Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell spoke with the Atlanta media on Wednesday.
Here’s what he had to say about the Falcons:
On the offense: "In every phase you have to be good because they are good. Offensively, they are explosive. They have, obviously, Matt Ryan one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Julio Jones is a very talented guy who can get down the field. (Mohamed) Sanu is dangerous and a really active offensive line. I just think the center (Alex Mack) is outstanding. (Left tackle Jake) Matthews is outstanding…a number of guys up front. They do an outstanding job. Their running backs are very capable guys that give you a strong one-two punch. They give you all kinds of problems and they are very, very explosive as well."
On the defense: "It's more of the same thing just in terms of guys who can make plays on you. They can rush the passer with (Brooks) Reed and (Dontari) Poe from the inside, he can do some damage cause he can push the pocket and get after you. (Takkarist) McKinley is a young guy. I think everybody looked at him coming out in the draft and loved what they saw. A guy who just has all kinds of ability. The linebacking corps is very, very capable. Anytime that you have a guy near the top of the league in terms of tackles like (Deion) Jones, it's a very good group. The secondary is very capable. They had the NFC player of the week last week in (Desmond) Trufant. There is a reason why. He runs. He hustles. He covers. (Keanu) Neal, (Ricardo) Allen and (Robert) Alford are very good."
On special teams: "Their kicking game is solid. They are outstanding in terms of their punter and kicker. Obviously, we know very well about the return man. (Andre) Roberts is a very, very good guy. He will get downhill on you and create some problems for you. There is not an area in which they are weak. That's the reason why they been playing very, very well. That's the reason why they were battling for all of it last year. They are a very talented group."
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