After the Falcons had success running an up-tempo, no-huddle attack for the second time in two games coach Dan Quinn said he still believes the strategy is most effective in small doses and in specific situations.
The Falcons had success operating without a huddle in both halves of their 35-28 victory at the Raiders on Sunday. They also scored a TD using the strategy in the second half of their 31-24 defeat to the Buccaneers in Week 1.
Quinn said the Falcons used the no-huddle attack on about 25 percent of their plays. He said it was the right approach to use against the Raiders to keep them off-balance and exploit what he considers to be his team’s excellent conditioning.
Quarterback Matt Ryan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have said that using the no-huddle makes it more difficult for the Falcons to execute their zone running game. Quinn said they were able to run the ball in the no-huddle against the Raiders because they still had Ryan under center.
“We definitely featured it more yesterday,” Quinn said Monday. “That was the best thing to do to go win, and so that’s what we did. It’s not where it’s just drop back all the time. We’ve got a really good run game, we know how to feature it, and some of those no-huddle plays were in the runs yesterday. Its’ not always in shotgun; sometimes it’s right at the line of scrimmage.”
Against the Buccaneers, the Falcons played at a faster tempo without huddling during a few plays of their only touchdown drive of the second half. That came after they were trailing 31-13 with 5:06 to play in the third quarter.
The Falcons used the no-huddle strategy against the Raiders with the score close in both halves. They sometimes made substitutions between plays, which by rule allows the defense to also bring in subs, but Quinn said the Falcons “still believe we can attack when that happens.”
However, Quinn said the Falcons won’t use the no-huddle as a fundamental part of their offense, especially if that means become too reliant on passing.
“Some people think of no huddle when you are shotgun at the end of the game throwing it on every play,” Quinn said. “That’s not the no-huddle we use.”
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