The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons turn back clock with Knapp
It’s as if the Falcons are trolling their constituency now. Coming off one of the worst-coached games in team history — which is saying something — they’ve filled their one coaching vacancy by hiring ... Greg Knapp. Important note: Knapp is returning only as quarterbacks coach — at least for now. He will not be the offensive coordinator .( He hasn’t filled that role for any team since 2012. He didn’t work in the NFL last season, having been fired as QB coach by Denver in January 2017.) You’ll recall that, as Falcons OC under Jim Mora, Knapp sought to graft the West Coast offense onto the uniquein-NFL-annals skills et of Michael Dwayne Vick. This lasted three seasons, one of which was very good, results-wise, if not necessarily sustainable. The Falcons of Vick/ Knapp/Mora reached the NFC Championship game in January 2005. That coaching staff would be fired Jan. 1, 2007, having gone 15-17 since playing for the conference title. The reason that staffff was canned was because Vick, who was the franchise, had regressed. In the cold light of hindsight, we might wonder if this was because of him leading a second life in Virginia, one that involved dog fighting. On that New Year’s Day, all we knew was that Mora/ Knapp hadn’t come close to maximizing one of the game’s great talents. That in mind, the Falcons hired a coach who would surely take Vick and his team to greater heights. Bobby Petrino lasted 13 games, none of which involved Vick. But enough Memory Lane. Since the loss in Philadelphia, commentators with a more nuanced eye than yours truly have lined up to rip Steve Sarkis ian, whose offense managed 10 points, none in the second half, in a playoff loss to a team working behind its backup quarterback. That those same Eagles annihilated Minnesota 38-7 and saw Foles strafe the NFL’s best defense for 352 yards pass- ing Sunday will come as cold comfort. The Falcons had their chance first— and-goal from the 9 — and blew it. If we’ve learned anything from the Eagles’ astonishing run to the Super Bowl — astonishing when we consider that the NFC’s No. 1 seed was a home underdog in both playoff games — it’s that coaching matters. Philly’s Doug Pederson has taken Foles and made him, miracle of miracles, into a Super Bowl quarterback. Sarkisian took Matt Ryan, who would have been last year’s Super Bowl MVP if the award had been given after three quarters, and had him throw a shovel pass with a postseason game on the line. And now, once again, comes Greg Knapp. To be fair, Dan Quinn made an odd coaching decision two off seasons ago — moving Raheem Morris, a career defensive man, to offense—and the Falcons landed in the Super Bowl. But it’s now clear that the architect of that giddy season, above Ryan and Quinn and everybody else, was Kyle Shanahan, who no longer works here. (We note, for the zillionth time, that the architect also undid his creation by not running the ball with a lead.) In December 2016 into January/February 2017, the Falcons appeared a beautifully coached team. That was with Quinn handling the defense (though we didn’t know that until after the and fact) Shahanan the offense. The defense under Marquand Manuel was better than it had been under Richard Smith, but it couldn’t keep Foles and Co. from hogging the the ball in second half of a winnable playoff game. The offense was mostly a damp squib. The Falcons averaged 17.7 points in seven post-November games. They averaged 36.3 over their fifinal eight games, Super Bowl included, the year before. That’s a dip of more than 50 percent. These were the same players — OK, minus Chris Chester and eventually Andy Levitre — but they were producing half as much. Did Ryan and Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman and Mohamed Sanu and Tevin Coleman and Taylor Gabriel and Austin Hooper forget how to play? A caveat: I’m not sure a quarterbacks coach — especially on a team with a No. 1 quarterback about to enter his 11th professional season — is a difference-making hire. But clearly Sarkisian needs all the help he can get. He was overmatched in his fifirst season as an NFL play-caller. Quinn choosing to keep Sarkisian makes some sense, I guess, in that you’d rather not make Ryan adjust to a fourth OC in fifive years. (Some sense, I said.) Still, if you view Brett Kollmann’s “Film Room” video posted after the Philadelphia debacle, Sarkisian’s shortcomings seem even shorter. Key Kollmann lines: “I genuinely wonder if he watched any of those previous games (in which the Eagles’ tendencies were exploited by the Seahawks, Rams and Giants) at all. Because if he did, virtually none of those successful concepts were carried over by the Falcons.” Kollmann goes on at much length in deeper detail. (I’d highly advise you to watch the entire 14-minute clip.) Perhaps as an act of mercy, he doesn’t dissect the failed goal-to-go sequence at game’s end. But, as noted in this space last week, Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders handled that chore. I’m sorry to keep harping on this coaching thing, but the belief here is — as it was in November — that the Falcons’ players didn’t fail their coaches. The belief is that it was the other way around. I’m not sure the addition of Knapp changes that dynamic one whit.