1. The no-spin zone: The Falcons’ rookie class had some bright spots in the opener Sunday against the Saints and a few question marks.
Wide receiver Drake London, who was coming off a knee injury, answered the bell in a big way. He finished with five catches for 74 yards.
Outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie, who was drafted in the second round (38th), played 26 defensive snaps (43%) and had a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
“It was fun,” Ebiketie said of his NFL debut. “It was amazing just being out there with the guys competing. I had a great time.”
Ebiketie said different things worked for him, including his speed rushes and counter moves.
“I got past the quarterback a couple of times, so that’s one of the things I want to work on in practice this week moving forward into the next week,” Ebiketie said.
The defense is in need of as many players as it can find who can get to the quarterback.
“Now you kind of see things in real time,” Ebiketie said. “You kind of make some mistakes out there, and you watch them after the game and you see some of the things you want to correct. Work on those in practice moving forward because you want to be great in those aspects (of the game).”
It was a promising start for the Penn State product.
“I felt like it was on point, especially in those three quarters,” Ebiketie said. “We did a great job of collapsing the pocket and making Jameis Winston uncomfortable.”
Inside linebacker Troy Andersen, who was taken later in the second round (58th), played 25 snaps on special teams (78%).
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
2. Rest of the rookie class: The rest of the rookie draft class didn’t contribute much.
Quarterback Desmond Ridder (third round) did not play but was active.
Outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone (third round) and running back Tyler Allgeier (fifth round) were inactive.
Guard Justin Shaffer (sixth round) is on the practice squad, and tight end John FitzPatrick (sixth round) is on injured reserve.
Allgeier was an unexpected inactive.
What does it say about the #Falcons rookie class that Allgeier and Malone are inactive and Shaffer is on the practice squad?
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) September 11, 2022
Falcons coach Arthur Smith said they wanted to go heavy at tight end and with extra interior defensive linemen. Also, special teams was a factor in the decision.
“You just have to make those decisions to get down to the 48 (game-day actives), where you want to go heavy, and a lot of it comes down to special teams,” Smith said Monday. “Maybe some weeks, we’ll have five running backs up. But when you have Avery (Williams) and Keith (Smith), who are good special-teams players, you have to make that assessment.”
The Falcons must declare their game-day roster 90 minutes before kickoff.
“I know 48 sounds like a lot, but when you’re putting that puzzle together, you’re going to have your three specialists up, so it’s really about getting to 45,” Smith said. “We felt like wanted to go heavier more on the interior on the (defensive) line. The way the game plan was, we went a little heavier at tight end. Kyle (Pitts) ended up playing a significant number of snaps.”
The Falcons also didn’t know how much London would be able to play.
“Drake played more snaps, and that’s a credit to Drake,” Smith said. “The guy missed a couple of weeks. He was playing pretty well. He was rolling, so we kept him in there.”
Ridder, tight end Feleipe Franks and wide receiver Jared Bernhardt did not play any snaps in the game.
“Some other guys that we dressed didn’t play as much as we had anticipated; took a little bit away from the back,” Smith said. “We’ll reassess that once we look to put the plan in for Sunday.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
3. Rushing attack: The Falcons unveiled their rushing attack against the Saints. They rushed 38 times for 201 yards.
“It’s a good start to the season,” Falcons guard Chris Lindstrom said. “It’s something to build off of. We just have to keep winning those crucial and critical situations. We need to be able to close it out on a four-minute drive. But it felt good.”
Running back Cordarrelle Patterson rushed 22 times for 120 yards.
“Just sustaining success,” Patterson said. “That’s the biggest thing. To make sure we can learn from it. Grow from it. I think what Coach said to the team, we’re not going to let one game define us. It’s a long season ahead. Things we did well, we have to sustain. Take the things we need to improve on and keep that going.”
4. Coach D. Led’s message to the O-line: Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford was straightforward in the film review session.
