We are better than 8-8, period. We went into Atlanta thinking we were going to play conservatively and walk out with an easy win, with that mind set even the likes of the Patriots would have been challenged. Three and out on the first drive without a single pass attempt, give me a break. They have too much faith in Ron Dayne. He isn't the worst RB in the league but he is far from a threat. The fact remains that we should have come out gunning to establish the run and the play action and we failed to establish either. If it wasn't for Schaub's superb play and our receivers playing with so much heart, this game could have really gotten ugly.
I question Richard Smith allowing Atlanta to, once again, expose our secondary. I applaud the decision to finally pull Petey for Fletcher but the fact still remains that we are a weak passing defense and rely on QB pressure to get the D off the field. This was the most sacked QB in the league and again we went in allowing only our front 4 to apply the pressure. Our LB core is solid, probably among the best in the league, but they are average in coverage. Again, I applaud the decision to blitz early on, but it should have gotten more aggressive when we realized that regardless of our coverage we were going to have a hard time stopping the passing game.
What I got from this game is that (A) we really need to bring Darius Walker up from the practice squad and give him a few reps during game time situations just to have him ready in the event that Green can't stay healthy (B) we are not aggressive enough with our defensive play calling. We need to play to our strengths and the D-line along with the line backers could make a name for our pass rush.
I am sticking with my original 10-6 prediction because I think we can chalk the Atlanta game up as a learning experience.
My $0.02