The Atlanta Falcons finished the 2010 NFL regular season with a 13-3 record. They won the NFC South, and earned a first round bye and then lost a home playoff game to the eventual champion Green Bay Packers. This team looked unstoppable at home, as they only lost one home game in the season but of course that did come late in the year to the New Orleans Saints. That is a little troubling, but this is still a very good football team.
The offense scored 414 total points or 25.9 points per game on average. Matt Ryan is the team’s starting QB and he completed 62.5 points per game for 3,567 yards, with 28 TD’s to just 9 INT’s. Very impressive numbers from the kid they call Matty Ice. The running game behind him averaged 118.2 yards per game, and the O line allowed 23 sacks.
The defense is also pretty good as they gave up just 288 total points or 18 points per game on average. Their take away differential was +14, and one of the best in the NFL in 2010. They forced 14 fumbles and picked off 22 passes. They also racked up 31 sacks. All of their numbers in terms of team defense have they ranked in the top third of the 32 NFL teams and overall they were a top ten defense.
With a 13-3 record there is no question that this is a very good football team, however they keep coming up a little bit short and that seems to indicate that they still are a piece of two away from being a great team. Whatever that piece is they need to find it sooner rather than later.
Related Links:
- Atlanta Falcons news and notes
- The Business of the NFL
- Joshua Lobdell.com