San Francisco 49ers vs. Atlanta Falcons: A Prospector's Guide
by Fooch on Oct 7, 2009 9:30 AM PDT
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vs.
The Prospector's Guide returns after a rather crazy day yesterday and early this morning. It was a whole lot of Michael Crabtree on the mind and it's kind of nice to have a post looking just at this weekend's huge matchup with Atlanta. Nothing is guaranteed yet, but I'm fairly certain we won't see Michael Crabtree on the field this Sunday. So, it's just another football game.
The 49ers host the Atlanta Falcons this weekend in what will be the 74th meeting between the two teams, dating back to 1966. San Francisco holds a 44-28-1 advantage over Atlanta in the series. The 49ers have an 26-10 record when playing the Falcons at home, which includes victories in 12 of the past 14 games at Candlestick Park.
Last week, the 49ers recorded their first shutout since the 2001 season with a 35-0 victory over the St. Louis Rams. In that game, San Francisco’s defense scored two touchdowns and the special teams unit registered one score, while QB Shaun Hill completed two touchdown passes on the day for a passer rating of 104.9. LB Patrick Willis accounted for one of the scores when he intercepted a QB Kyle Boller pass and returned it 24 yards for the score. Willis also posted a career-high 2.5 sacks, becoming just the 3rd NFL player since sacks became an official stat in 1982 to return an INT for a TD and record 2.5-or-more sacks in a single game.
The 49ers have won 8 of their past 11 games, dating back to 2008.
49ers-Falcons Connections
Coaches
• 49ers LB coach Greg Manusky was a teammate of TE Tony Gonzalez with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1997-99, while 49ers OC Jimmy Raye served as the OC for the Chiefs from 1998-00. Gonzalez posted a career-high 11 touchdowns in 1999, followed by the second-highest receiving total (1,203) of his career in 2000.
• 49ers secondary coach Johnnie Lynn and Falcons head coach Mike Smith coached together for Tampa Bay in 1994-95.
• 49ers special teams coach Al Everest and Falcons LB coach Glen Pires coached together for the Arizona Cardinals .
• Falcons defensive assistant Joe Danna was a WR/safeties coach at Central Michigan when 49ers T Joe Staley played there (2004-06).
Players
FORMER FALCONS - CB Allen Rossum played for Atlanta , earning Pro Bowl honors in 2004 ... 49ers OC Jimmy Raye had two stints with the Falcons, serving as WR coach from 1980-82, and then again from 1987-89 ... 49ers QB coach Mike Johnson served as a WR coach with the Falcons in 2002, and then as a QB coach from 2003-05.
FORMER 49ERS - QB coach Bill Musgrave was a quarterback with San Francisco from 1991-94 and a member of the 49ers’ Super Bowl XXIX winning team in ‘94 ... G Harvey Dahl played with San Francisco in 2006 and was on the practice squad in 2005 ... OC Mike Mularkey was a ninth-round draft selection by 49ers in 1983.
TROJAN TIES – 49ers G Chilo Rachal was teammates of Falcons T Sam Baker at USC. Rachal was chosen with the 39th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, while Baker was selected with the 21st overall pick in ‘08.
TIDES ARE TURNING – RB Glen Coffee played at Alabama with Falcons QB John Parker Wilson from 2005-07.
BAYOU BROTHERS – 49ers S Mark Roman played at LSU with Falcons C Todd McClure, while 49ers DT Ricky Jean Francois and CB Curtis Taylor also played at LSU with Falcons CB Chevis Jackson.
