Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter came downstairs for the first regular-season game on Sunday and the team set a franchise-record for total yards.
Don’t expect him back up in the coaches booth anytime soon. Calling the game from the sidelines, he found the lines of communication too good.
“When you’re in no-huddle, it cuts off the middle man,” said Koetter, who’s in his third season with the team. “Maybe saves four seconds.”
The Falcons had pre-determined against New Orleans that they would open the game in the no huddle offense and they stayed with the tactic for most of the first half.
“We were in and out (of it) in the second half,” Koetter said. “That’s another thing that when I’m on the sidelines, we can just get into it and go.”
The offense got off to a slow start, forced to punt and then fumbling on their first two possessions.
But from there, the unit erupted for 14 explosive plays — defined by the team as runs of 12 yards and pass plays of 16 yards or more — and scored on seven on its last nine possessions in a record-setting performance by quarterback Matt Ryan.
“No. 2 was on fire,” Koetter said.
The Falcons picked up yards in chunks against the Saints’ defense, which finished last season ranked No. 4 in the league. The team amassed 568 total yards, the highest single-game total in franchise history. The previous mark of 563 yards was set against the Los Angeles Rams in 1980.
Ryan also passed for a franchise-record 448 yards and became the team’s all-time leader in touchdowns passes with 156, surpassing Steve Bartkowski’s mark of 154, which was set from 1975-85.
Chris Chandler had held the single-game record of 431 yards set against Buffalo in 2001.
The wide receiver corps, considered the strength of the team, came through with plays for Ryan. Julio Jones caught seven of his nine targeted passes, Harry Douglas caught six of seven, Roddy White caught five of seven and Devin Hester, the newcomer, caught five of six.
“The more opportunities they get to touch the ball, the more opportunities they are going to have to create explosive plays,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
Jones was quick to point out after the game that the offense made several mistakes and left a lot of room for improvement.
“When you have the multiplicity that we have available to us in terms of our offensive guys who can touch the ball and where they are going to line up,” Smith said, “I think that’s going to create issues for defenses.”
The Falcons ran 25 running plays, including Ryan’s three scrambles, and attempted 43 passes. That’s nearly a 60-to-40 pass-run ratio. The Falcons deployed a lot of their three- and four-wide receiver formations against the Saints in order to create mismatches.
“We are going to be in ballgames where you feel like you’re going to be able to run the football,” Smith said. “Again, we felt like it was going to be dictated by how (Saints defensive coordinator) Rob Ryan tried to defend the formations and the personnel groupings that we put out there.”
Facing the Bengals on Sunday, one of the tougher defenses in the AFC, the Falcons will encounter a stiff challenge.
“They don’t give up very many big plays,” Koetter said. “They have a lot of really good football players. They are tough at home. They’ve got two legitimate game-wrecker type pass rushers, one on the inside (Geno Atkins) and one on the outside (Carlos Dunlap).”
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