Atlanta vs. BALTIMORE UNDER 34
Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons face the team that ruined their 2003 season Thursday night, as the electric QB, his club, and their new coach travel to play the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. In a preseason contest on August 16th of last year, Vick broke his right fibula after a hit from Baltimore linebacker Adalius Thomas. With Vick down for the season's first 11 games, the Falcons stumbled out of the blocks and finished 5-11. The Falcons are walking on eggshells with their franchise player this exhibition season, as Vick will only the opening series.
The contest will also mark the head coaching debut of Atlanta's Jim Mora, Jr., who took over in the offseason following Dan Reeves' termination. Mora, formerly the defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, is the son of former Saints and Colts head coach Jim Mora. Jim Jr., will use a west-coast offensive approach while attempting to strengthen a defense that ranked dead last in the NFL with 381.8 yards yielded per game a year ago.
Under center for the Ravens will be second-year pro Kyle Boller, who like Vick missed a significant portion of 2003 due to injury. Boller should also play sparingly, with backup Kordell Stewart taking a wealth of the snaps in a game that will mark his Ravens debut. Josh Harris, a sixth-round draft choice out of Bowling Green, should also see plenty of time in the second half.
Under normal circumstances, we would give a non-playoff team with a new head coach a very strong look as a road underdog against a quality opponent off a playoff season; however, we don’t have normal circumstances here. Most new coaches come in looking to establish a winning attitude and will take some chances that veteran coaches wouldn’t to that end. Mora, though is more concerned with surviving the preseason healthy than winning, and Vick is on the same page. "We get this preseason game out the way, and we're halfway done with camp," Vick said.
The Falcons simply are not a team looking to make any kind of statement against the Ravens, and don’t figure to do much offensively, especially against Brian Billick’s defense. The Falcons had trouble clicking with Vick watching from the sideline of a recent scrimmage with the Titans. Rookie Matt Schaub was 8-of-13 for 48 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions, but he missed connecting with Peerless Price twice early. "To say that we weren't totally in sync would be accurate," Falcons running back Warrick Dunn said. Schaub will replace Vick after one series and have to face an unfriendly Ravens “D†until the 4th quarter before Ty Detmer mops up. Such a rotation, with a rookie playing the bulk of the game, simply will not produce many offensive points. Baltimore won't slow down just for Vick. ``Anybody that's at the quarterback position, we're going to go after him. That's what they're paid to do,'' Billick said.
Baltimore is in a bit better shape behind center with Boller playing the 1st quarter and Stewart the 2nd, before giving way to rookie QBs in the second half. The Ravens are a team that loves to run the football and play defense, which is what we look for here, again keeping the score down. While Atlanta won’t do much offensively, we look for an aggressive defensive gameplan from Mora as he brings his approach to the Falcons. He was a good DC in San Francisco and should help Atlanta improve their “D†dramatically, as they do their part to keep this game low-scoring.
In looking at some preseason totals numbers, we note that Baltimore is 5-1 UNDER in non-conference games, and 10 of 14 Thursday games last year went UNDER. The weather may also do its part to keep the scoring restrained as rain will be threatening. Despite the low total we like the UNDER.