For those Falcons fans who believe running the no-huddle offense for an entire series is the key to turning around the team’s fortunes, don’t expect that to happen against the Oakland Raiders.
The Falcons have taken umbrage with the “more no-huddle” as a possible fix.
Coach Dan Quinn is growing tired of the question. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has offered his pros and cons on the no-huddle.
“It depends on the game plan,” Shanahan said Thursday. “It depends on our players. Depends on who we are going against. It also has a lot to do with the other side of the ball, too.”
Even quarterback Matt Ryan, who’s quite proficient at running a no-huddle offense, has gone on an anti-no-huddle crusade.
“That’s a big topic of conversation,” Ryan said. “That question gets asked over and over and over. To me, we always look for opportunities for when it’s effective for us. I thought we did a nice job of kind of going in and out of it last week. It was effective for us. We scored a touchdown in it.”
The Falcons scored just one touchdown in their other 11 possessions and were stopped three times in the red zone in the opener.
Ryan was quick to note that receiver Mohamed Sanu’s 5-yard touchdown catch wasn’t run from the no-huddle. But in the other nine non-no-huddle drives, the Falcons didn’t score any touchdowns.
After Jacob Tamme caught a pass for 19 yards to open the final drive, the Falcons went no-huddle with 1:29 left to play in the game. That drive stalled.
The Falcons’ no-huddle looks different under Shanahan. They jump in to it for a play or two, which happened three times against the Buccaneers.
The Falcons no longer go into no-huddle for an entire drive or for extended periods of time.
“We did it (three) times in the game,” Shanahan said. “That’s something we do every week. We go no-huddle at least one time a week, and sometimes more.”
The Raiders are preparing for the Falcons to use both their huddle and no-huddle attack.
“They obviously have a quarterback who’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league,” coach Jack Del Rio said. “He’s got some tremendous talent around him that he throws to. We know that we have a big challenge in front of us.”
Ryan is fine with Shanahan’s version of the limited no-huddle.
“There are pluses and minuses to it,” he said. “One of the things that is important for us is creating advantageous looks in the run game. It becomes increasingly more difficult sometimes in the no-huddle to be able to do that. It’s something that we evaluate and talk about every week.”
However, the Falcons have not been seeing strong run looks. They have not rushed for more than 100 yards in the past six games, dating to last season.
“We need to get the run game going a little bit more,” Ryan said. “We’ll evaluate if we can use the no-huddle more this week.”
When the Falcons used the no-huddle, receiver Julio Jones scored on a 25-yard reception.
“For me, with the no-huddle, it’s just whatever the offensive coordinator wants to do,” Jones said. “He’s up in the box and he can kind of see the fatigue of the defense. He puts us in the no-huddle to put pressure on the defense. When the guys are fresh out there, you can’t really go no-huddle right away.”
Quinn said he likes for his offense to play at a fast tempo occasionally to change the pace during a drive. However, Quinn said he doesn’t believe his personnel is equipped for using an extensive no-huddle attack.
“We don’t see it as a featured way where, every play, we are no-huddle,” he said. “We wouldn’t be able to play in a style that would best suit our guys.”
Ryan has been successful using the full no-huddle attack during his career after learning it as a rookie under former coordinator Mike Mularkey and quarterback coach Bill Musgrave. Initially, Ryan was equipped with 10 to 12 plays to call at the line of scrimmage out of their “Texas” no-huddle attack. The package grew to nearly 50 plays.
Mularkey and Dirk Koetter, from 2012 to 2014, used the no-huddle extensively.
Shanahan is not prepared to hand over the entire drive to Ryan.
“We do like using tempo, and that’s a way to say ‘no-huddle’ or a way to say you are working at the line (with Ryan calling plays),” Quinn said. “Oftentimes, it’s best within a drive, (when) you are at the third play, you just got a third down, to get back on the ball again.”
Also, the outside run zone scheme that the Falcons run under Shanahan calls for a lot of running by the offensive linemen.
The no-huddle, as a steady part of the offense, can wear them out.
“Either way, we feel comfortable,” Quinn said.
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