Koo Dat

The Falcons have improved to 2-2 on the season, and the two teams they have lost to have a combined 7-1 record. With that being said the Falcons have made it threw the tough early season schedule at .500. The game against the Saints was a huge win for the Falcons, as it sets them on the right foot to win the division, and the Falcons avoided starting the season 1-3. There are still some things to clean up in every facet of the game, but the falcons have been able to win two games and be competitive in every loss.

The Falcons opened up NFC South play against the Saints, and following a stalled out first drive the Falcons were able to recover a muffed punt in the end zone to give the Falcons the first points of the game. This became an omen for the game as the Falcons would not have an offensive touch down all game. So let's get into the offensive troubles that the Falcons had this game. The offense was not at it's best this game, but I think there are a few quick fixes that can take this offense to the place that it needs to be. For starters there are many drives that the Falcons had that were killed by penalties, more specifically offensive pass interference penalties. The Falcons ran a lot of rub routes in this game which made sense for the heavy man defense that the Saints were running, but drew flags for OPI on more than one occasion. This could be a situation where this ref crew calls those penalties a lot, or it was an emphasis by the NFL to call these penalties more often. Either way when you start to get called on those, it is time to throw them out of the playbook because OPI's are drive killers. The other penalty that really put a damper on the Falcons offensive numbers was Jake Matthew's soft holding call that resulted in Bijan Robinson's touchdown being taken away. While the call was in my opinion wrong, Matthew's has to let Chase Young go in that situation as he was in a spot where he could not make a tackle. That brings us to the anatomy of the half back screen play. While this play can be effective against aggressive defenses, it puts your offensive lineman in a tough place. The offensive lineman are out in space against defenders that are significantly faster than them, and are given the task to block these defenders. Often times this leads to the offensive lineman being put in the situation to either hold their assignment, or let them go and risk a wasted play or even worse a negative play. The screen play has been a dynamic way to get the ball to Bijan Robinson in space, but this season has lead penalties and negative plays more often than acceptable. I don't think that Zac Robinson should completely remove the screen from his play sheet, but running the screen less frequently could lead to more overall success for the play. Although the Falcons offense sputtered all day it was the defense and special teams that lead the Falcons to a win against the 'Aints.

Defense and special teams, this is where championship teams are built, and boy did they show out for the Falcons on Sunday. Let's start with the defense. Once again the opposing team was able to move the ball against the Falcons, but when the field got short the Falcons were stingy about giving up touchdowns. The Saints were able to get two red zone touchdowns early, but following the injury to Taysom Hill, the Saints offense sputtered when the field got short. Once again the Falcons bend but don't break defense was able to get them a victory. We could talk about the stats, but I'd rather talk about the breakout game for Troy Andersen. I have been waiting on this guy to be an impact player for this Falcons defense since he was drafted. Andersen came into the draft having only played linebacker in his last year at Montana State, but he jumped off the chart with athletic ability, and in an NFL that asks linebackers to cover passes more than ever, the potential was off the chart. Well we finally got to see that potential become ability this Sunday. Andersen had a pick six and seventeen tackles. Talk about a coming out party, especially after some below average performances. Andersen sustained a knee injury and while he might miss this Thursday's game against the Bucaneers, it is not expected to be a long term injury. While the defense did give up a late go-ahead touchdown, this is where the special teams comes into making football a three phase sport. After Darnell Mooney drew a pass interference setting up a 58 yard field goal attempt for Younghoe Koo. As the Mercedes Benz Stadium rang with the sound of, "KOOOOOO" Younghoe Koo with ice in his veins stepped up and made the 58 yard field goal to give the Falcons the lead and win over the 'Aints.

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