Series Highlights
Matchups: 73
Series Record: 49ers lead series 44-28-1
49ers Home Record vs. Falcons: Falcons lead series 26-10
First Meeting: 10/16/66, 49ers win, 44-7, at Atlanta
Last Meeting: 11/4/07, Falcons win, 20-16, at Atlanta
Current Streak: Lost 2
Longest 49ers Win Streak: 5 - 3 Times (1966-68, 1988-90, 1996-98)
Longest Falcons Win Streak: 4 (12/16/79-9/20/81)
Most 49ers Points: 56 (10/18/92): 56-17, at San Francisco
Most Falcons Points: 39 (10/13/91), 39-34, at Los Angeles
49ers Shutouts: 4 Times; Last; 20-0 (11/23/86), at San Francisco
Falcons Shutouts: 1 Time; 7-0 (10/9/77)
ATLANTA 20, SAN FRANCISCO 16
At Atlanta, GA, November 4, 2007
The Atlanta Falcons handed the 49ers their 6th consecutive loss with a 20-16 victory at the Georgia Dome. The 49ers 2nd half comeback attempt was halted by two drives deep in Atlanta territory that ended in FGs rather than TDs, and two turnovers that were converted into 6 Atlanta points. Atlanta converted a fumble into a FG and a Smith INT at the San Francisco 15-yd. line into another FG.
After falling behind 14-7 at halftime, the 49ers opened the 3rd quarter with a drive to the Atlanta 31-yd. line to set up a 49-yd. field goal by PK Joe Nedney. The 49ers appeared to get a break on the next series when S Michael Lewis intercepted a QB Joe Harrington pass inside Atlanta territory to give the 49ers a 1st down at the Atlanta 33-yd. line. The 49ers moved to the 14-yd. line before being forced to settle for a FG to make it a one point game at 14-13. San Francisco’s next two drives ended in turnovers.
The 49ers defense held Atlanta following a QB Alex Smith INT that gave Atlanta a 1st down at the San Francisco 40-yd. line. Then Falcons DE John Abraham forced a fumble on a sack of Smith, allowing the Falcons start a drive at the 36-yd. line. That turnover was converted into a 33-yd. FG by PK Morten Andersen. The 49ers responded on the ensuing drive and seemed poised to take the lead after reaching the Atlanta 1-yd. line. Smith completed a short pass to TE Vernon Davis down to the 1-yd. line, setting up a 3rd-and-goal situation. RB Michael Robinson was stuffed on the next play for a 3-yd. loss, and the 49ers were forced to settle for a 22-yd. Nedney field goal to close the Atlanta lead to 17-16.
With 2:29 to play and the 49ers backed at their own 3-yd. line, Smith was intercepted by CB DeAngelo Hall. Hall’s 18-yd. return to the 15-yd. line set up a 27-yd. FG by Andersen for a 20-16 Atlanta lead. San Francisco got the ball back with 1:10 to play, but Smith threw his third INT of the day to clinch the win. The 49ers opened the game with an impressive 59-yd. drive that was culminated with a 9-yd. TD run by RB Maurice Hicks. Atlanta countered with a 70-yd. TD drive to even the score and then took the lead in the 2nd quarter after converting a 4th down play and a 3rd-and-short to set up a TD and a 14-7 halftime lead. Robinson and Hicks filled in at running back for an injured Frank Gore (ankle).
2009 Statistics
| 49ERS (rank) | FALCONS (rank) | |
| 3-1 (1st NFCW) | Record | 2-1 (2nd NFCS) |
| 25.5 (9th) | Points per game | 19.0 (t-20th) |
| 264.0 (28th) | Total Offense | 303.0 (23rd) |
| 107.8 (15th) | Rushing Offense | 92.3 (25th) |
| 156.3 (28th) | Passing Offense | 210.7 (20th) |
| 31:03 (10th) | Possession Avg | 27:32 (26th) |
| 13.3 (2nd) | Points allowed/gm | 17.7 (8th) |
| 284.0 (6th) | Total Defense | 381.3 (30th) |
| 73.8 (4th) | Rushing Defense | 136.0 (25th) |
| 210.3 (10th) | Passing Defense | 245.3 (27th) |
| 11 (t-6th) | Sacks | 5 (t-26th) |
| 48.1 (4th) | Punting Avg (Gross) | 41.0 (27th) |
| +5 (t-4th) | Turnover Differential | +3 (8th) |
0 recs |
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looks good
on paper for the niners, should be a tough game. hopefully singletary can keep the team focused on this game and not crabs. although his holdout has been a background potential distraction, him signing this week could really be a more prevalent distraction problem.
