Falcons drop preseason open to Titans
Arthur Smith became the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach in January after 10 seasons on the Tennessee Titans’ staff, including the past two as offensive coordinator.
On Friday night in Smith’s first game at the Falcons’ helm, Atlanta lost to Tennessee 23-3 and totaled just 138 yards.
The Falcons left most of their starters on the bench, and with quarterback Matt Ryan watching, former Alabama All-American AJ McCarron and rookie Feleipe Franks operated the Atlanta offense. But Smith didn’t blame the meager showing on the quarterbacks.
A former prep star at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, McCarron completed 5-of-12 passes for 36 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked twice and ran twice for 11 yards.
McCarron handled the first half on Friday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. While the six possessions didn’t produce any points, the Falcons’ offense did get called for five penalties – three holding, one illegal block and one illegal formation. The penalties nullified three completions for 31 yards and an 8-yard run by McCarron.
“We did a very poor job of executing,” Smith said. “We had way too many penalties that put us in a lot of bad, get-back-on-track situations. Clearly never got in a rhythm after that. I don’t want to overreact until we go back and see the tape. I thought the first ball coming out of AJ’s hand, he ripped it to Tajae (Sharpe) on one of those early third downs, and we got a penalty for illegal formation – tackle being too far in the backfield. Those are self-inflicted wounds, and I got to do a better job of coaching us. That’s the stuff that’s going to get you beat clearly. Tonight, we were not in a rhythm there.”
In the second half, Franks completed 2-of-9 passes for 16 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, got sacked three times and ran four times for 76 yards, including a 52-yard scramble.
“We didn’t do enough to help AJ,” Smith said. “You get out of rhythm. I don’t want to overreact. He got hit a few times, too. The thing is with
AJ, the operation was a little cleaner, but there were no results behind that because of the entire picture of the offense in the first half. But you’ve got to give the Titans credit there defensively.
“Second half, Feleipe, young guy, we want to be a little better operationally. But what Feleipe clearly showed is he can extend plays, so that was good to see.”
The Falcons signed McCarron in free agency this offseason to back up Ryan. McCarron is entering his eighth season in the NFL. Franks joined Atlanta from Arkansas as an undrafted free agent in May.