By: John Manasso
August 20, 2010
Here are five thoughts from viewing the Falcons' 28-10 preseason loss on Thursday night to New England at the Georgia Dome:
1. Biermann looks like a starter. The crushing hit on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is sure to make highlight reels and it's starting to look more and more like the Falcons are not going to be able to keep defensive end Kroy Biermann a secret for much longer.
Coming off five sacks last season, Biermann has had a sack and a forced fumble in each of his first two preseason games. He started on Thursday against New England and that is looking more and more like it will be the case as the regular season gets closer and incumbent Jamaal Anderson, who has not matched Biermann's production, is not only hurt but also seems as if the team is planning to move him to tackle.
Asked if Biermann is pushing for a starting job, head coach Mike Smith said, "no doubt about it."
"Production is what it's all about and Kroy is definitely making a statement with his play in these first two ballgames," the usually circumspect Smith said.
As for himself, Biermann seemed determined not to take any credit for his play, deferring it to defensive line coach Ray Hamilton and teammate John Abraham (who looked good with a tackle for loss and in drawing a holding call).
When pushed, the Montana product said the fact that he was in his third year and that "it just takes time" was part of the reason for his play.
"I've got a long ways to go here," he said, but then added, "I also feel I've gone a long way, so we'll see."
He might not have much farther to go to a starting spot when the season opens.
2. Battle for back-up QB. From the time that Matt Ryan left the game after the second series with 4:45 left in the first quarter, John Parker Wilson played the entire rest of the game until Chris Redman handed the ball off for the night's final three plays.
Smith was being tight-lipped on whether that means that the Falcons are simply trying to develop Wilson or whether he's being given an opportunity to unseat Redman as the No. 2. It seems like it might be the latter.
"I don't believe you can have too many quarterbacks and Chris is an experienced quarterback, he's played in this league, he's started games," Smith said. "John Parker Wilson was a college free agent and we felt it was very important for us this preseason to get him some game experience to see where he fits in in terms of our quarterback depth."
Last year the Falcons appeared to give D.J. Shockley a chance to win the No. 2 job but instead he played his way off the team. Parker is doing more with his opportunity. He threw the team's only touchdown pass on Thursday and overall was 14 of 25 (56 percent) for 98 yards, as he seemed to reinvent the dink-and-dunk. He also had an interception on an ill-conceived fourth-down play (more on that later). That hurt his quarterback rating, as he fnished with a mark of 61.8.
Overall, he ran the offense fairly efficiently with a fair number of rookies around him. This story does not appear to be over.
No. 3 Douglas returns to the field. As Harry Douglas was playing his first game since, as he put it, his rookie year, the Falcons appeared to want to get him the ball as much as possible. He was targeted four times -- more than any of the team's wide receivers.
He caught two passes for a total of 13 yards and took two pretty good hits, including one that broke up a catch from New England's Jonathan Wilhite.
"It felt good playing on my knee," Douglas said. "It's going great. I felt like I was cutting good. I felt a little rusty, but there are little things you learn from and brush up for next week and go on."
Douglas said it was good to "have contact like that, get back in the swing of things."
"I look at it as
