All of the vital statistical indicators on the Falcons’ offense appear to point to a prosperous and thriving unit.
They are highly ranked — in the top half of the NFL — in all key offensive categories. They are averaging 25.4 points per game (eighth in league), 402.2 yards per game (fifth), 113.9 yards rushing per game (15th) and 288.3 yards passing per game (fifth).
After losing to San Francisco 17-16 on Nov. 8, the key players on offense, quarterback Matt Ryan, wide receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White, met and discussed whether the offense needs to play at a faster pace, if it needs to use the no-huddle and how White can get more involved. Also, other members of the team suggested that opponents have caught up to the Falcons’ attack.
After an intensive self-evaluation by the players and the coaches, the Falcons have arrived at the conclusion that they don’t need to fix what’s not broken. They have concluded that eliminating penalties and turnovers should correct the scoring problems.
While the Falcons did practice at a faster tempo during Monday’s practice, Quinn referred to some “subtle” changes, but nothing major.
“Everyone can have their different opinions,” offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said. “But I think there are a lot of good things that we are doing. I thought San Francisco was our worse game. … We struggled to run the ball.”
In losses to New Orleans and Tampa Bay, Shanahan said the offense was stymied by turnovers. Against the Saints in a 31-21 loss Oct. 15, the Falcons lost three fumbles and had two interceptions.
Two red-zone turnovers were costly. Running back Tevin Coleman fumbled on the 9-yard line. Center James Stone had a bad snap that turned into a fumble on the 14-yard line.
Against Tampa Bay in a 23-20 loss Nov. 1, the Falcons didn’t punt, but lost three of four fumbles, and Ryan tossed an interception. Mike Person had a botched snap at Tampa Bay’s 4-yard line that was recovered by the Bucs. Ryan mishandled a handoff to Devonta Freeman at Tampa Bay’s 20-yard line.
“I don’t look at those as, ‘man we’re struggling,’” Shanahan said. “I look at it as frustrating because you’re moving the ball, but you don’t have the points to show for it. So you look at why don’t you score those points. We looked into all of that stuff in two of those games. A lot of that stuff was turnovers.”
In the loss to the 49ers in the game before their bye week, the Falcons were made one-dimensional as the run game was shut down. Shanahan acknowledged that the offense didn’t make enough plays in the pass game against the 49ers.
“The main thing is don’t panic and be confident with what you are doing,” Shanahan said. “Just keep working to get better. Usually when you do that, the rest takes care of itself.”
The players have determined that they are their own worst enemy.
“We’ve hurt ourselves a lot the last couple of weeks,” right guard Chris Chester said. “We’ve been really making it hard on ourselves to be productive. We’ve done a decent job of getting yardage and moving the ball. But if you give the other team the ball, you’re just making it hard on yourself.”
Chester, who played with Shanahan in Washington, believes the offense will get back in gear.
“He’s gets it,” Chester said. “He knows it’s a long season. There are kind of ebbs and flows in a season in the flow of an offense. He gets it, and he’s got a level head. He’s not over-reacting, but there is a sense of urgency that we need to clean up some aspects of our game.”
Shanahan is not a fan of the no-huddle offense. He has used it in traditional hurry-up situations three times this season, but not as a main staple of the offensive attack.
“When you’re going fast all of the time it can mess up the defense, but that can really mess up the offense,” Shanahan said. “I feel pretty confident when we know where people are and we can block people. We’re going have a pretty good running game. When we don’t know where people are and they are all over the place and you’re trying to go fast, it’s a mess.”
Ryan was taught the no-huddle as rookie under the former regime. He developed it over time as a part of the offense.
“It’s nothing against not going no-huddle,” Shanahan insisted. “I know that you guys are used to it because you’ve seen it for a long time. There are some great positives in it, but there are also some negatives, too. It’s finding that balance.”
Also, the Falcons have two inexperienced centers. Both have had trouble snapping the ball. Putting the no-huddle on the plates of Person and Stone might be too much. However, Stone functioned well in the no-huddle last season.
“We’ve had a lot of success this year on offense,” Shanahan said. “I know we haven’t done as well these last few weeks as we did early. If I thought going no-huddle would answer every problem, (that) the answer to no turnovers, no penalties and (ensuring that) everyone is catching better with no-huddle, then we’d do that.”
Also, Shanahan acknowledged that White, the franchise’s all-time leading receiver, has not been a key cog of the offense over the first nine games. When asked why White’s targets were so low at 30, or 3.3 per game, Shanahan attributed that to the coverages of the opposition.
“We have a lot of people who can make plays,” Shanahan said.
Wide receiver Leonard Hankerson, running back Devonta Freeman and tight end Jacob Tamme have more targets than White, essentially making him the fourth option.
“He’s not always the No. 2 option,” Shanahan said. “I know he was the one, but Julio has been here and we know what Julio is. Roddy is not always the two. Roddy does a lot of good things. He done everything that we asked him to do. I think we do need to get him more touches.
“He’s been there at times and has been open when he hasn’t gotten the ball. It’s nothing personal. Roddy has done a good job. He’s done what we’ve asked him to do.”
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