by pwarren85 on Oct 7, 2009 9:40 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
If Hill can stay in a moving pocket
He needs to get some Brady feet. He gets himself out of position, like Sing said today. If he can display more pocket presence our sacks would be cut in half.
by goatfather on Oct 7, 2009 10:06 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
It's All About Our Abilit To Move The Ball Of Offense
Atlanta’s Defensive Rankings are 25th in pass and 27th in rush. Is that right? WOW! While the 49ers are 10th and 4th in those catagories. We all do know that the 49ers offense hasn’t been that great this season. But neither has the Falcons which is 23rd overall. The Falcons defense gave up 440 yards of offense to the Carolina Panthers. Yes that is right 440 yards. Michael Turner is averaging only 3.5 yards per rush, well below his 2008 output. This added to the fact that the 49ers have held opposing teams starting running backs to an average of 48.5 yards per game. Running Backs that included Adrian Peterson and Steven Jackson. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Which will put a lot more pressure on a 2nd year QB who is going up against a pretty good pass rush. On the flip side the 49ers have given up a whole lot of sacks but i don’t know how that translates into this game. Atlanta only has 5 sacks in 3 games, not a great defensive statistic. To put that in persective the 49ers had 5 sacks just last week alone.
The largerst mismatch appears to be on defense in this game though as the
49ers rank 6th overall and the falcons 30th
Playoffs? Playoffs? Playoffs? Your Talking about Playoffs? Yes Sir I am!!!!!!!!!!!
by nocal81 on Oct 7, 2009 10:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I think this will be a low scoring affair,
17-13 or something like that. We won’t let them score, and we won’t be able to score.
"B-Roy is the best shooting guard I have played against"
-Ron Artest
by premthegrem on Oct 7, 2009 11:16 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Another Connection
Falcons Safety Thomas Decoud is from the Bay Area and went to Cal
by wizard5ive on Oct 7, 2009 11:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Just Spoke to my friend\ Atlanta fan
He maintains that Gonzo is actually hurting the Falcons. That is, Ryan and Gonzo are having a “Romo and Witten” affair, and the Rest of the Team has become T.O.
by goatfather on Oct 7, 2009 11:27 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I am Most Worried about the Field Position Battle
According to Football Outsiders, Atlanta is simply dominating the rest of the league in field position: 13.64 more yards than their opponent for every change of possession — we lose 2/5ths of a yard every change of possession.
If evenly averaged together, we’re looking at the Falcons picking up 7 yards per change of possession. With a league average of 15 changes of possession per game, that’s 105 yards of field possesion that they would have on us — ouch!
Just to demonstrate how important field position can be in an evenly-matched, low-scoring defensive struggle (no TOs by either team), Miami out field-positioned us by 126 yards in the battle we had last year. We stalled midfield twice and were forced to go for the TD at the end of the game. If we had better field position, we would have gotten a FG on one of those drives and could have kicked a FG to win the game. (http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2008121408/2008/REG15/49ers@dolphins#tab:analyze/analyze-channels:cat-post-playbyplay).
by nickbradley on Oct 7, 2009 11:59 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Very telling game
This will be the first game that really tells us anything about the 49ers IMO. We have beaten 3 teams that are obviously below our level and lost to one team that is one of the best in the NFC. The Falcons are conceivably at our level. They are a mid-level playoff team.
I don’t think any of us really think the Niners are ready to compete for the NFC title just quite yet… what I do think we can reasonably expect is to compete at a playoff level. To do this with consistency, we’ll need to beat teams like Atlanta on our schedule. With the game at home, I think we have a better than average shot at taking them down like the putrid Falcons of the old NFC West!
