The Falcons’ offense looked better than it had in weeks against the Lions in Week 8. That outburst provides the unit some hope it can hum again even though it didn’t score in the second half of that game.
The Falcons scored three touchdowns on their first four possessions against the Lions (they ran out the clock to end the first half on the fifth drive).
“That’s the standard of what we expect,” Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. “When you think back to the first couple games of the season, that’s how we were playing. That’s how we expect to play. So that was a bright spot in that we showed we can still do it. We just totally did not execute in the second half.”
A major reason for the second-half shutout was a decline in first-down efficiency. It’s an area of weakness that Falcons coaches honed in on while self-scouting the first eight games of the season during the bye week.
The Falcons consider a gain of four or more yards on first-and-10 to be successful because it dramatically increases the chances of making a first down. They hit that mark on eight of 14 chances in the first half: four passes, two runs and two by way of penalty.
In the second half the Falcons gained four yards or more just twice on eight first-and-10s: rushes of four and seven yards by Steven Jackson. They had three plays for zero or negative yards on those first-and-10 plays.
Koetter said the Falcons have been efficient in short yardage (third or fourth down with one yard to go), with six to nine yards to go for a first down and with more than 10 yards to go. The problems have come when the Falcons need two to five yards for a first down.
“That’s something we targeted in the bye week we can get better at it and we have an idea of how we want to do it,” Koetter said.
