FALCONS FLAILING
Reigning NFC champs can’t get talented offence moving
The Atlanta Falcons fielded by far the NFL’s hottest offence down the stretch last season, remember?
It averaged 416 total yards per game in 2016 and hit otherworldly heights in the playoffs, at least until the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI.
After the Falcons feebly lost their third in a row, however — 23-7 Sunday night at New England — it’s clear last year’s offensive successes seem light years away.
You can’t find corroborating proof by looking at NFL team stats. Before Monday night’s Redskins-Eagles game, the Falcons ranked eighth in total offence, a drop of only six spots from a year ago. And they’re averaging the exact same yardage on the ground (121 per game) even if their passing attack has dropped off 43 yards per game, to 252.
But if you look only at Atlanta’s past three games, all losses after the team opened 3-0, you can see the gorge into which the offence has plummeted.
So did the Falcons’ leaguebest offence of a year ago just up and leave in February with Kyle Shanahan, last year’s offensive coordinator? Shanny is now head coach of the winless San Franciscso 49ers.
His replacement is Steve Sarkisian. Clearly, whatever he is drawing up and calling is not fitting with the talent on hand.
Even Matt Ryan, last year’s consensus league MVP, looks rattled, uncomfortable and confused. He keeps overshooting the types of passes he’d effortlessly drop between receivers’ palms last year.
The most embarrassing fact for these Falcons is that, after leading Miami 10-0 at halftime the week before, they didn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter Sunday night at Foxboro — 12 possessions of scoreless football covering 90 minutes and 21 seconds of game time. Falcons head coach Dan
Quinn and several players on Sunday night pointed to the endless struggles in the red zone, something that has afflicted the offence since the first loss of the season, to Buffalo.
“If you look at our numbers, we are moving the ball,” tackle Jake Matthews said, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are having trouble finishing in the red zone, and on third down. We had opportunities to score ... ample opportunities to be in that game. But we have to finish and execute.”
No one was dumping blame at Sarkisian’s feet.
“I think it’s on all of us,” running back Devonta Freeman said, according to the Journal-Constitution. “Nobody can point fingers at nobody. We just have to figure out ways to win.”
HERO Matt Moore, QB, Miami
Down 14 points to the division rival New York Jets in the fourth quarter, and with starting QB Jay Cutler having already left the game with cracked ribs, the long-time Dolphins emergency QB proceeded to pilot Miami back to victory, throwing for 188 yards and two touchdown passes to lift the mostly stumbling Dolphins to a hard-to-fathom 4-2 record.
ZERO Marshawn Lynch, RB, Oakland
Last Thursday in an absolute must-win game against AFC West rival Kansas City, he raced onto the field when Raiders QB Derek Carr got roughed up a bit on a slide. That was dumb enough. Then when an official bearhugged him to try to stop him from committing further stupidity, Lynch jostled with him and shoved him. One-game suspension. Lynch should have stayed retired.
STOCK UP Chicago Bears defence
Before Sunday’s game in Chicago was 18 minutes old, the Bears scored two defensive touchdowns against Carolina — both by safety Eddie Jackson. The 23-yearold rookie returned a fumbled Carolina pitch 75 yards for a score and returned a tipped Cam Newton pass from 76 yards out — the first time an NFL defender has scored twice off returns of 75-plus yards. But more than that, the Bears shut down the Carolina run game — 108 yards but on 30 carries — and held Newton to zero TD passes, while picking him off twice and sacking him five times.
STOCK DOWN Jacoby Brissett, QB, Indianapolis
Brissett has completed fewer than 60% of his throws for less than six yards per attempt. He also took 10 sacks against the Jags. The Colts O-line is a mess right now, but still. Brissett has to give his team more of a chance.