Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith has yet to face quarterback Peyton Manning during his five-year term in Atlanta. But prior to 2008, Smith has lots of experience going up against the four-time MVP.
As the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2003-07, Smith and his defense faced Manning 10 times. He also saw Manning while he was the defensive line and linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens in 2001 and 2002.
“(I’ve) had a lot of games against Peyton,” Smith said in a conference call on Thursday. “Watching him run the no-huddle (on Sunday night) was reminiscent of having to play against him when I was in Jacksonville.”
Against Smith’s defense in Jacksonville, Manning threw for more than 300 yards in five of 10 games. But Smith also experienced some moderate success against No. 18, holding him to a quarterback rating of 81 or less four times.
The Falcons’ head coach also talked about his familiarity with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who played his college ball less than two miles from the Georgia Dome.
“(I’m) very familiar with Demaryius from when he was at Georgia Tech,” Smith said. “I’ve known (Georgia Tech) Coach (Paul) Johnson for a long time there at Georgia Tech, so I follow Georgia Tech very closely.”
Smith went on to talk about the challenges of facing a player with Thomas’ skill and size.
“(Thomas) is a big, strong, athletic wide receiver that can create matchup problems,” Smith said. “As a defensive coach, when he gets the ball in his hands, you’ve got to hold your breath, because he can break tackles. He’s got a great stiff-arm, and he’s got outstanding long speed, as evidenced by the way he ran on the quick-screen in the game Sunday night.”
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan also spoke to Denver media in a conference call on Thursday. Like Smith, Ryan spoke of Manning’s no-huddle offense with great respect.
Ryan entered the league in 2008 and has been the team’s starting quarterback since day one. With Atlanta incorporating more and more of the no-huddle offense, Ryan said he looks at the way Manning runs it as he tries to implement a similar style into his own game.
“I think he set the benchmark for quarterbacks playing in that no huddle system really in the modern era,” Ryan said. “We started doing it my rookie year and I think it’s evolved a lot from where we were then until now. I’ve become more comfortable in it. I think our team has become more comfortable in it because we’ve done a bunch of it.”
Monday night will mark the first time Ryan and Manning have faced one another.
Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith, Demaryius Thomas, Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning, Week 2
Well Thomas isnt the same as he was at GT, And if you can stop Thomas somehow you have to worry about Decker. Sorry Falcons without Grimes dont see how you can stop them both. On the other side I can see Bailey stopping Jones and Porter White. But who are we going to match-up against Gonzalez?
Anyways OT saw that we were looking at DTs. Well Marcus Thomas is out there as well.
Thomas is just s beast.
AB, I could be Harris who covers Tony Gonzalez.
I bet that Gonzalez and Turner will have the most cathes on the team becasue champ and porter will force the check down becasue of wonderful coverage.
I just saw that Harris might be out with an ankle sprain. New news to me. This can get interesting.
Strand I should have clarified. I meant if Harris is out. If he isnt then im sure he will cover Gonzalez. But I dont like any of our LBs matched up against him or Tony Carter. Only S is Adams but he would need LB help IMO
So our other remaining CB`s are Omar Bolden and Tony Carter. If I remember correctly, doen’t Q. Carter play S and CB if he has to. I think Q can play both positions.
Our LB`s aren’t made to cover TE’s or WR’s, so yeah your right.
AB, I bet you know, Does’nt Q play S and CB if need, only in Nickel and Dime of course?
Playing Nickel and Dime at CB only I meant.
STrand yes I believe in Nickle and DIme he does. He may be ok. I wouldnt mind doubling Gonzalez with Adams and Trev/W2
Bolden covering him scares me a bit. Bolden got burned during the preseason some and Gonzalez vs a rook just scares me.
I want to see Trev in action, that dude is fast, and a tackling machine to boot.
Bolden needs more reps and time. But for right now, I hear ya bud!
Strand somewhere I saw Fox say that he wants to work Trev into the D more as he saw 0 defensive snaps vs Pitt
Yes, I heard that too. I bet he might become a starting LB before the season is over. If he keeps excelling, there’s room at LB on this team. Very promising for Trtev.
Bolden needs more reps and time but not against someone of Gonzalezs skills or experience. Not right now at least.
I agree about Trev. If not starting he will start seeing a lot more time.
Fully agree on both, well said.
I’m repeating my Prediction score:
Broncos 41
Falcons 34
My score prediction although I don’t know who I’m telling it to….
Broncos: 37
Falcons: 34
The Falcons are driving and are in FG range but Smith decides to go for it on 4-1 bc he wants to run more clock and try to score 6. We stop them, B. Stok makes a critical 3rd down catch, breaks a tackle and gets us into perfect FG range. Prater comes on and takes us home with the walk off kick.
new blog
We gonna’ sick the VonDoomerWolf pack on these fools. Does the carpet taste as good as Candy Striper says Matt?
Denver Broncos 34 Atlanta Falcons 24
Manning 22-30 310 yards 3 Touchdowns
Decker 5 Catches 88 yards 2 TD
Thomas 4 Catches 102 yards
Tamme 4 Catches 35 yards TD
Stokley 3 Catches 40 yards
McGahee 15 Carries 62 Yards TD
Moreno 5 Carries 20 Yards
Miller, Dumervil, Wolfe combine for 14 Tackles and 5 sacks
Im calling 34-10 Broncos. Even with Pitt being on the field aaaallll night they only had 209 passing yards!! Thats darn good and we look real strong in the red zone. Matt Ryan is good but Big Ben is a better QB. I imagine we will have a few more sacks because Ryan is a lot easier to take down that Ben guy. Monday we set our mark as the team to beat!! 34-10!!!!