FLOWERY BRANCH — While the Falcons are not ready to employ their T-Gun no-huddle attack on a full-time basis, a la the old Buffalo Bills’ K-Gun, they clearly are leaning toward expanding their successful operation.
With the offense off to blotchy start, the only thing that has been clear is that the Falcons move the ball when they are in the no-huddle offense, which they call “Texas.”
Coach Mike Smith doesn’t envision it as a full-time option, but rather as a tempo setter or a change-of-pace pitch.
However, some of the players believe they could run the no-huddle the entire game.
“We certainly have the ability to do that, but what would we do here all day?” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “But you’ve got to have a good combination. That’s fine in theory.”
Gonzalez points out that the offense would still need a short-yardage package and that there are situations where the offense would want to huddle to see how a defense responds.
“If it does stall out, you have to make sure that you have a backup plan,” Gonzalez said. “Coach [Mike] Mularkey has proven that he’ll do it if he thinks that is what it is going to take to move the ball down the field.”
All-Pro wide receiver Roddy White believes the offense could run the no-huddle for an entire game. “We could just about throw anything in there and roll like that,” White said. “Whatever we want to do, we can pretty much put it in Texas or go to the sidelines and put it in over there.”
Quarterback Matt Ryan is the key to the operation that he has been perfecting since his rookie season. He comes to the line of scrimmage, looks over the defense and calls the play. He used to have only 32 plays at his disposal, but now the entire game plan can be accessed through the no-huddle attack.
“He knows exactly what he’s doing with it,” Gonzalez said. “He’s up here on Monday and Tuesday, all day. It was my first day up here on a Tuesday because they made me come in for treatment [for an elbow injury], and he was here. He’d been here all morning and was here when I left. That shows up on film, when he’s getting guys in the right position and when he’s calling plays to move us down the field.”
The Falcons have different goals when they get into their no-huddle attack. “It’s not like a two-minute no-huddle,” running back Michael Turner said. “It gets us in the best play possible. We are looking for high-percentage plays.”
Turner has broken runs of 53 and 61 yards out of the no-huddle.
The Falcons used the no-huddle to help pull out their 35-31 victory over Philadelphia. The Falcons went to the no-huddle in the middle of their opening drive last week against Green Bay and scored a touchdown.
“It’s just something that we practice constantly and diligently,” Gonzalez said. “We do it in practice. We do it in walk-through. We do it in all different periods. We haven’t done that in the past. We really started that this year, and you’ve seen the improvement.”
Last season, on a short week with a Thursday night game, the Falcons went almost exclusively no-huddle against the Baltimore Ravens. The Falcons won 26-21 and neutralized the Ravens’ beefy defensive line.
Turner believes that the Falcons just need to focus better when they don’t use the no-huddle in order for the offense to click. “It’s not necessarily Texas or leaving the huddle,” Turner said. “It’s about going out there and having focus and having that will to win.”
It was left guard Justin Blalock’s block out of the no-huddle that sprung Turner on his 53-yard run against the Bears. He will not rule out the team moving toward the no-huddle exclusively.
“Maybe that’s the future mode of offense,” Blalock said. “I don’t think we’ve come out in that the whole time yet. It’s always evolving and expanding, so who knows, one of these days that could be out there somewhere.”
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