After pouring over film and having meetings, the Falcons have a plan to fix their sputtering offense.
Since their 428-yard, 30-point performance in Detroit on Sept. 24, the Falcons’ offense has stalled.
A scoreless second half against Miami followed by a seven-point output against New England on Sunday sent coach Dan Quinn and his offensive staff searching for solutions ahead of their game against the New York Jets at 1 p.m. Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Among the areas that Quinn highlighted were third-down conversions and red-zone offense. One area that he also emphasized was getting more out of the running game.
To this point, the Falcons rank 11th in the NFL in rushing yards per game (120.5) and fourth yards per carry (4.89). Quinn would like to see a certain number of carries per game.
“In the high 20s,” Quinn said, “When you’re in the high 20s, that’s a good day of taking your shots at running it.”
Despite this goal, the Falcons have failed to reach the mark during their three-game skid, averaging only 23 carries per game; a stat that would rank 24th in the NFL attempts per game. They’ve also gone away from running the ball in short-yardage situations (see fourth-and-1 against New England on Sunday and against Buffalo.)
However, Falcons players are confident though that focusing on the minor details will result in returning to the top-five rushing attack they were a season ago.
“I feel like we’re in a good rhythm,” running back Tevin Coleman said, “We just got to continue to play for each other and continue working hard. The biggest focus is getting over the loss, don’t let it come over to a new week with a new team.”
On Monday, a team meeting was held. It was an opportunity for players and coaches to air out any thoughts or feelings about their recent losing streak. Running back Devonta Freeman thought it was a productive meeting and helped get the team back on track.
“The most important thing is for us is to all be on the same page,” Freeman said, “We got great leaders on this team and coaches, everyone just follows the plan and continue to get better. Every loss is a lesson for us, we just learn from it and get better every week.”
The Falcons might be facing the perfect opponent to cure their rushing woes, the Jets ranked 28th in the NFL in run defense. Center Alex Mack isn’t taking them lightly however, knowing they’re talented up front with Muhammed Wilkerson and Leonard Williams.
“Everyone’s really good, and they play really good together,” Mack said, “I’ve played the nose guard (Steve McLendon) a couple years in Pittsburgh; real talented guy who does zone-read really well and on film shows up getting up field very effectively.”
As far as the run game as a whole, Mack believes making the minor adjustments will make all the difference.
“I think it’s always little things, being really attentive to the details,” Mack said, “Turning those four yards to 8-yard runs, 8-yard runs to 20-yard runs and then take advantage of them in the pass game. If you have an effective run game and they’re bringing up a lot of people to stop the run, then the pass game should open up.”
