It’s a good thing the Falcons have at least 13 days before they play again. Kyle Shanahan really needs to iron out the glaring inefficiency in his vaunted offense. On Sunday, his unit went 21 minutes against the NFL’s 25th-best defense and didn’t convert a single third down.
Then again, the Falcons did have something of an excuse. They’d played those 21 minutes without facing a third down. By then they’d scored three touchdowns and gained 216 yards. The Saints, once a visitor to be feared, hadn’t laid a glove on Matt Ryan or any of his merry men.
The Falcons would convert that initial third down. Then they’d score another touchdown. Then they’d convert two more and score again. They led 35-13 after 30 minutes. They’d gained 323 yards. They’d made 18 first downs while holding the ball for only 12 minutes and 46 seconds, and they actually slowed a bit near the end. In the first quarter, they’d run seven plays and made – pause for effect – seven first downs. Ever seen that before? In an NFL game? Me, neither.
“The execution by guys was on point this week,” coach Dan Quinn said. “You could see the intent in our team on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday.”
Ryan, surely the NFL’s most valuable player, completed 17 of 19 passes over two quarters for 235 yards and four touchdowns. His halftime passer rating was 157.8. That’s 0.5 shy of perfection. (Darn that second incompletion!) Even if the Falcons were facing a bad defense, this was still jaw-dropping stuff. They needed this game to clinch a bye. They didn’t just win the darn thing. (Final score: 38-32, with New Orleans scoring the final 19 points.) They seized it.
Feel free to call me a homer, but no team is playing better than the Falcons, not even Alabama. Worrywarts will note that their defense ranked only two spots ahead of the Saints’ entering the game, but this defense held the league’s No. 1 offense to one touchdown over the first 47 minutes and made the famously daring Sean Payton turn chicken. (He chose to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the first quarter.)
Come the second quarter, Drew Brees completed passes on first and second down, only to face third-and-8. No penalties were involved — just big hits from Paul Worrilow and Keanu Neal. On third down, Brees’ harried pass was nearly intercepted by Deion Jones. Inside the final eight minutes, Jalen Collins thwarted Brees with an end-zone interception.
As for the offense: I’ve already chronicled my journey from Shanahan critic to president of his fan club, but this might have been the most beautifully called first half I’ve seen. Of the 28 plays the Falcons ran over those 30 mimutes, more than half merit inclusion on the 2016 highlight DVD. In the third quarter, Ryan flirted with being sacked for a safety but bobbed and weaved and found a leaping Julio Jones for 16 yards. Then Jones made another soaring grab for 23. By then the “oohs” and “aahs” were so loud this felt like Cirque du Soleil.
I know. I’m gushing here. And maybe I’ve gotten carried away. But I don’t think so. This team has been good since the season’s second week; it’s better than good now. Even without Desmond Trufant, this defense has enough playmakers to make enough stops. This offense has nothing but playmakers. Nobody will beat the Falcons 10-7 in the playoffs, and I’m not sure anybody else can score the way they can.
And no quarterback is as hot as Ryan. Tom Brady might be the best ever and Aaron Rodgers is still big-time, but neither Brady nor Rodgers have Jones or Devonta Freeman. (No Gronk for New England, remember.) It took a year for Shanahan and Ryan to debug the software, but this is now one of the best offenses in NFL annals. That’s not a goggle-eyed opinion. That’s the fact, Jack.
Regarding the MVP debate: Brady missed four games, of which the Patriots won three. If you took Ryan off the Falcons, would they have won at a .750 clip? The Georgia Dome crowd — this was billed as the building’s final regular-season game, and even Michael Vick was on hand — kept breaking into “M-V-P!” chants, and they sounded not one whit whimsical. They sounded like a great truth being told.
Even if Ryan doesn’t win that trophy, he can still do something worthwhile over these next few weeks — like being voted most valuable player in Super Bowl LI. As conditioned as Falcons fans are to the Cosmic Comedown, I don’t see these Birds laying a playoff egg. They might well lose, but they’ll be awfully hard to beat.
They’ve just gone 11-5 against what was, over the summer, rated the NFL’s toughest schedule. They’ve won seven of nine. They’ll play at least one more game at home. They won’t have to head for Seattle or Green Bay or any unroofed site. Call me a homer, but I really believe this team is bound for the Super Bowl.
About the Author
