Atlanta Falcons Offense: Week 12 Grades Vs New Orleans

Bottom Line

Overall the Atlanta Falcons offense moved the football very well racking up 366 yards. They were inefficient on third down though converting just five of 15 tries. That led to a high number of fourth down attempts at six. They did convert four of the six fourth downs.

The offense was awfully imbalanced rushing for only 26 yards. That has been the case for Atlanta recently, as some games the run has been totally ineffective, other it has been efficient but not used enough.

Offensive Coordinator Steve Sarkisian is going to have to run the football more and the offensive line is going to have to block better. 12 carries for six yards by the running backs is not going to get the job done.

Sark also needs to reduce the number of toss plays that he calls significantly. The Falcons line isn’t sealing the edge enough on those plays and there is often no cutback lane available.

Sarkisian should stick with mostly inside and outside zone runs and mix in the occasional misdirection, which we have rarely seen him call at all this season. Then a toss or two wouldn’t hurt. That play should be used as a change of pace, not a base run play.

If the Falcons don’t start running the ball better, their play action game will become less and less effective. Short yardage runs have been a major problem for the Dirty Birds this season and especially in recent weeks. The line isn’t getting a push and fullback Ricky Ortiz has not played well.

Dan Quinn should have kept former Titans fullback Jalston Fowler on the roster. He is a bigger, more powerful run blocker at 248 pounds.

Maybe the 12 gage formation where Mohamed Sanu plays quarterback, is the answer for the short yardage woes. It would be great if Atlanta didn’t have to use such a gimmick on short yardage plays, but at the same time it would be insane to keep running into a brick wall.

The offensive line, was downright offensive in the week 12 defeat. They allowed an unacceptable 13 pressures on Matt Ryan. After the loss to Dallas I suggested replacing Wes Schweitzer with Zane Beadles in this article. That was before Ben Garland decided to have a bad pass blocking performance of epic proportions.

Dan Quinn is now hinting at possible changes on the offensive line himself. He mentioned Zane Beadles as well as Ty Sambrailo as guys who could be considered as starters this week. It will be interesting to see if Quinn replaces both guards, or one guard and right tackle Ryan Schraeder.

D Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC has the story on the possible changes here.

Additionally the Atlanta Falcons can not have the fumbles. It was especially painful that all three lost fumbles came in the red zone. That is forfeiting sure points. Ball security must be a priority moving forward.

Who were your ballers and busters against New Orleans on Thanksgiving? Please leave your answers in the comments below.

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