The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Failures on offense kill title bid
Loss isn’t expected end, given team’s talent level and expectations set in 2016.
If there was even
PHILADELPHIA — a trace of justification for the blown lead and the manner in which the Falcons’ season ended a year ago, it’s that they lost to arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history, and a coach and a franchise that have been in associated alltime-best arguments.
But this wasn’t Tom Brady. It was Nick Foles. Until a few weeks ago, he was a backup, on the sideline, where he belonged. This wasn’t Bill Belichick and New England. It was Doug Pederson and the Philadelphia Eagles, who until Saturday hadn’t won a playoff game since 2008.
Then again, this wasn’t the Falcons, either, at least not the version we expected, given the talent level and where the bar was set in 2016.
Their season is over. Why? Because the Falcons couldn’t beat just half of a football team Saturday. They lost 15-10. An odd-and-ugly score in an odd-and-ugly game.
They managed only 281 yards of offense. They scored one touchdown — and even that was a relative gimme of an 18-yard drive following a fumbled punt return. They were outplayed by a Philadelphia Eagles team that is stout on defense but otherwise should be in no shape to win a playoff game with an offense rendered anemic after the recent loss of quarterback Carson Wentz to a knee injury.
This is how the season ends: not with a huge blown lead in the NFL’s final game in overtime, but with an incomplete, Matt Ryan rollout pass attempted for Julio Jones from the Eagles’ 2-yard line and another red-zone failure, a hallmark of this season’s team.
Kyle Shanahan, the former offensive coordinator, was cursed through the offseason after the Super Bowl. Steve Sarkisian, the current one, will be maligned this one.
Sarkisian should not be blamed for all of the Falcons’ offensive problems this season. The offensive line failed at times, and there were far too many dropped passes by receivers or misfires by Ryan. But he will get more than his share of darts thrown at him because the Falcons spend most of their payroll on offense, and that’s where their biggest stars are.
“I recognize that goes with the job, and so does Sark,” coach Dan Quinn said afterward. “We’ll assess it all after the season. There’s a lot of things Sark has brought to our team that we like. It’s easy to place blame on one person, but it’s a shared responsibility when we don’t achieve at the level that we’d like to do. Like all parts of our organization, (general manager) Thomas (Dimitroff ) and I will assess how we want to do things better.”
In most Falcons seasons, winning a road wildcard game and losing on the road in the divisional round would be acceptable. Not this one.
They made it to the Super Bowl last season in large part because of their offense. They exited the playoffs in the second game for the same reason. Their defense was too good for it to end this early.
They lost this season to Nick Foles, Jay Cutler and Tyrod Taylor, and nearly lost to Mike Glennon.
They led only 10-9 at halftime Saturday. There are barges floating near the stadium more attractive than the football we witnessed.
Philadelphia, which entered the game nine years removed from its most recent playoff win, fumbled four times in the first half and lost two of them. Still, the Falcons scored only 10 points. That should tell you something about the lack of, well, grace of their offense.
They drove to a field goal on their first possession after the Eagles fumbled on their second play from scrimmage. (The drive stalled in the red zone.) They took another gift-wrapped possession for a touchdown in the second quarter after Philly muffed a punt return on its own 18. This time, after Mohamed Sanu dropped a touchdown in the end zone, it took a desperation, 6-yard, shovel/shotgun pass from a scrambling Ryan to Devonta Freeman to get the ball in the end zone.
Philadelphia has one of the NFL’s better defenses, particularly against the run. So it’s not as though anybody expected the Falcons to roll up points against them. But some of the play-calling by Sarkisian didn’t make a lot of sense. He had Ryan attempt a deep pass straight into the wind to Jones. The ball predictably was blown back, and Jones had to stop short and come back and play defense to prevent an interception.
Ryan also tried two deep passes on the same drive in the third quarter in swirling wind conditions that weren’t close to being completed. It’s understandable why an offense would need to attempt that periodically to keep a defense honest, but the Falcons were having some success with outside runs and short passes. Moving methodically and even coming away with only a field goal would put pressure on an offensive-challenged opponent. The Falcons seemingly had so little respect for the Eagles’ offense that went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Philly 45 on their second possession. (A pass fell incomplete, but the Falcons were penalized for a delay of game, and they wound up punting.)
There was one other noticeable difference from the Falcons’ wild-card win at Los Angeles last week: The defense wasn’t nearly as sharp. There were several missed tackles and run plays when the Falcons couldn’t get off their blocks, as well as two pass-interference penalties.
Philly kept things conservative on offense but succeeded at moving the ball. It had two long-sustained drives on consecutive possessions in the third and fourth quarters, lasting 5:42 and 7:57 respectively. Both reached the Falcons’ red zone, and both ended in only field goals. But it enabled the Eagles to take a 15-10 lead and keep Ryan and the offense on the sideline.
There was 6:02 left when the Falcons got the ball back. It looked dire after a first-down catch by Sanu was ruled incomplete on replay, setting up a fourth-and-6 from the 42. But Jones got open between two defenders, and Ryan drilled it for a 20-yard gain, and a 12-yard catch two plays later put the Falcons at the 26 at the two-minute warning.
Two plays later, the Falcons were at the Eagles’ 9. A pass to Jones moved it to the 2. But on fourth down, Ryan rolled right, cutting off half the field, and threw over a well-covered and leaping Jones.
That pretty much was it. A failed offensive possession. A microcosm of the season.