Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he likes for his offense to play at a fast tempo occasionally as a change-of-pace during a drive. However, Quinn said he doesn’t believe his personnel is equipped for using a no-huddle attack extensively.
“We don’t see it as a featured way where, every play, we are no huddle,” Quinn said Wednesday. “We wouldn’t be able to play in a style that would best suit our guys. That said, we do like going in and out of that speed. That stresses the defense a lot. We did that some last week and it’s something we’d like to be able to do (in the future).”
The Falcons played at a faster tempo without huddling during a few plays of their only touchdown drive of the second half of Sunday’s 31-24 loss to the Buccaneers.
Trailing 31-13 with 5:06 to play in the third quarter, the Falcons went nine plays in 71 yards for the score. They didn’t huddle after two plays on the drive, before Matt Ryan’s 10-yard pass to Jacob Tamme on fourth-and-3 and before Ryan’s 25-yard TD pass to Julio Jones. Ball carriers went out of bounds plays on two plays during the drive and there was one incomplete pass.
Ryan has been successful using the no-huddle attack during his career after learning it as a rookie under former coordinator Mike Mularkey. Current Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan has said he’s in favor of using the tactic when he believes it gives the offense an advantage.
“We do like using tempo and that’s a way to say ‘no huddle’ or a way to say you are working at the line (with Ryan calling plays),” Quinn said. “Often times it’s best within a drive (when) you are at the third play, you just got a third down, to get back on the ball again.”
