The Falcons’ victory over the Chicago Bears was not an artistic masterpiece. The curator from the Pro Football Hall of Fame is not going to call and ask for a copy of the video to display for the masses.
And that’s just fine with coach Dan Quinn.
Before the Falcons (1-0) face the Green Bay Packers (1-0) at the regular-season home opener at 8:30 p.m. Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Quinn and his staff have quite a to-do list after the 23-17 win. They plan to settle down new right guard Wes Schweitzer, who will remain with the starting unit. They also must get the rushing attack moving, eliminate the bulk of the 11 missed tackles and there’s the matter of eight penalties, three on special teams.
Schweitzer, a sixth-round pick out of San Jose State in 2016, won the starting right guard battle over Ben Garland following training camp. He did not play in a game last season while being converted from a college tackle to a pro guard. He made his NFL debut against the Bears.
It was forgettable performance as he struggled in both pass protection and the run game. Schweitzer allowed a sack, a quarterback hit and one hurry. He accounted for three of the four total pressures on Matt Ryan. Schweitzer’s 31.7 run blocking grade ranked 45th of 48 qualifying guards to play before the Sunday night game, according to profootballfocus.com.
“I thought he had his moments where it went well, but there were definitely moments in protection where he gave up a sack, there was a TFL (tackle for a loss),” Quinn said on Monday.
The Falcons are sticking with Schweitzer.
“I’m hopeful that he makes the adjustments and improvements headed forward,” said Quinn, who noted that Schweitzer was one of six players making their NFL debuts for the Falcons. “It was a tough first draw, but I anticipate him improving as we go. He’s a tough and smart competitor. I anticipate that getting better.”
Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were held to 53 yards rushing on 20 carries. On some runs, there was a lack of a decisive cut, a requirement in the Falcons’ outside zone scheme. Other times, there just wasn’t room to run.
Coleman had eight rushes for 16 yards and Freeman had 12 carries for 37 yard and a five-yard touchdown run.
“There were times where we could have stuck our foot in the ground and go as a back,” Quinn said.
In the Falcons’ scheme, the blocking must be in unison. One missed block can lead to a run getting stuffed.
Fullback Derrick Coleman missed a lead block on one run. Tight end Austin Hooper also finished with a poor blocking grade, 44.7, 24th of 41 tight ends to play before Sunday’s night game, according to profootballfocus.com.
“We have to make sure that all of us, tight ends, fullbacks or the center and the guard (are blocking),” Quinn said. “We have to be an extension of each other in the run game … especially in the run game where we want to press the line of scrimmage and get north-south.”
The Falcons’ offense is predicated on running the ball and then have Ryan pass on play-action fakes. If the run is stuffed, they are in danger of becoming one-dimensional. The Falcons got lucky against Bears when Ryan burned them for a 88-yard touchdown pass to Hooper after a defensive breakdown.
“I thought we gave it the right amount of reps going in to it, but we weren’t pleased with the outcome and play action that goes along with it,” Quinn said of the run offense.
Chicago rookie running back Tarik Cohen was slippery. He had five rushes for 66 yards and caught eight passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. He finished with 158 all-purpose yards as the North Carolina A&T product also returned three punts for 45 yards. On his 46-yard run, the Falcons had missed tackles by Brooks Reed and Deion Jones.
Falcons rookie linebacker Duke Riley also had a rough debut. He missed 3 of 7 tackle attempts, which was the second-lowest efficiency of 19 qualifying 4-3 outside linebackers to play before the Sunday night game.
“That’s at the very top of the list in bold letters,” Quinn said of missed tackles. “I know for sure that’s something that we can really improve upon defensively. That and creating turnovers is usually at the top of our list.
“Fixing penalties and tackling, I feel that we can get ahead of those to be at our best.”
