The Falcons can no longer be in denial.
Something is wrong with their offense and they have to fix it.
They went 90 minutes, 21 seconds of game time over two games without scoring. They got a cheap touchdown late on a spectacular catch by wide receiver Julio Jones with 4:09 left in Sunday’s 23-7 loss to the Patriots to drop them to 3-3.
The Falcons had last scored with 5:29 left in the second quarter against the Dolphins. The Falcons gave up 43 straight points (20 to Miami, 23 to New England) while going through their scoring drought.
Most “fans” and “social media analysts” on Twitter want to do bad things to offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. He’s on the hot seat. The former head coach at USC and Washington hasn’t been in the NFL since 2004 when he was the Raiders’ quarterback coach.
Some contend that the Jet sweep he called on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line against the Patriots probably worked in the PAC 12 against Arizona or perhaps even Oregon State. It didn’t work against the Patriots, who scored on a similar play to Brandin Cooks when tight end Rob Gronkowski was the lead blocker early in the game .
But the Falcons, with Sarkisian at the controls and just two new starters, look like a shell of the offense that lead the league in scoring and landed Matt Ryan the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.
“It is frustrating,” center Alex Mack said. “The key is to continue working hard. It’s a long season. A lot of games are left. If we just work hard day-in and day-out to get better, by the end of the season we should be a good team.”
But time is of the essence.
The Falcons don’t look like a playoff team right now. They’ll have to get better in a hurry. They are 3-3 with 10 games to play.
Coach Dan Quinn pointed out that the Falcons had a blocked field goal, a missed field goal that hit the left upright and an interception that was erased by another penalty on a quarterback hit. The culprit this week was Adrian Clayborn, who got his money’s worth and walloped the Patriots’ Tom Brady. The problem was that Robert Alford’s intercepted pass was nullified by the penalty. Against the Dolphins, Grady Jarrett had a late hit that wiped away a Deion Jones interception.
So, in Quinn’s world, if the Jet sweep works and the two field goals are good, the Falcons are in a 20-13 dogfight with the Patriots.
The Falcons were 1-4 in the red zone in the latest loss.
“There were plays out there and we didn’t make them,” Mack said. “Whether if it’s third down, red zone all of those little things add up. When you are playing a game against a good team like the Patriots are, you have to make them. It’s really tough to play from behind.”
The Falcons believe they know how to fix their offense.
“I think we just need to do better in the red zone,” Mack said. “I think we have more production on first and second down, get better on third down and better in the red zone. Once, we’re there we should make plays.”
The Falcons averaged 34 points per game last season, first in the league under the direction of coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
“Last year, people stepped up and made plays,” Mack said. “That’s all that it takes. It takes 11 guys on the field working really hard together. That’s all it takes.”
The fact that Falcons struggled against the Patriots defense is alarming. New York Jets journeyman quarterback Josh McCown passed for 354 yards against the Patriots last week.
“We knew they were a good defense,” Mack said. “They were good in the red zone and they continued to be good in the red zone. There was meat on the bones, but kudos to them. They did a really good job or making plays and really made it hard on us.”
Mack didn’t want to pin too much of the blame on the offense not scoring on the fourth-and-goal Jet sweep play.
“I think it’s dangerous to look at one play and be like ‘that’s the one’ because it’s a combination of all of them,” Mack said. “I think early in the game, first or second down didn’t really go very well. It just as important as the one played late in the game. That one hurts, because it’s fourth-and-1.”
Left tackle Jake Matthews was asked about what’s wrong with the offense.
“If you look at our numbers, we are moving the ball,” Matthews said. “We are having trouble finishing in the red zone and on third down. We had opportunities to score. We had ample opportunities to be in that game. But we have to finish and execute and it starts with us five up front. We have to do a better job.”
Wide receiver Julio Jones was also asked what’s wrong with the offense?
“Every week it’s kind of different,”Jones said. “Last week, we didn’t take shots down the field. This week is was third down and the red area. We just wasn’t on the same page and weren’t connected. We played poorly. We just have to keep working. There’s not secret about that.”
How of much of it is to blame of first-time NFL coordinator?
“I think it’s on all of us,” running back Devonta Freeman said. “ Nobody can point fingers at nobody. We just have to figure out ways to win.”
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