Of course its difficult, its a shortcut... if it was easy it'd just be "the way."
by chirop1 on Oct 7, 2009 12:31 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
crabtree
definitely wont be a distraction. the niners have a coach who will not let that happen. remember we run more than we pass so him signing wont have any effect on how we call the game. we’re a run first offense and always will be under coach sing.
if anything, we needed the guy. who the hell are we supposed to throw to besides davis? bruce? let’s be realistic. bruce is so inconsistent in the offense and battle morgan and hill combined have less receiving yards than our tight end. crabtree brings an added weapon to our offense whether you like him or not.
by ninerfan101 on Oct 7, 2009 12:43 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hey Fooch
As part of Prospector’s Guides, can we add a flashback game from the series between two teams? I like the recap of the most recent but think it might be a cool memory/learning moment for us all to recap a great game the Niners have played in the past against the current opponent. (with a note that will be hard to capture vs Texans and Jags).
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Oct 7, 2009 1:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
flashback game
How do you mean exactly? Are you suggesting something like pick a great game in the historical series and come up with some kind of recap or something for it?
by Fooch on Oct 7, 2009 1:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yep
For this week, it could be a great Niner win in the series (dropping 56 in 1992 as revenge for their “California trophy” after sweeping CA teams during the ’91 season) or a tough Niner loss (the 1991 Hail Mary to Michael Haynes; but also were JT beat Deion for a 90+ yard TD). A way to recount moments in the series between respective teams.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Oct 7, 2009 3:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
intersting
Let me look into that…Not enough time to do it this week (as far as me doing it), but let me start thinking ahead to future weeks for this kind of thing.
by Fooch on Oct 7, 2009 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Appreciate your considering it
And sorry that I may have created yet more work for you. You certainly won’t need anything for the Texans game since our last game against them is our only game.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Oct 7, 2009 3:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
good point
So this might take 2 or 3 weeks to get going…
by Fooch on Oct 7, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Recap
You are going to find about thirty 49ers blowouts and two Falcon Hail Mary victories and Hearst blowing out his ankle.
by bignerd on Oct 7, 2009 5:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
No-no
I know you’re being facetious but we had a long losing streak in Atlanta, from the mid ‘70s until 1984. We’ve also had many weird games in addition to the two Hail Mary losses: the tie in 1986; the finale in ‘95 that cost us home field; Dexter Carter’s fumbles in ‘93. Many blown leads and missed FGs when losing heartbreakers in GA. And who knows how many more good to know moments from way back in the day. I even think Bill Walsh’s first career win was over Atlanta.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Oct 8, 2009 1:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
We are that bad against the Falcons at home?
I find it remarkable that they are 26-10 at our place. That means of their 28 series wins, 26 of them came in Candlestick? So they’ve only won 2 games against us in ATL? If 07 was the one win, that means…the 99 playoff game where Hearst broke his leg was the other?
I suppose it was supposed to be flip-flopped, right? We are 26-10 at home against ATL?
by RobbieS on Oct 7, 2009 7:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
That had to be flip-flopped by accident
They have a very poor record at Candlestick. I think their last few wins here were ’04 and ’91 just to show you the huge gap.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
by SpurredOn on Oct 8, 2009 1:29 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
On paper
Their defense looks pathetic.
Let’s just hope for the best.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by chikmagnet_565 on Oct 7, 2009 8:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Found this on the NFL.com Matchup...
“Gonzalez will be the difference
I don’t think Falcons RB Michael Turner will have success. San Francisco is very stout up front. The problem for the Niners is that they really don’t have a great pass rusher. They have a couple decent ones, but when they need to get to the quarterback, they must blitz to do so. Atlanta has the perfect answer to that problem — Tony Gonzalez. He has terrific timing with Matt Ryan and is at his best in games like this. Atlanta will win a tough hard-fought contest.”
— Brian Baldinger
Really Brian?
by mountaindew77 on Oct 7, 2009 9:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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