Atlanta Falcons: 5 Things Learned Vs. Texans

By John Buhler | Oct 5, 2015

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Leonard Hankerson is Automatic in the Red Zone

I’ve seen the Atlanta Falcons execute the same play in the red zone at least three times now and it has worked to perfection on every attempt. It’s a goal line situation where the Falcons are within five yards of scoring.

Leonard Hankerson will line up in the slot on the left side of the field. Shanahan will call for most of the offense to commit to the right, forcing the defense to overload to the strong side. Ryan will fake to the right and will find Hankerson wide open in the middle of the end zone for an easy six points.

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It’s a very quick pass, but it’s immensely difficult for the defense to stop. Ryan can run to the right side and either scramble in for the 5 yard score or find one of three Atlanta Falcons receiving targets in the end zone on that side. The Falcons run this perfectly and I love our new goal line passing play.

In years past, it was all about finding a leaping TE Tony Gonzalez at the back of the end zone for the goal line strike. Now Ryan opts to find Hankerson in the slot for a rarely contested score. Will other teams adjust in the red zone and opt to use press coverage on Hank in those situations? Maybe, but I have a feeling that there are other wrinkles that can unfold on that goal line passing play.

I trust the run blocking/pass protection of the offensive line to give Matt Ryan ample time to best read the defense in those situations. If you have sure handedness all across the gridiron in goal line situations, you have to like your odds to get it into the end zone through the air. The Ryan to Hankerson 5 yard pass was borderline impossible to defend in the first part of 2015.

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