Last week, the Atlanta Falcons seemingly ignored my keys to victory—very rude. Hopefully, things are a different story this week. If they aren’t, well… let’s not even worry about that right now and focus on what they need to do to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Run a Real Offense
What a concept.
Zac Robinson said this week that their chip plan wasn’t properly executed, multiple things dictated the flow of the game, and Kirk Cousins is completely fine. This feels like a terrible game of two truths and a lie, but if all three statements are valid, it only means one thing: his game plan was a disaster.
Understanding the thought process behind never using play action is a fool’s errand. Not a single thing in last week’s matchup prevented the coach from running those concepts, that is, unless Cousins is still physically hurt, which I do not believe is the case.
Mental rust, unsure of himself and his repaired Achilles? Most likely.
However, we won’t have any concrete answers until Robinson introduces concepts that challenge the quarterback’s physical limitations. The Falcons know they can’t roll out a plan like that ever again, so there will be adjustments. The question is, what will they look like?
Limit the Explosive Plays
Last week, A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley kept the Eagles offense afloat, while quarterback Jalen Hurts had a pretty shaky outing. If Hurts comes out playing like that again, the Falcons defense cannot allow his surrounding cast to bail him out the same way the Green Bay Packers did. Atlanta did okay at limiting these types of plays last week, especially on the ground, but A.J. Terrell and this secondary will be tested a lot more by this quarterback and receiving core.
Last week, there were multiple coverage errors, allowing two deep balls to be the difference in the win column. Even if Terrell shuts down Brown, DeVonta Smith will be waiting in the wings; it will take a full effort to stop this passing attack.
This means Troy Andersen will have to play a significant role in containing Barkley and Dallas Goedert. That’s a big ask for the third-year linebacker, but these are the kinds of matchups he was drafted to handle, and this is the year he has to prove he can.
Nutrilize the Interior Pass Rush
The strength of the Eagles pass rush comes from their ability to generate pressure from the interior, allowing their edges to clean up. If the Falcons can manage to keep that interior pressure in check, then Cousins will have easier opportunities to get the ball out quickly.
T.J. Watt got most of the praise for the Steelers pass rush, but make no mistake; his day wouldn’t have been as effective if Cam Heyward and others weren’t also pushing the pocket backward. Drew Dalman, Matthew Bergeron, and Chris Lindstrom will have their work cut out for them, but as long as this offense prioritizes getting the ball out as fast as possible, they won’t have to work too long.
Play-calling cannot leave the blocking hung out to try like it did last week. The offensive line was affected as much, if not more, by that than any other group.
Punish Hurts for Turnover Worthy Plays
Hurts ended week one as the quarterback with the most turnover-worthy throws (4) and highest rate (9.8%). He threw two interceptions and had two fumbles.
While there is still no method for predicting turnovers, the turnover-worthy play metric can give us some insight into how often a quarterback is putting the ball in harm’s way or how likely it is that they will. It’s hard to draw a concrete conclusion from just one week, but based on what we’ve seen, Hurts wants to push the ball more this year and is willing to take risks.
That’s where Jessie Bates III and this Falcons defense come into play. Last year, Bates did an excellent job capitalizing on bad or risky throws, even taking personal risks. The Falcons defense will undoubtedly be leaned on as the offense still finds its footing. Giving the offense favorable field positioning and maybe even points will go a long way.
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