Grüße und Vorstellung » Tim Rattay is back in the NFL.Washington announced

on Friday that Rattay will be their quarterbacks coach in 2019. Rattay spent the last six seasons coaching at Louisiana Tech.Rattay played quarterback for the Buccaneers while Washington head coach Jay Gruden was on Tampa’s staff. He also played with wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard during his time with the team.Rattay Stacy McGee Jersey , who also went to Louisiana Tech, was drafted in the seventh round of the 2000 draft by the 49ers. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has reminisced about the team making a choice between Rattay and another quarterback in the sixth round of that draft. The Patriots went with the other guy and it proved to be a good call as Tom Brady won his sixth Super Bowl last Sunday.Rattay’s playing career didn’t work out quite as well, but perhaps his coaching career will prove to be more fruitful. The 5 o’clock club is published Wednesday to Saturday during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.Left for dead earlyAt the end of week 5, the Atlanta Falcons were being left for dead moldering at the bottom of the NFC South with a 1-4 record.Of course, the Falcons’ losses have come against some pretty damned good teams: Eagles, Saints, Bengals and Steelers. Those four teams have a combined W-L record of 19-10-1, and three of the four are in either first or second place in their divisions (the Eagles being the exception).A revival of sortsWins against the Buccaneers and Giants in consecutive weeks before a Week 8 bye have renewed the hope of Atlanta fans.The confidence level measured by the FanPulse surveys showed a 15% increase from Week 7 to Week 8, and an overall jump of 31% from Week 6 to Week 8, with confidence rising from 19% to its current level of 50%.However only 42% of Falcons fans surveyed in the BYE week believed that their team would be going to the playoffs this season.Of course, the two wins in Weeks 6 & 7 came against teams with a combined W-L record of 4-11 Pernell McPhee Jersey , with the Buccaneers losing 4 out of their last 5 games.Still, the Falcons beat the Panthers (a division rival) in Week 2, and Atlanta has a reputation for being able to put up points offensively in a hurry.But, is that reputation really well-deserved?The Falcons are ranked 7th in yards per gameThe Falcons are certainly capable of pushing the ball up and down the field.But they rank only 11th in scoring, which is good, but Atlanta’s 27 points per game is far cry from the 33.4 points per game being racked up by Drew Brees and the Saints, the last team that managed to hang a loss on the Redskins.11th in Points per gameThere’s a fair question to be asked here about the defenses the Falcons have faced.How good have the Falcons opponents been at preventing points from being scored?Well, the overall rankings for points per game given up for the Falcons’ 7 opponents are: 7th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 23rd Mason Foster Jersey , 29th and 32nd.That’s not exactly a murderer’s row of tough defenses, with a median of 21st and average of 20th.The Redskins, currently ranked 5th overall at 19.1 points per game, will be the best-ranked defense the Falcons have faced this year.The next best was the Eagles, ranked 7th, who beat the Falcons 18-12.3rd in Passing Yards Per GameThe Falcons have excelled at passing this year, though they rank just 30th in rushing yards per game on offense, and their top running back, Devonta Freeman, has just been placed on IR.Can the Redskins compete with Atlanta?There seems to be an opportunity for the Redskins to follow a successful game script that has been working well so far, where they completely shut down the running game of the Falcons, then unleash the Dhogs to attack Samaje Perine Jersey , harass and harry Matt Ryan in order to disrupt the Falcon passing attack.If it works against the Falcons like it has worked against every opponent except the Saints, then the Falcons may find themselves struggling to score over 21 points.It seems unlikely that the Falcons’ 30th ranked scoring defense will keep the Redskins from getting their usual average of 21 points per game; on the other hand, there seems to be a very good chance that the Redskins will be able to shave a touchdown off of the Falcons average of 27 points per game.All in all, this looks like a good matchup, that should see the Redskins slight favorites at home.I checked one website quickly and found the Redskins favored at -1, which seems about right.I don’t think the Falcons fans yet understand or believe what the Redskins defense is capable of.But they will.Of course, the Falcons fans may not see it quite the same way I do.The FalcoholicReading through the Falcoholic website, a couple of things become clear. Falcons fans believe that a loss to the Redskins this Sunday would almost certainly spell the end of their playoff hopes, as it would drop them to 3-5 overall, and would give the Redskins the head-to-head advantage that we enjoy against the Packers and Panthers at the moment.The Falcons fans feel that a win on the road against Washington this week would keep them alive at 4-4.Falcons fans don’t think the Redskins are the better team.The website is filled with references that I believe D.J. Swearinger would characterize as “disrespectful”.Falcoholic articles suggest that the Redskins “are not as good as their record suggests.”Another article remarks that “Washington is not a 5-2 football team” despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.Let’s take a peek into the thoughts of Falcons fans as we gear up for this Sunday’s important conference game against the 3rd place team from the NFC South.A look at what’s left of the Atlanta Falcons 2018 scheduleWhat you need to know to watch Falcons vs. Redskins in Week 8NFC playoff picture: The conference is crowded and the Falcons are still in the huntNo trades for the Falcons as deadline passes