What we learned in Falcons first preseason game against Detroit 

There was a physical tone set from the beginning that – when the game was over – I felt compelled to write about.

You see, there’s a lot still yet to learn about this 2022 Falcons team, to be sure. However, I feel confident in saying that I learned quite a bit about who this team wants to be during the first preseason game. Is it too much to say that this group will be physical at every turn of the 2022 season? After Friday’s win, perhaps not.

It may not always be pretty. Heck, it may not even be what separates a win from a loss in the regular season, but it’s something that feels like a marker, and a maker, of this team.

“I think that’s kind of a part of who we are,” Mariota said after the game. “I really believe that’s the mindset.”

When asked about the physicality he saw this team play with, Ridder answered by noting this was something Smith – himself – called this team to be before the game even began.

“Detroit is a tough, gritty city, and we know that’s what Coach (Dan) Campbell prides the Lions on is being tough and being physical,” Ridder explained. “The pre-game speech at the hotel, (Smith) told us that. He told us we’re going to have to come out here and out-physical them, because that is what they pride themselves on.”

Truth be told, that’s exactly what they did… and they did so in a preseason game, a time in which many would shy away from physicality.

Smith joked after the game that no one is handing out hats and t-shirts for winning a preseason game, but you do like to see the competitiveness that the game itself requires, which in and of itself is physical competitiveness. For the last two weeks of training camp, we haven’t seen this physicality. No one is tackling in practice. No one is even really going full speed. On Friday, we saw what the Falcons look like when they are.

What was surprising – if not humorous even – was Smith using the example of Mariota’s physical running style after the game to home in on this point. It’s not all together common for…