FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons coach Arthur Smith must make sure the team doesn’t stew over Sunday’s 21-15 loss to the Buccaneers. That’s part of the psychology of football because after one train leaves the station, another is coming to town.
In that regard, the Falcons need to move on in order to getting ready for coach Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers, who rolled the Panthers 37-15 Sunday to improve to 3-2.
“In life, you control what you can control,” Smith said on Monday “What we can control is how to get better because we have a huge game here in Atlanta against the 49ers. That’s where our focus is now.”
Here are five takeaways from the Falcons’ loss to the Buccaneers that dropped their record to 2-3:
1. The worst call ever
Defensive end Grady Jarrett’s sack of Tom Brady should have forced a fourth down and led to the Falcons getting the ball back in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. There was no way to stop his momentum and gently lay the 45-year-old quarterback on the ground.
Referee Jerome Boger, an Atlanta native and former quarterback at Morehouse, called unnecessary roughness on the sack. He’s been an NFL official since 2004.
Jarrett got up and ran to his bench like the players are being taught these days. Some thought the flag was for Brady trying to kick Jarrett.
The Falcons may not have scored a touchdown to win the game, but they earned the chance to try.
Jarrett didn’t speak to the media after the game and may be fined for violating the NFL’s media policy.
2. Slow start by offense was expected
With both running back Cordarrelle Patterson and tight end Kyle Pitts out, the slow start on offense was both predictable and expected. Heading into the Bucs’ game, Patterson and Pitts combined to account for 35.6% of the offensive yards and 30% of the team’s touchdowns.
Rookie Drake London was a marked man. He caught 4-of-7 targets for 35 yards. He had a 24-yard reception nullified by penalty.
Tight ends Parker Hesse and Anthony Firsker chipped with a reception each. Firskser’s 11-yard reception came on a third-and-10. Feleipe Franks, the converted quarterback, had two targets, a drop, and no catches.
The running back committee didn’t getting rolling until the Bucs built a 21-0 lead and was led by Mariota’s scrambles. He was the leading rusher with 61 yards on seven carries.
With Patterson out for the next three games, the running back committee needs to be ready to do the heavy lifting early. That will open up London and Olamide Zaccheaus in the passing game.
Zaccheaus caught 2-of-4 targets for 39 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown.
London didn’t know whether the Bucs gave him extra attention.
“I didn’t really sense that at all,” London said. “Just went out there and tried to play my best.”
3. Bend but don’t break
The Falcons continued to move between the 3-4, 4-3 and nickel packages and they are giving up a lot of yards.
Tampa Bay became the third straight team to amass more than 400 yards on the Falcons. The Bucs had 420, the Browns 403 and the Seahawks 420. The Falcons won two of those games.
The Falcons gave up 337 yards to the Rams in Week 2 and 385 to the Saints in Week 1.
The Falcons clearly tried to takeaway the deep passes from Tom Brady and force him to check it down to running back Leonard Fournette, who caught 10-of-11 targets for 83 yards and a touchdown.
While attempting to take away long ball, Brady stayed patient underneath with crossing route and check down routes.
Cornerback Casey Hayward did get back and knock away a deep shot to Scotty Miller. Hayward said he lost his breath on the play. Hayward received medical attention and later returned to the game.
To the Falcons’ credit, they did have a fourth-and-one stop in the red zone for the second consecutive game.
4. Automatic Koo not automatic
Kicker Younghoe Koo missed a 52-yard field goal that could have made the halftime score 10-3. After his miss, the Bucs zipped down the field and made a field goal to make it 13-0 at the half.
If Koo had made the field goal and the defense kept the Bucs from zipping down the field, the Falcons would have been down 10-3 with the ball to start the second half and a chance to tie the game.
It was situational football that was bungled right before the half.
5. Faster starts needed
Like against the Rams (28-3), the Falcons dug themselves a massive hole and then started digging out from the 21-0 deficit.
“Just as a team, we have to play fast as a team,” Hayward said. “Start fast in all the cores – offense, defense and special teams. Try not to put ourselves being down 21.”
The Falcons nearly made it out of the holes in both games, but what if the showed up at kickoff and didn’t get into those rallying situations?
That will be important when they face Shanahan and the 49ers (3-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Our coaching staff did a great job of doing some adjustments,” Mariota said. “It’s a tough defense, you (have) to give them credit. They’ve been causing havoc through the first four weeks of the season, so we knew we had a challenge in front of us.”
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The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 NFL schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
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