The O-line is the best he's had sinece joining the NFL and that will help considerably.
Just an FYI about the Atlanta O'line being the best Joey has ever had.To begin with, they were a great run blocking line using Denver's Zone Blocking scheme, but were never a very good pass blocking line.
But that's really a moot point as Petrino has junked the Zone Blocking scheme thay've used for the past few years & wants his linemen to be big smash mouth behomths.
To that end, all the Falcon O'linemen were told to eat, eat & then just for good measure, eat some more.
They've also got a rookie starting.
So, in essence, it remains to be seen just how good Atlanta's O'line is going to be.
To those who want to argue this is the best line Harrington has ever had, I think that remains to be seen; and is, at best, even money right now.The Falcons gave up 47 sacks last year (with Vick under center) tied for 7th worst in the NFL. And they've returned the same unit, save for a rookie guard in place, and are asking them to learn a new blocking scheme.
Compare that to Harrington's offensive lines in Detroit:
2002 -- Lions allowed 20 sacks (BEST in the NFL)
2003 -- Lions allowed 11 sacks (BEST in the NFL)
2004 -- Lions allowed 37 sacks (16th in NFL)
2005 -- Lions allowed 31 sacks (Tied for 10th in the NFL)
This notion that Harrington was like David Carr and beaten mercilessly in his young career is patently incorrect and revisionist history. He was sacked fewer times than any NFL QB over his first two seasons, and only less than a handful of NFL QBs in his first three seasons.