Atlanta Falcons Playoff Dream Done Despite Blowout Victory

The Atlanta Falcons found their mojo on both sides of the ball in a 40-14 shelling of the lowly Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately it was too late as the Dirty Birds are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

The dream of winning the Super Bowl at home in Mercedes-Benz Stadium is officially over. Even though the Atlanta Falcons dominated the Arizona Cardinals, a Minnesota Vikings win over the Miami Dolphins mathematically eliminated Atlanta from the post season.

The Falcons just could never get on track this year, as a combination of injuries, inconsistent play and self-inflicted wounds doomed what was once a promising Falcons’ season.

A major factor in the demise, were the four games Atlanta loss on the last drive. In a year where there are so many teams bunched up for the last two playoff spots, just winning half of those close games and a 7-7 record, would have had the Dirty Birds very much in the mix for a wild card spot. Minnesota currently is the sixth seed at 7-6-1.

Sunday gave everyone a glimpse of what the 2018 Falcons should have been, as they were clicking on all cylinders against a beat up Arizona team. The Atlanta Falcons scored 40 points for the first time all season. They rang up a strong 435 yards and 23 first downs.

Atlanta finally got the offensive balance that Coach Dan Quinn strives for. The Falcons threw the ball for 220 yards and shockingly ran for 215 yards. That’s almost as balanced as a team can be. Matt Ryan finished 22/36 for 231 yards. He threw two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He was sacked just twice on Sunday.

Julio Jones was the leading receiver for Atlanta as usual. He pulled down six caches for 82 yards and a touchdown. He now has six scores after not scoring for the first seven games. Coincidentally as Julio started scoring more touchdowns, the team started losing more games.

Julio did all of his damage in the first half. He left the game after scoring a late second quarter touchdown and landing on his ribs. Rookie Calvin Ridley added five catches for 42 yards. Justin Hardy caught Matt Ryan’s second touchdown pass from five yards out. It was his first touchdown this season.

Tevin Coleman went wild on the ground. He made the most of his carries, running just 11 times but ran for a hefty 145 yards and a touchdown. He has a huge run of 65 yards on the afternoon. His yards per carry average was an incredible 13.2.

Many of Tevin’s yards came behind the rebuilt right side of the offensive line. The Falcons benched Ben Garland and Ryan Schraeder in favor of Zane Beadles and Ty Sambrailo.

Defensively the Atlanta Falcons forced the Arizona Cardinals into three turnovers. This includes a Deion Jones interception return for a touchdown. Cornerback Brian Poole also had an interception and recovered a fumble that was forced by Grady Jarrett.

The Atlanta pass rush was ferocious as they sacked Arizona seven times. Grady Jarrett had two of the seven sacks, was the only player in the game with multiple sacks. Defensive end Bruce Irvin had 1.5 sacks. The Dirty Birds got after Josh Rosen so relentlessly, that Arizona pulled their rookie quarterback in favor of Mike Glennon.

The Falcons will play out the string with two games against division opponents, visiting Carolina first and ending in Tampa. Dan Quinn would be wise to treat these last two games like the pre-season. A major injury would affect next season at this point, and that’s something Atlanta certainly doesn’t need.

Also getting a higher draft pick should be a priority. Winning the last two games could cost the Atlanta Falcons 5-7 spots in each round of the draft. Those spots could be the difference in landing the impact player Atlanta truly needs. The Falcons currently hold the sixth draft pick.

A higher draft pick could also put Atlanta in the position to trade down and get a huge haul from a quarterback needy team. Any momentum gathered from winning the last two games will be long forgotten by the time training camp starts. The higher draft position is more valuable.

The Atlanta Falcons should use these last two games to give younger players more time. I also think Dan Quinn should try Ryan Schraeder at guard these last two games, before making a decision on rather to move on from him or not. It’s time to evaluate for next season.

How should the Atlanta Falcons handle the last two games of the regular season? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Atl All Day will have more on potential offseason moves as we approach the NFL Draft.

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