The record-breaking Falcons offense of 2016 pushed aside memories of the sputtering Falcons offense of 2015. Quarterback Matt Ryan followed what might have been his worst season with his first league MVP campaign. Coordinator Kyle Shanahan went from oft-criticized play-caller to prime head-coach candidate.
The Falcons said they were so much better on offense in 2016 because they better meshed in Year 2 of what was a significantly different system. The Falcons have a new coordinator again in 2017, but the difference is that Steve Sarkisian is sticking with many of the same principles and philosophies that Shanahan installed in 2015, and all of the player personnel are suited for the scheme.
Those factors are making for an easier transition to a new coordinator, Ryan said Wednesday.
“It kind of reminds me of transitioning from Mike Mularkey to Dirk Koetter, where it was the same offense really for me,” Ryan said, referencing Shananhan’s two predecessors as offensive coordinator. “Same terminology, and it was kind of the coordinator adjusting to the group of guys that are here. From a player’s standpoint, certainly there’s a lot of continuity and it makes it a lot easier, the learning curve.”
Whereas Shanahan introduced the outside-zone run scheme to the Falcons, Sarkisian is adopting that basic approach for his offense. It took Ryan time to be more comfortable with the steady diet of bootleg play-action passes that Shanahan favored, but Ryan mastered them last season. The Falcons played at a fast pace in 2016, and Sarkisian wants to do the same.
In 2016 the Falcons scored the seventh-most points in NFL history (540, tied with the 2000 Rams). Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones were named to the AP All-Pro team, and those two plus center Alex Mack and running back Devonta Freeman were voted to the Pro Bowl.
Shanahan is now the 49ers’ head coach, but the Falcons return 10 of 11 starters. It remains to be seen how the Falcons might differ with Sarkisian running the offense.
In past jobs Sarkisian favored perimeter screens, with the quarterback having the option to check out of runs for them. The Falcons ran a lot of those screens under Koetter, but not many with Shanahan.
Ryan said the offense is similar, but there’s an adjustment period with Sarkisian.
“There’s still some things you’ve got to get on the same page with,” Ryan said. “I think ‘Sark’ and I, ‘Sark’ and the offense — really the entire staff — they’ve done a great job with that doing that so far.”
It’s the things that will remain the same under Sarkisian that suggest the Falcons will keep rolling on offense without much trouble. The focus for Sarkisian since he was hired in February has been to get to know his players and the offense rather than the other way around.
Coach Dan Quinn said he could relate. He was in a similar position when he returned to Seattle as defensive coordinator in 2013 after two seasons at the University of Florida.
“How can we take a good thing and try to add value to it?” Quinn said. “That’s kind of the format I described to him, knowing I’ve been through that same process. Some things you may not understand, and let’s take the whole offseason to really feel comfortable with why each of the concepts are what they are. I really challenged him if he could find out and know the players and know them as well as he could.”
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