“The great thing about this staff is that every thing is really objective,” Lindstrom said. “We play with a lot of emotion on Sunday, but they are really objective here on Monday. The film is what it is. It never lies. You are really just trying to identify the problems and go about the best way of fixing them.”
5. Kyle Pitts’ role: Pro Bowl tight end Kyle Pitts had only two catches in the Falcons’ season opener against the Saints, but “he had a huge impact on the game,” according to Smith.
The Falcons rushed 38 times in the 27-26 loss to New Orleans, and Pitts’ efforts helped the team finish with 201 yards on the ground.
“He affects the game,” Smith said of Pitts. “I think the one thing that was very encouraging, I think Kyle, it’s not just lip service in one of these (exhibition) season stories, he blocked really well (Sunday).”
Pitts and London each had a team-high seven targets at receiver as the team finished with 215 yards through the air.
“We are certainly going to target Kyle, but we also have other good players,” Smith said. “If you want to take him away ... I’m very encouraged by what I saw by Drake. I thought he made some good plays and (KhaDarel) Hodge. We’ll look to continue to improve and get everybody involved in the offense. Kyle had a huge impact on the game.”
6. Practice squad update: Defensive tackle Abdullah Anderson, who was released by the Falcons on Saturday, was signed to the practice squad Monday.
Also, offensive tackle Tyler Vrabel was placed on the practice squad’s injured reserve list.
Tight end Anthony Firkser was promoted to the game-day roster from the practice squad for the Saints game.
A practice squad player can be promoted to the active roster three times. If a player is promoted four times, he must be signed to the 53-man roster.
The Falcons signed Firkser to their 53-man roster Tuesday, and they added cornerback Dylan Mabin to the practice squad.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
7. Series history: The Rams lead the series 48-28-2 in the regular season. The teams are 2-2 in the postseason.
8. Last meeting: The Rams won the last meeting 37-10 on Oct. 20, 2019, to drop the Falcons to 1-6 on the season. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked five times.
The Falcons’ last win in the playoffs came against the Rams in a 26-13 victory on Jan. 6, 2018, in the wild-card round.
Devonta Freeman rushed 18 times for 66 yards and a touchdown, and Julio Jones caught nine passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.
9. Depth chart: The Falcons were thin at running back Sunday after they made Allgeier inactive.
Franks and Bernhardt, who didn’t hit the field, are candidates for the inactive list.
With Damien Williams nursing a rib injury, Allgeier likely will be active Sunday.
Here’s a look at the depth chart:
OFFENSE
QB – Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder
RB – Cordarrelle Patterson, Damien Williams, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams
FB – Keith Smith
WR – Drake London, Bryan Edwards, Jared Bernhardt
TE – Kyle Pitts, Parker Hesse, Anthony Firkser, Feleipe Franks
LT – Jake Matthews, Chuma Edoga
LG – Elijah Wilkinson
C – Drew Dalman, Matt Hennessy
RG – Chris Lindstrom, Colby Gossett
RT – Kaleb McGary, Germain Ifedi
WR – Olamide Zaccheaus, KhaDarel Hodge, Damiere Byrd
DEFENSE
OLB – Lorenzo Carter, DeAngelo Malone
DE – Grady Jarrett, Timothy Horne
NT – Anthony Rush
DE – Ta’Quon Graham, Matt Dickerson
OLB – Ade Ogundeji, Arnold Ebiketie, Quinton Bell
ILB – Rashaan Evans, Nick Kwiatkoski
ILB – Mykal Walker, Troy Andersen, Nathan Landman
CB – A.J. Terrell, Mike Ford
FS – Jaylinn Hawkins, Dean Marlowe
SS – Richie Grant, Erik Harris
CB – Casey Hayward, Darren Hall, Dee Alford
SPECIAL TEAMS
K – Younghoe Koo
P – Bradley Pinion
LS – Liam McCullough
KR – Cordarrelle Patterson, Avery Williams
PR – Avery Williams
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