FLOWERY BRANCH — On the Falcons’ second drive Sunday against the Packers, the team had the ball on the 1-yard line and did not punch it in.
The Falcons (2-0) had to settle for a 24-yard field goal. The Falcons’ short-yardage attack will be on the hot seat when they face the Lions (1-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit.
After quarterback Desmond Ridder made a 9-yard run to the 2-yard line, the offense sputtered.
There was a pass-interference call that moved the ball to the 1.
The Falcons tossed an incomplete pass, running back Bijan Robinson was stopped for no gain, then there was another incomplete pass. On fourth-and-1, left guard Matthew Bergeron committed a false start. On fourth-and-6, the Falcons settled for the points.
“The short yardage, we ran a couple of plays that might’ve been the same play, just got up there and went quick and just ran it,” Ridder said. “It’s a package that we (can) improve on. We keep growing with.”
Later in the game, with things in the balance, the Falcons went with an unbalanced line and tossed the ball to Robinson, who picked up 7 yards.
When the Falcons’ reach the low red zone, they want touchdowns.
Ridder said there was a miscommunication on the first pass play.
“It got loud down there in the red zone, we weren’t ready to go on silent there being at home,” Ridder said. “But for us, that’s a communication thing between myself and Drew (Dalman). Look forward going into this week with Detroit, know it’s going to be a loud environment, going to be a crazy environment, so we all got to be on the same page.”
The Bow Tie Chronicles
About the Author
