Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
While the Atlanta Falcons rushing attack joined Mt. St. Helen and became dormant in the past couple of years, newcomer Steven Jackson is ready to resurrect their rushing attack and put them back to being “active”.
Since Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan was drafted in 2008, the Falcons’ rushing attack went from scary monster James Sullivan instilling fear into the hearts of their opponents to Mike Wazowski, who couldn’t even scare a kid on a pee wee football team.
Yes, these are fictional characters from the Pixar movie Monsters University, but it gets the point across.
The former St. Louis Rams running back is an exceptional player with a rare combination of speed and power, and is a mean point of attack when opposing defenders try to take down the 6-foot-3, 229-pound bruiser. In his career, Jackson has rushed for eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and was one of the Rams’ best players during his nine years with the team.
Although the Falcons’ offense possessed one of the most dynamic passing games in the NFL that ranked in the Top-10 in the 2012-13 season, their rushing game averaged a mediocre 3.7 yards per rush and was ranked 29th at 87.3 yards per game.
Many outsiders believe that Jackson’s running abilities will fade away at an age that has been kryptonite to many tailbacks, the Falcons, and most importantly Jackson, thinks differently.
Jackson understands that many star running backs such as Eddie George and Shaun Alexander had a tough time adjusting to life on the other side of 30, but he believes that if he can adjust with the NFL as it moves more into a pass-happy league, he will be just fine.
Jackson is not only a tough runner that will revive the Falcons’ ground attack, but he will also be an asset to Ryan and the prolific passing attack that includes one of the best trio of receivers in the NFL today.
Even if the NFL has become a pass-happy league, the Falcons remember all too well that games are won in the trenches, especially after their game against the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 that ended their season. The running game may be changing into more screens and short passes, but teams that can’t run the ball will have a tough chance of winning the Super Bowl.
Luckily, the Falcons added more firepower to an offense that is once again ready to ignite the fire in their hopes of winning an elusive Super Bowl. Jackson’s motivation will not be proving critics that a 30-year-old back can still play, but instead, it will come from helping his new team getting over the hump.
This upcoming 2013-14 NFL season, Jackson will kick-start a rushing attack that has been less than stellar and will resurrect the Falcons’ ground unit to go along with their lightning passing attack. Get ready for Jackson and the Dirty Birds to start slashing away at their opponents from left-to-right in a deadly fashion.
Daniel Chi is an NFL Atlanta Falcons writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielChi24, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+
