The Atlanta Falcons’ home, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is believed to be the first professional sports venue to implement drones to clean the stadium, but they’re not the only ones using new technology.
Beginning after the team’s Oct. 11 game against the Carolina Panthers, the 71,000-seat stadium, which has not hosted fans for the first two home games because of the coronavirus pandemic, will welcome back a limited capacity. (The stadium hosted about 500 family members, friends and associates for a test run during Sunday’s Bears-Falcons game.)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium partnered with Charlotte-based Lucid Drone Technologies for D1 disinfecting drones to sanitize areas. The drones use electrostatic spraying nozzles for even distribution of medical-grade disinfecting chemicals that include an inhibitor that prevents bacteria and virus from adhering to surfaces without leaving a residue. The nontoxic hypochlorous acid solution is in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards, according to the company.
Patrick Mahomes found a lot to like last week when he got his first look at the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive plan for their upcoming game against the Baltimore Ravens. It featured a red zone underhanded screen pass to seldom used fullback Anthony Sherman, a goal-line pass to offensive tackle Eric Fisher and even a reverse pass out of the wildcat formation.
The Chiefs were effective with all of it in their 34-20 win over the Ravens.
“Coach [Andy] Reid is never going to be stagnant,” said Mahomes, who threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns. “He’s going to keep putting in more and more plays. He’s going to keep challenging us every single day. You get in here, and it’s not the same game plan every single week. We honestly have a new game plan from top down every single week.”
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Reid went deep into the playbook against the Ravens, the result being the Chiefs’ first game of the season with more than 500 yards. It happened after two games in which their offense didn’t look quite right. They went into the Baltimore game with just one pass play of more than 22 yards.
They had four such plays against the Ravens to four different receivers.
The Chiefs play against New England on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), so Monday night’s game received the attention of Patriots coach Bill Belichick as he watched on TV
“Andy’s always got a couple of new wrinkles,” Belichick said Tuesday morning. “I don’t think you see too many games where he doesn’t have something [new]. You’ve got to be ready for that. He does a good job of doing things you haven’t practiced [against], things you haven’t seen before and getting them called at the right time and getting them executed well.
“You don’t know what they’re going to be, but you know they’re going to show up somewhere along the line and you just have to be alert for them.”
The pass to Fisher covered only 2 yards, but made him the first overall No. 1 pick to catch a touchdown pass since Keyshawn Johnson last did it in 2006.
The Chiefs run a drill in Friday practice each week when the offensive linemen run short routes and catch passes. Fisher even had to go up so he could grab Mahomes’ pass.
“Fish is always bragging about how good his hands are, so he did a pretty good job,” Reid said. “I have to give him credit. I was a little nervous when he had to jump, but he did a nice job.”
Mahomes said the Ravens covered Fisher better on the play than the Chiefs ever did on the times they worked on it in practice. But he said he tossed it high once to Fisher in practice so he could get an idea whether the offensive tackle could catch such a pass.
“I thought he did a great job,” Mahomes said. “The dude is an athlete. That’s the reason he’s been playing the position so well for so long. I’m sure he’ll be talking about it for years to come, so I’m glad he got in the end zone.”
The Atlanta Falcons placed veteran cornerback Darqueze Dennard on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, meaning he’ll be sidelined at least three weeks and unavailable for Monday night’s matchup at Green Bay.
Dennard, who signed a one-year deal with the Falcons before the season, is coming off his best game with an interception in the end zone in a 30-26 loss to the Chicago Bears. Dennard played 77 snaps before exiting with the injury with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left in regulation.
Dennard, who had been playing the nickelback role, started at left cornerback against the Bears because rookie first-round draft pick A.J. Terrell was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list the night before the game. Terrell remains on the list, and his status for Monday night’s game in unclear. Kendall Sheffield, who was projected to start at cornerback, has yet to play this season because of a foot injury, but he’s out of a walking boot.
