Defensive ‘A Team’ gives Falcons hope

By Darrell Laurant  |   Wednesday, August 29, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Atlanta Falcons
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If someone hasn't been following the Atlanta Falcons for the past couple of seasons (maybe because they were posted overseas or in a coma), they might be surprised.

"Wow, they've got Jamal Anderson back. But how come he's playing defense?"

No, it's not the Jamal Anderson who was the blunt instrument for the "Dirty Birds" Super Bowl team. He was a running back. This is Jamaal Anderson -- an extra "A," about 60 extra pounds.

Still, as hard as it might be believe now, the 6-foot-6, 280-pound current Anderson played a lot of wide receiver in high school, catching 85 passes for 1,620 yards and 13 touchdowns. But the University of Arkansas wanted him for the other side of the ball (Anderson broke former Oklahoma star Keith Jackson's sack record at Parkview High School in Little Rock), and the Razorbacks weren't disappointed.

On his way to becoming the Atlanta Falcons' top draft pick last April, Anderson finished with 17.5 sacks for the Razorbacks, 13.5 last season. He also racked up 130 tackles during his career (32 for negative yardage), blocked a kick and recovered two fumbles. He didn't catch any passes.

Of course, that's already history. What matters to Falcon fans is this Jamaal Anderson's performance in the recent past, most notably Atlanta's 24-19 victory over Cincinnati in the penultimate preseason game.

Anderson was, at times, scary. Lined up at left end opposite John Abraham, he twice blew around the Bengals' protection to sack QB Carson Palmer (although, on the second, Palmer seemed to just collapse with only one hand laid on him), and wound up with five tackles.

This was good news for Abraham, who is finally healthy and had probably resigned himself to a season-long grind of fighting through double teams. Now, maybe not.

"He's going to be a very good player," Abraham said of Anderson, whom he compared to a young Michael Strahan.

And with this "A Team" working the edges, an improved secondary (forgetting how badly DeAngelo Hall was schooled by Chad Johnson on Monday night) and a solid running game, the Falcons may not be as bad as they've been expected to be without Michael Vick.

After all, there is a tendency to forget that Vick had his ups and downs. Not that Joey Harrington will be, by any stretch of the imagination, an upgrade, but he might be the type of guy who allows his teammates to play better. Vick, after all, had the ball in his hands 60 percent of the time.

It was encouraging that the Falcons' offensive line generally gave Harrington the time he needed, even on empty backfield sets. And Harrington, for the most part, threw the ball well.

But back to Jamaal Anderson. Some of the craftier tackles around the league may well shut him down for a little bit, unless he learns the extra moves required to succeed on this level. Yet while he may not be Jevon Kearse in his rookie season, he may make the Falcons forget about Patrick Kerney.

And even, on occasion, about Michael Vick.

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