Too Good To Be This Bad

Photo by Nathan Gonthier on Unsplash

The Atlanta Falcons are too good to be this bad. Players with the stats and talent they have cannot be the reason they continually play well part of a game and not the rest of it. The are only two other explanations, the Monstars from Space Jam come at halftime to take their brains out OR it is the coaching/play calling.

Matt Ryan is a prolific passer. He is also a prolific touchdown passer. He does not do either of these things from the flat of his back therefore his offensive line must be more than just serviceable.

Ryan has been in the top 10 of quarterbacks for the last 10 seasons for passing yards. Ten years of being in the top 10. He currently ranks 6th out of active quarterbacks and 9th all time with 51,909 yards. He has been in the top 10 for passing touchdowns for eight seasons and ranks number seven for active quarterbacks and 11 for all time.

Julio Jones is currently number 1 in receiving yards per game for both active and all time receivers. He has had seven seasons in the top ten for receiving yards, six seasons for receiving yards per game in the top 10, and give seasons in the top 10 for receptions.

Todd Gurley has three seasons in the top 10 for rushing yards. Four seasons in the top 10 for rushing touchdowns. Three seasons in the top 10 for rushing yards per game.

They have now added Calvin Ridley and Hayden Hurst who are performing well above average.

The defense is not abysmal either. Or at least they are not for half of a game.

I know that injuries played a part in the loss to the Cowboys. Tak McKinley, Kaleb McGary, and Ricardo Allen all suffered injuries during the game with McGary’s looking to be the worst of the three.

But that does not explain how in the first half, the team is going like wildfire, forcing fumbles and recovering them, moving the ball down the field with ease, and putting up 20 points in short order.

And in the second half, none of that exists and to top it all off, nobody seems able to fall down onto an onside kick. They just needed to fall down.

If your team is suffering that many mental lapses, you might want to look into some CAT scans. More likely, it is the coaching and play calling that for some inexplicable reason changes to more conservative play if the team has a lead.

It is quite obvious and history has proven that no lead is safe with the Falcons coaching staff. The team must play all out all the time. Thinking that the other team is not going to fight back is ludicrous.

Arthur Blank continues to ride with Dan Quinn as head coach. With all this talent on this team, there has to be accountability found somewhere. The numbers do not show that it is a player problem. It is a mindset problem coming from the coaching staff that a lead does not require you to continue playing as if you were losing. Something Bill Belichik practices like a religion.

The Atlanta Falcons are far too good a team to be playing this bad and if they do not want to continue losing, someone has to be held accountable and changes have to be made. Or they can continue to be the meme of the week.

Broken Wings

The Atlanta Falcons are floundering.  The soaring NFC champs of a year ago are almost an invisible memory as the team struggles with a 1-4 record.  Their wings seem to be broken.

The team is one of the most talented in all of the NFL.  The receiving corps is almost unmatched.  The quarterback is more than capable.  They even have a decent running game.  So where then lies the problem with winning games.  Two places.  One, are the injuries the team has suffered thus far in the season.  Injuries to key defensive and offensive players have depleted the talent pool and continue to do so.  Two, the play calling continues to be abysmal.

On the first reason, injuries, there really isn’t much to be done on that front.  People are out until they are better.  Some are out this entire season.  So then the issue becomes how to replace them.  Some are just about irreplaceable.  Julio Jones is not someone you can just plug anyone into the spot and the play will be the same.  Players like Julio are on a different level from other players, that’s just a fact.  So replacing him isn’t really an option.  What the Falcons have to do is find ways to use the people they do have the people they bring in the best way possible.  Which leads us to the second reason.

Play calling.  The Falcons absolutely refuse to run the 2 minute drill until basically the last 2 minutes of the game.  When Matt Ryan is running that option and doing it well he is as good as anyone in the game.  The Falcons move the ball with precision and results.  Why then do you only use it when the game is on the line and even the smallest mistake costs you the game??  Then there is the “let’s run it up the middle” play that the Falcons seem absolutely wedded to on more plays than anyone else in the league.  Please, please, somebody get a clue and realize that play is NOT one you should immediately default to on every single occasion.  Come on, running Rogers up the middle at the goal line when he’s about 1/3 of the size of a nose tackle is insane!  Especially when you have people like Tony Gonzalez and others to throw to and oh yes, 2/3 of the field to run around the OUTSIDE of the pile at the line!

The Falcons are all but out of the post season as of now.  Their only hope is for the Saints to start losing and for the Falcons to win every single game they have left with the people they have left to play them.  Tall order and even taller with broken wings.