Atlanta Falcons: Week 1 Recap

The Atlanta Falcons did not look good in their Week 1 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.  While losing 18-12 to the Eagles, there isn’t really anything good to talk about.

I’ve had about a day to think this game over.  The more and more I think about it, the more I get mad.  The offense looked atrocious.  The offensive play-calling was sub-par.  There were 15 total penalties against the Falcons that resulted in 135 yards.  And the defense, well the defense wasn’t bad minus the fact that it seemed like everyone was being helped off the field and being evaluated for some kind of injury.  Other than the defense, it was very sloppy football by the Atlanta Falcons.

That isn’t to say that the Eagles played great football.  They had 11 penalties for 101 yards, Nick Foles was looking more like Nick Foles instead of the Super Bowl Nick Foles, and they had a total of 232 yards compared to the Falcons’ 299 yards.  What worked for the Eagles was that they were able to establish the running game with 113 total rushing yards and 27 total rushes.

The Falcons, on the other hand, had 74 rushing yards on only 18 rushes.  That is a big problem.  Though, I get it.  Eagles have a defensive line that acts like a buzzsaw, but the Falcons have one of the best running back duos in the league with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.  Also, it isn’t that we didn’t try the ground game because we definitely did and got eaten up by their defensive line, but we did not try it enough.

This brings me to my next point.  The offensive play-calling was not creative.  At the beginning of the game, the Falcons marched down the field, got inches from the goal line, and couldn’t get in on the fourth down outside run.

Before you start fuming while reading that, let me just explain what Steve Sarkisian was probably thinking.  Steve Sarkisian and Dan Quinn were probably thinking, “We got the Eagles right where we want them.  Let’s get seven points up on the board early.”  After doing an inside run, Sarkisian did an outside run, which didn’t work either.

Though, you have to remember how talented their defense is and how talented their defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, is.  However, think about if we got a field goal instead of trying for fourth down on the first drive of the game.  Then, it would be 18-15 Eagles going into the Falcons’ last drive of the game and they do not have to worry about a game-winning touchdown.  They could have tied the game at 18-all and go into overtime with a fresh start and a chance to then win it there.  Just something to chew on.

To go even further with this, the offensive line for the Atlanta Falcons was being manhandled all night long, allowing four sacks and plenty of hurried-throws.  There were countless times where Matt Ryan had to get rid of the ball quickly, move outside of the pocket, run for a gain, or take a sack.  If the Falcons keep the pocket clean, then most of the problems that I have already mentioned are resolved.  The running game can open up, Matt Ryan does not have to rely on Julio Jones every single play, and it most likely opens up the play-calling for Sarkisian.  Hate to be a “Debbie Downer” but none of that happened.

All the reports saying Steve Sarkisian is more comfortable with the play-calling has almost gone straight out the window, the running game was not good, and the passing game was the worst I have ever seen from Matt Ryan in a very long time.  Here’s a little stat of the day: Matt Ryan went 21/43 for 225 passing yards and one interception with Julio Jones hauling in 169 of those passing yards.  You do not need to be a statistician or well-versed in football to understand how badly Matt Ryan played against the Eagles.

Furthermore, most of his throws were very off target.  He had Julio Jones wide open down the field at the beginning of the second half and couldn’t make it catchable for him, despite an excellent effort.

There were also little passes too that were way behind the intended receivers but definitely should have been a routine pass.  Matt Ryan needs to shake the cobwebs off.

Another little thing to point out is that the offense still cannot get it done in the red zone.  It is like the entire offense freezes like a deer in headlights.  It is very strange to see such a prolific offense  fall apart at the seams when inside their opponent’s 20-yard line.  Also, according to ESPN, Matt Ryan is 1-20 when targeting Julio Jones in the end zone in the last two seasons, including playoffs.

That sums up the red zone troubles for the Atlanta Falcons as a whole.  It is almost as if the Falcons should stay away from the red zone.

One more for the road: Matt Ryan needs to spread the ball around and stay unpredictable.  Again, I get it, the pocket was never really clean and Julio Jones is arguably the most reliable receiver in the NFL.  However, it becomes way too predictable if every play is to Julio Jones.  While watching the game, I noticed that Mohamed Sanu was open on quite a few plays, so was Austin Hooper, and so was Calvin Ridley.

I obviously do not have the same perspective as Matt Ryan but there were legitimate times where those three receivers were open and could have easily gotten some serious yardage.  To say that Sanu, Ridley, and Hooper were never open would be a huge lie.  Most of this comes back on the shoulders of Steve Sarkisian.

I would like to know if Sarkisian, during the offseason, heard everyone giving him backlash for not getting the ball to Julio Jones in the red zone or sometimes at all.  Maybe his response was to only do plays to set up Jones or maybe told Matt Ryan to throw to him more.  Listen, I am all for getting Jones the ball but at some point we need to spice it up a bit and use all of the players on this elite offense.  After all, it is a team sport.

I do not want to jump on the “Fire Sark” wagon or even think about what this means for the season.  Matt Ryan made a very good point after the game saying, “It’s one game and that is the sample size we have now.”  He is right, it is one game and there is no need to hit the panic button yet.  We did lose to Tampa Bay in the first game of the season back in the 2016 legendary campaign and we went all the way to the Super Bowl that year.  So, it really is not time to hit the huge red button that sounds every siren known to man when talking about the Falcons.

The good things that happened: Julio Jones was a one-man wrecking crew and the defense looks pretty good.

As mentioned above, Julio Jones had 169 receiving yards on 10 catches and rushed for 11 yards.  Not too shabby.  The defense was good, despite the moment where everyone was dropping like flies thanks to cramping or actual injuries.  Unfortunately, one of the players who was helped off twice last night did in fact have a serious injury.  Keanu Neal is out for the season due to a torn ACL, which is going to hurt big time.

Other than that, nothing too much to talk about.  Let’s just get to next week where the Falcons face the Panthers at home and let’s hope that game was just a fluke.  In the meantime, we can watch Julio Jones torch his defenders from week 1.