Where did the offense go?

Heading into the eighth game of the season, the Falcons (2-5) must find their offense before essentially playing a playoff elimination game against the Detroit Lions (5-2) at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London.

History will not be on the Falcons side if they drop to 2-6.

Since the NFL started using a 12-team playoff format in 1990, no team has reached the playoffs after starting the season 2-6.

As it stands, the Falcons have a three percent chance of making the playoffs, according to pro-football-reference.com. If they could somehow get on a roll and beat Detroit, Tampa Bay on the road and Carolina on the road and get to 5-5, their chances of reaching the playoffs would increase to 29 percent.

In order for the Falcons to salvage the season, the must find their disappearing offense.

The unit opened the season with a sparkling performance in the 37-34 overtime victory over the Saints. The offense amassed 568 total net yards, the highest single-game yardage total in franchise history. Atlanta topped the previous mark of 563 yards set against the Rams in 1980.

Ryan also set the franchise record for total passing yards in a single game with 448 against the Saints.

The following week the offense struggled in Cincinnati, before bouncing back to score 56 points in a rout of Tampa Bay. The game was so one-sided that the starters were pulled mid-way through the third quarter.

But since the Tampa Bay game, the offense has misfired. The Falcons have score 28, 20, 13 and 7 points in their past four outings.

The offensive line, which was already without left tackle Sam Baker and starting a rookie at left tackle, lost center Joe Hawley (knee) and right tackle Lamar Holmes (foot) to season-ending injuries.

The pass protection has deteriorated and there are no holes for the running backs to hit.

“We’ve all played football long enough to know that when you’re getting your butt kicked, you’ve got to do something different and something better,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “We’ve got to become better together.”

There doesn’t appear to be any clear cut answers on how to fix the offense.

Running back Antone Smith has provided sparks, but the coaches refuse to expand his role while wide receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones have not been able to make enough plays with Ryan under duress.

White has four dropped pass over the past two games and Jones has three.

None of the offensive players or coaches want to blame the injuries along the offensive line.

However, a similar rash of injuries wiped out the line and led to a 4-12 mark last season, when the Falcons were predicted to be Super Bowl contenders.

“In that respect, it’s awfully similar,” left guard Justin Blalock said. “But we can’t slow down. They are not going to call the season off just because a couple of guys got hurt.”

What was particularly disheartening to the offensive players was their inability to pick up a fourth-and-1 against the Ravens.

“We’ve got to find a way to practice better, to prepare better and ultimately to play better,” Ryan said. “Offensively, it comes down to a couple of key things. We have to convert on third downs… . when you get short-field opportunity, you’ve got to put up points.”

Jones believes that offense can re-discover its explosiveness.

“We’re just inconsistent,” Jones said. “We get a drive going, and then it stalls. We make a mistake or something. We are shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Jones believes the Falcons’ issues are internal.

“There’s nothing really stopping us but us,” Jones said. “We haven’t been executing. We get drives going, and then we stall. We’ve got to fix that here.”

Running back Steven Jackson, who has 77 carries for 285 yards and two touchdowns, has been ineffective.

He points to the woes on third down and believes that they have kept the offense from getting into a rhythm. The Falcons have converted on 10 of 41 third downs (24.3 percent) over the past three games.

“The only way to put it back together is to stick together,” Jackson said. “All the men in the locker room, coaches and players, have to stick together, remain positive and trust that we are going to get out of this rut.”

Perhaps the Falcons can find some inspiration in the 2002 New York Jets. They started 2-5 under coach Herman Edwards before closing to finish 9-7 and reaching the playoffs.

“We’ve got to find a way to play better this week,” Ryan said.