endzone to end the game. It was a pretty exciting end to a preseason game.

Again, it is hard to judge based on preseason. With the first preseason game of the year, everyone is a bit rusty. Mike Smith looked good as the coach and picking up Matt Ryan looks like it will benifit the Falcons. Next week we take on the Dolphins. I cannot wait.