5 things the Falcons couldn’t overcome in their loss to the Dolphins
FLOWERY BRANCH — Miami’s formula Sunday that beat the Falcons was straight out of the 1970s.
Run the ball. Stop the run.
Here are five things we learned from the Falcons’ 34-10 loss to the Dolphins at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:
1. Bijan Robinson’s fumble: The Dolphins came out determined to stop the Falcons’ rushing attack.
The Dolphins held the Falcons to 10 yards rushing in the first half. It was the Falcons’ fewest first-half yards rushing since Nov. 8, 2015, at San Francisco.
The Falcons averaged only 1.1 yards per carry in the first half as the Dolphins built a 17-3 halftime lead.
After an exchange of punts to start the third quarter, the Falcons’ best play of the game was a 39-yard pass interference call, followed by a 17-yard pass to Robinson to move the ball to Miami’s 19. The Falcons needed a touchdown to make the score 17-10 and stay in the game, but Robinson fumbled. The ball was recovered by Miami linebacker Tyrel Dodson.
The Dolphins scored on a 43-yard crossing route to Jaylen Waddle to blow open the game.
It was Robinson’s second fumble of the season. He also had one against Washington and one against the Bills that was nullified by a penalty.
2. Screen plays beat Falcons’ pass rush: The Falcons plan to blitz Tua Tagovailoa worked early. Nickel back Dee Alford picked up the only sack for the team on a slot-corner blitz.
The Dolphins slowed the Falcons with an assortment of screen passes.
When you blitz and play man coverage behind the blitz, it’s critical the players not miss tackles in the open field.
The angle screen to running back Ollie Gordon II was a 20-yard touchdown that gave the Dolphins a 31-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
3. Falcons mauled in run game: If a team can slow the Falcons offense, teams can stay patient and maul them in the run game. San Francisco did it, and Miami used the same game plan.
With quarterback Kirk Cousins and the offense not scoring on five of their first six possessions, the Dolphins stayed patient with the run game, and they threw the whole run-game book at the Falcons defense, according to Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss.
“It opens everything up based on what the front is trying to do and what the ‘backers are seeing, as well,” Tagovailoa said about the run game. “So, with our boot game, it helped with that. With our play-action game, it also helped with that. Then, as much as we ran the ball under center, we also ran it a good amount in the gun or in the pistol.”
The Falcons are set to see more runs until they stop it. The Patriots rushed 35 times for 177 yards (5.1 per carry) in their win over the Browns. The Colts, the Falcons’ opponent after the Patriots, rushed 18 times for 164 yards (9.1 per carry) in their win over the Titans.
So, if the offense doesn’t start putting up some points, the run defense is going to get mauled.
4. Penalties … and then more penalties: The Falcons committed eight penalties, and most were by veterans. Jake Matthews, Ryan Neuzil, A.J. Terrell, Leonard Floyd and Mike Hughes all had penalties.
Special-teams players Feleipe Franks and Mike Ford Jr. also committed penalties. Franks had two.
The Falcons were called for eight penalties for 76 yards.
“We had too many penalties to set those guys up in backed-up situations,” coach Raheem Morris said.
Tight end Kyle Pitts said, “We have some penalties and things, so that kind of hurts.”
5. Kirk Cousins looked rusty: Cousins had not played in an NFL game since a win over the Raiders in Las Vegas on Dec. 16.
He played in some mop-up duty against the Panthers on Sept. 21.
Cousins finished with 173 yards passing, with 76 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
He was playing without top receiver Drake London, who was injured, and Ray-Ray McCloud, who was released last week.
Cousins and McCloud worked well together last season.
So, when the Falcons couldn’t run the ball, there was little hope that Cousins would be able to throw them back into the game with a bunch of receivers he’d never played with.
There were several miscues and errant throws to places where Cousins thought his receivers would be.
There was one wild and high throw to Mooney, who had broken open.
If this was the Falcons’ idea of showcasing Cousins before the Nov. 4 trading deadline, things didn’t go very well.
“I think it wasn’t any one thing,” Cousins about the sketchy offensive play. “You just feel like there were a lot of different phases that just weren’t consistently good enough.”
Now, we’ll get to see just how quickly Michael Penix Jr. can recover from that bone bruise in his left knee.
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
