So let’s begin with a cleansing breath.
It’s one loss. It’s one game of 16, or 6.25 percent of the season. Not a scientific sampling. The only thing last week ensures is that the Falcons will not go undefeated this season, but it doesn’t mean they won’t make the playoffs, win the NFC South Division or even, in Arthur Blank’s rare non-new stadium dreams, go on to win a Super Bowl, which is what so many had in mind when Tony Gonzalez reversed retirement plans and Stephen Jackson and Osi Umenyiora migrated to Atlanta.
But what if what we saw from the Falcons in Week 1 in New Orleans proves not to be an aberration?
This isn’t about the Falcons losing to the Saints. It was a narrow defeat, on the road, against their toughest division rival, decided on the final possession of the game. Those losses can be overcome. They’ll play New Orleans again. This is more about the offensive line and pass-protection concerns of the summer and the preseason manifesting themselves in the season opener.
Maybe the problems work themselves out. Maybe a young and three-fifths-new offensive line evolves and quarterback Matt Ryan doesn’t get smacked repeatedly by the St. Louis Rams’ starting defense Sunday the way he was by New Orleans’ backups. But the Falcons must be aware that their offensive line is being viewed as a weakness, and opponents will do everything possible to expose that.
The Falcons will go only as far as their offense takes them. That’s where the money is spent. That’s where the trophy pieces are: Ryan, Gonzalez, Jackson, Roddy White, Julio Jones. If they don’t produce in part because the line can’t block, this team is sunk. The Falcons aren’t going to steal games with defense, special teams and voodoo. They’re just not built that way.
If blocking doesn’t improve, it means coaches will have to make adjustments to improve protection that conceivably could diminish the potential of this offense: more sets with two tight ends or a fullback, fewer plays with three receivers, a more predictable run-oriented attack.
Welcome to your nightmare: a Mike Mularkey flashback.
“Any time there are certain aspects of the game where you don’t do as well as you would like to, you have to tweak things,” Ryan said. “That’s constant, whether it’s pass protection, the run game, throwing the football on the outside, routes that you use. You have to evaluate what you do well and what you don’t do well.”
The Falcons produced only 17 points, including one scoring drive in the last eight possessions, in New Orleans. “We didn’t execute well, and we didn’t coach well,” coach Mike Smith said.
One potential path to improvement is increased use of the no-huddle offense. Ryan is proficient in it, but the Falcons didn’t use it against New Orleans, other than running two-minute drills at the end of each half. Smith and offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter both said the noise level in the Superdome made it more difficult to run a no-huddle offense, but that didn’t seem to hurt them either time in the two-minute drill.
“We did have some success moving the ball, but we didn’t score any points in either drive,” Koetter said. “Something happened at the end of both of those drives.” (First half: a sack. Second half: Jackson dropped a would-be touchdown pass.)
But while a segment of the fan base has screamed for more no-huddle, it’s not a cure-all.
“One of the things it does is it simplifies what a defense can do,” Ryan said. “It limits the amount of personnel groupings you can get on and off the field. But at the same time, it does the same for us. It limits some of the things we can do and some of the personnel changes we like to make.”
Which is just the point. The Falcons have more weapons than any team in the NFL. Protection issues not only mean playing Russian roulette with Ryan’s health, it could mean keeping some personnel packages and sections of the playbook on a shelf.
The Falcons have to block better, and they have to do it with this group of linemen because starting quality tackles just aren’t available in September. If Jeremy Trueblood, last cut by Washington before the season, replaces Lamar Holmes at right tackle, it will be more of a statement on Holmes than Trueblood.
If the Falcons don’t achieve expectations this season, it will be more of a statement on where they didn’t invest than where they did. But for now, they can say it’s only one loss, one game. Further evaluation to come after the next one.
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