The mere mention of a Roddy White injury causes me to burst into tears, so this back bruise business has me throwing a hysterical fit.

Mind you, Rowdy Roddy is still pretty likely to play against the Panthers. The issue here is that White may be starting to get a little banged up after being heavily relied on in the passing game over the course of the season. A quick look at Michael Jenkins reveals that he has almost exactly half of everything White does, making the late bloomer one of the most heavily utilized receivers in the league.

As long as the Falcons are in the playoff hunt, I see no way around it. Matt Ryan trusts Roddy and is going to throw to him more than anyone else, especially given his less-than-stellar options behind him. I talk every week about getting Harry Douglas and Laurent Robinson more involved, but L-Rob is extremely injury prone and the coaching staff is bringing Douglas along slowly. That's probably as it should be.

Still, I would like to see the Falcons continue to feed the ball to Jenkins or even Brian FInneran. Nothing would help White stay healthy more than finding a guy to catch a few more passes.

Do you think I'm babying White, or do you agree he needs a little more help?

With all the talk of secondaries and pass rushes and Panthers games, oh my, I figured it was time to talk about one of the Falcons' most glaring weaknesses. No, it's not their abiding love of chocolate or their tendency to stand awkwardly in front of the cast of Oklahoma!

It's the pass rush.

Here's a little statistical breakdown for you: John Abraham has 11 of the Falcons' 18 sacks for the season. If we didn't have him swatting aside offensive linemen like King Kong swats airplanes, we'd have exactly 7 sacks on the season. That would be good for second to last in the NFL, one ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs, who I'm relatively sure employ defenseless baby gerbils along their line. This is madness.

As several of you have suggested through the course of the year, getting more pressure on the quarterback would solve many of our glaring issues in the secondary as well. Defenses are keying on Abraham and daring Jon Babineaux, Jamaal Anderson and Grady Jackson to come after them, to say nothing of our formerly fearless linebacking corps. Clearly, the defense needs to at least situationally make some changes.

We just don't have the personnel, though. Kroy Biermann was drafted to rush off the edge and should be utilized more frequently to see if he's got a prayer of doing that. Chauncey Davis is the very definition of solid, but Jamaal Anderson has more raw talent if he can ever find some consistency. Babineaux is having a solid year, but neither he nor Jackson specialize in getting to the quarterback.

That should leave our linebacking corps, but there's been a puzzling lack of big plays there. Keith Brooking is somewhat marginalized by the scheme he's in and his advancing age, while Curtis Lofton really isn't being asked to rush the quarterback. If anybody knows how to get Michael Boley back on whatever demon he was riding through the last couple of years, write a letter to Mike Smith right now. None of these guys have viable backups, either.

This to me says one of two things need to happen. Either the defense needs to start coming up with new looks and new packages this season, or the team needs to drastically overhaul its line in the off-season. Given that the team is playing a more conservative scheme right now, it seems much more likely that the Falcons will unearth a defensive tackle and possibly a defensive end in next year's draft. Unless John Abraham can clone himself, our outlook is pretty bleak on that front.

Thoughts?

Those of you who spend a lot of time over at the Atlanta Falcons Team Site are probably familar with J. Michael Moore, who blogs, writes and just generally keeps the windmills turning at that site. I recently had an opportunity to shoot a few questions about covering the Falcons this season his way, and Moore was kind enough to answer with something other than a restraining order.

What sparked this interview was a desire to get some kind of insider's glimpse into what the atmosphere around the team is. Everyone talks about how this team has more chemistry than a reaction between sulfur and phosphorous, but I'm interested in finding out exactly what that means. And before anyone says anything, I have no idea what the reaction between sulfur and phosphorous is.

Check the brief interview after the jump!

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The following is a brief press release. Figured those of you close to the area might want to get over there.

Atlanta Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan will be at the ESPN Zone this Thursday (November 20th) as a special guest for NBC 11's “Falcons Face-to-Face” pre-game show, which will begin taping at 7:30 p.m.

Ryan, acting as starting quarterback in his rookie year with the Falcons, has thrown for 2,159 yards and 11 touchdowns.  

During the taping, which is open to the public, Ryan will talk Falcons football, sign autographs for fans and help give away Falcons tickets and gear.

Pretty easy assignment today, class.

You're the Falcons and you need to beat the Panthers. Not just because it's important for the playoff hunt and divisional bragging rights, but simply because they're the Panthers and they deserve to lose. It won't be easy, though.

If you're running the team, what is your strategy for beating one of the most well rounded teams in the NFC? How do you ensure the defense gets better pressure on Crawdad Delhomme?

Get those X's and O's going in the comments!

via assets.sbnation.com

Just an avuncular reminder that we'll be answering the questions of our mortal enemies over at Cat Scratch Reader. If you want to jump in to answer any questions or feel that my answers are foolish and puny, check the Ask the Falcoholic FanPost and give it your best shot.

That is all.