5 things we learned from the Falcons’ loss to the Jets
FLOWERY BRANCH — This once-promising season has been shredded to pieces by the Falcons losing six of their past seven games.
Now, with a 4-8 record, just getting to a winning mark would be a major achievement.
“Football is our business,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Winning is our job.”
After a 27-24 loss Sunday against the lowly Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the rest of the way looks bleak.
“They battled back,” Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews. “You have to give them credit. That found a way to win.”
Now, the Falcons must try to regroup with five games to play.
“Just taking pride in doing a good job,” Matthews said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. ... Just go, keep working, being a professional and getting your job done.”
Here are the five things we learned from their latest outing:
1. Head-hunters needed: The Falcons didn’t have three of their top special-teams cover guys in KhaDarel Hodge, Josh Woods and DeAngelo Malone.
Hodge was inactive, while Woods and Malone are on injured reserve.
No one has stepped up in the ball-hawk/head-hunter role.
The Falcons must consider using starters on special teams to fix this issue, or it will continue to haunt them.
They gave up an 83-yard kickoff return against the Jets, and returner Jamal Agnew dropped a punt inside the 10-yard line.
He’s not supposed to field anything inside the 8-yard line but lost track of his field position.
“That mistake can’t happen,” Morris said.
Morris said he was not considering a change at the special-teams coordinator position at this time.
“We played awful yesterday on special teams,” Morris said. “I don’t know how to say it any other way. We can’t give up the kickoff return, and we certainly can’t muff it on the 2 (yard line) and give up 10 points.”
The damage could have been worse.
“We were fortunate that it was only 10,” Morris said. “Our defense went out and did a good job after the kickoff return and held them (to a field goal).”
Morris said he felt special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams could communicate the corrections properly to the players.
“You just can’t have those two big player mistakes from a special-team standpoint,” Morris said. “We haven’t played great all year. We’ve got to do a better job of correcting those things.”
2. Wasting Robinson: The Falcons wasted a spectacular performance from running back Bijan Robinson.
He had 193 yards from scrimmage, which was the second-most in a single game of his career. He had 238 total yards against Buffalo in Week 6.
It also was his sixth career game with at least 150 yards from scrimmage, which is tied for the sixth most all-time among Falcons running backs. Warrick Dunn also has six.
Robinson has rushed 195 times for 995 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also caught 54 passes for 594 yards and two touchdowns.
3. Third-down circus: At this point, someone else needs to call the plays on third downs.
The Falcons failed to convert their first four third downs and finished 4-for-12.
Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson added some power formations — inverted wishbone and I-formation with guard Jovaughn Gwyn at fullback — so that was a step in the right direction.
Candidates to call plays on third downs include Morris, T.J. Yates, D.J. Williams or Kirk Cousins.
4. Locker room: The ghost of fired wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard and released wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud hover over this season.
The firing of the coach and subsequent release of McCloud were early signals that things were not going smoothly.
Apparently, those “performance issues” were rampant and not solved by those moves.
Players are saying the right things, but when one of the captains is the first one dressed and doesn’t speak to the media, something his wrong.
The fans need to hear from Jessie Bates III. He knows what’s wrong and will not mince his words.
5. Pearce and Walker: While the defense could protect another fourth-quarter lead, young linebackers James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker continued to play well.
“I always put a lot of pressure on myself to go out there and do my job at the highest level and show people that I’m running with the best,” said Pearce, who played 33 of 66 defensive snaps (50%) against the Jets. “I’m just trying to keep taking those strides.”
Pearce had a sack and two tackles.
Walker played 34 of the 66 defensive snaps (52%).
“It (was) a loss,” Walker said. “Nobody is excited about that. All we have to do is keep pushing and go into next week.”
The defense is working to close out games.
“We just have to finish,” Walker said. “It’s a competitive football league. It’s what lays in front of us. We just have to finish games.”
The defense gave up a fourth-quarter lead for the third time over the past four games.
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.
