It seems to be happening again. It might dangerous to declare last rites over an NFL team only seven games into a season, but there’s nothing about the Falcons that suggests they’re getting better, while there’s mounting evidence that the bottom is falling out. Again.
Mike Smith, the Falcons’ beleaguered coach, was asked Sunday if he was concerned his team’s season might jump the rails again, given last year’s 4-12 belly flop into oblivion. His gave the standard rah-rah response, touching on themes like effort, character and focus, then punctuated his remarks with this: “I think it’s a silly question.”
Actually, when a football team loses four in a row, is 6-17 since the start of the 2013 season, has dropped 11 of 12 on the road and comes close to being shut out for the first time in 10 years, I’m not sure anything qualifies as a silly question.
Except, maybe: “Who would you like to play in the playoffs?”
Smith says he feels his team is closer to finding the answers to the team’s myriad of problems — all game-day evidence to the contrary. The Falcons trailed three minutes into Sunday’s game against Baltimore, looked like a typical mess on both sides of the ball, couldn’t block, couldn’t attack, couldn’t defend, never posed a threat to the opponent and were collectively dismembered 29-7.
They’re 2-5. Now they go to London. Yeah, another country might be good about now.
The Falcons’ charter will be welcomed on the other side of the pond far more warmly than it would in Atlanta, where we’re not even certain it would be cleared to land.
They’re not just losing. They’re unwatchable. They’ve become the visual version of claws on a chalkboard.
Since the offensive fireworks of a 56-14 over Tampa Bay four weeks (or was it 100 years?) ago, the Falcons have dropped four straight with decreasing point totals of 28, 20, 13 and 7. They’ve scored four touchdowns in the last 13 quarters. If they don’t score, they don’t win. They’re not the 1985 Chicago Bears on the other side of the ball.
Will playing in England help?
“Maybe if we were playing soccer,” guard Justin Blalock said, managing a nervous chuckle.
Some of the Falcons’ players were upset that the Ravens’ offense remained in full attack mode on its final drive. Joe Flacco threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith with only 1:46 left in a game that had long been decided.
Was that a bit much? Sure. It’s not like they should be trying to impress pollsters. But given how the Falcons played Sunday, they have nothing to complain about.
This wasn’t a game. It was a felony. (Then again, the Ravens are accustomed to that sort of thing.) Matt Ryan was sacked five times, consistently pressured, hit often, dropped for a safety and fumbled once. Nice game. He would like to forget it but the memories will linger for a while in the form of welts.
The Falcons managed only 129 yards in the first three quarters, when Baltimore built a 20-0 lead. Their first nine possessions: five punts (including four three-and-outs), two that ended on downs, a fumble and a missed field goal.
Even when the Baltimore tried to gift-wrap a scoring drive for the Falcons, it didn’t work. Jacoby Jones muffed a fumble return late in the first half. The Falcons recovered at the Baltimore 37. But on first down, Elvis Dumervil blew buried Ryan for a sack and a six-yard loss and, two plays later, Ryan threw a pass right to cornerback Jimmy Smith, who was looking at 70 yards of green down the sideline but somehow dropped it. On fourth down, Matt Bryant’s 57-yard field-goal attempt hit the crossbar.
Wait, it gets worse: The Ravens drove to a field goal in 37 seconds to make it 17-0.
The Ravens’ defense looked as good as it has in Super Bowl seasons but the Falcons’ offense had something to do with that. Julio Jones wasn’t up for giving the opponent any credit.
“We’ve just been stopping ourselves,” he said. “Nobody else has been stopping the Falcons but us.”
So there’s the good news: The Falcons can stop somebody.
Otherwise, the story isn’t any better on defense. Or anywhere. There’s really nothing to point to right now for a fan clinging to hope. The offense line already has lost three starters, and replacement starting center Peter Konz might be done for a while. He left the game with a knee injury and, while Smith was his usual stone-walling self, a person familiar with the situation said Konz will return to Atlanta for an MRI rather than make the trip to London.
Blalock is having enough difficulty playing with a bad back that kept him out of one game and probably should have him sidelined now.
“Obviously no one wants to play games like that,” he said. “We really need to get to the core of whatever is going on and figure out a way to have some fun and make the game entertaining again.”
What they really need is to win a game. But that doesn’t look close to happening.
About the Author
