Rudy's Blog Player
FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons, under offensive coordinators Mike Mularkey and Dirk Koetter, on average were ranked 7.1 spots higher in red zone scoring percentage (touchdowns only) than offenses directed by new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan over the past seven seasons.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Shanahan’s units have consistently struggled in the red zone.
In five of his seven years as a coordinator, Shanahan's units finished in the lower half of the league in red zone percentage with rankings of 26th, 12th, 19th, 29th, fourth, tied for 20th and 24th.
Over the same period, the Falcons were 14th, 15th, seventh and 13th under Mularkey. They were eighth, 22nd and fifth under Koetter.
Here’s what Shanahan had to say when asked about his red zone numbers.
“You want to get your best players involved down there,” Shanahan said. “It’s changed with every team. I don’t know all of my numbers or what they’ve been in the red zone over the years. I’m sure that we’ve had good ones . . . but it depends on your team. You always like to run the ball, that makes it a lot easier down there. But it’s also hard to run the ball because it gets tight.
“When that happens you need good quarterback play. You need big targets. But there are lots of different ways to be good in the red zone. Being a coordinator for seven years, I feel that I’ve been good in every aspect. But, I’ve also had years where I’ve been bad at it, too. In those bad years, you learn a lot.
“That’s what we do now. You study it. . . . With the players that you have, you have to find ways to make them successful. If you don’t, you usually don’t last there too long.”
ATLANTA’S RED ZONE NUMBERS 2008-14
Yr -- Rank -- Percentage -- Coordinator
08 – 14TH – 55.36 -- Mularkey
09 – 15th – 51.79 t -- Mularkey
10 – 7th -- 60.34 – Mularkey
11 – 13th – 52.54 -- Mularkey
12 – 8th – 58.77 – Koetter
13 – 22nd – 51.92 – Koetter
14 – 5th – 61.36 – Koetter
SHANAHAN’S RED ZONE NUMBERS 2008-14
Year -- Rank -- Percentage --- Team
08 – 26th – 45.90 – Houston
09 – 12th – 52.38 – Houston
10 – 19th – 51.16 – Washington
11 – 29th – 41.18 – Washington
12 – 4th – 60.38 – Washington
13 – 20th (tied) – 52 – Washington
14 – 24th – 48.99 – Cleveland
SOURCE: NFL Game Statistics and Information Systems
THE LATEST ON THE FALCONS BEAT
Quinn's leadership traits were pegged early on
5 things we learned from Coach Quinn's press conference
COACHING STAFF: Quinn still has some holes on his coaching staff
MARK BRADLEY -- Quinn might win if his front office lets him
JEFF SCHULTZ -- Dan Quinn's ascent to head coach was years in the making
Dimitroff has no problem with restructured
Sam Baker battling back from injury
Sean Weatherspoon to be part of revival
VIDEO: Falcons, Quinn make it official
PHOTO GALLERY: Dan Quinn hired as 16th coach of the Atlanta Falcons
About the Author
