There has been a lot of good surprises for the Falcons this year--a surprisingly mature rookie quarterback, a surprisingly effective defense and a free agent running back signing that has turned into a Pro Bowl caliber player.
But today we got another nice surprise. First-round pick Jamaal Anderson tried to shed the bust label by picking up his first NFL sack in his 22nd pro game.
Now one sack for every 22 games is not exactly the kind of production you expect from a defensive end taken in the top 10 picks of the draft, no matter how well he plays the run. And Anderson's lack of production has come despite the fact that the Falcons have another defensive end, John Abraham, that draws constant double teams that should free Anderson up.
But maybe getting the first sack was Anderson's problem, and now he'll remember how fun it was to sack the quarterback at Arkansas (he led the SEC with 13.5 sacks his junior year). Something seems to have gotten into him today--he also has knocked down a pair of passes to start the third quarter.
More likely, he's still a big-time bust, but at least he has one sack to his name. And since Anderson's contract includes incentives based on his number of sacks, at least the Falcons protected themselves a little bit.
