Post by Guvmintcheeze on Oct 26, 2015 16:00:32 GMT
Don't let 6-1 record fool you, Falcons are in offensive funk
NASHVILLE -- Roddy White knew not to boast much about Sunday's 10-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Sure, the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver and his teammates are 6-1 and have equaled their win total from last season. At the same time, White realizes his team is capable of playing much better, particularly from an offensive standpoint.
"We're in a funk right now on offense, and we've got to play our way out," White said. "We've been struggling, so we have to find a way. We've got to keep grinding.
"People might not care about this game in a couple of weeks, but we care because we know we can be better. ... I felt like we had maybe two drives that were good out of [10]. We had two the whole game. And the rest were penalties or little setbacks that got us down and distances that we couldn't recover from. We just have to find a way to get out of this funk before we get to a team like Carolina that is really good, that when you get behind the sticks, you're going to get blown out."
White's words should be echoed throughout the locker room. Yes, the Falcons found a way to finish, thanks in large part thanks to timely interceptions by undrafted rookie safety Robenson Therezie and middle linebacker Paul Worrilow. However, the offense has to find a way to start. In the past three games against the Redskins, Saints and Titans, the Falcons have failed to score in the first quarter. Throw in a variety of turnovers and mental mistakes and its all a recipe for disaster in the future, if it's not cleaned up now.
Sunday's offensive blunders included quarterback Matt Ryan throwing another ill-advised interception on a screen pass to Tevin Coleman, a Ryan interception in the end zone on a ball tipped away from tight end Jacob Tamme, an illegal block on White that wiped away a 47-yard run by Devonta Freeman, and three offensive holding penalties attributed to left guard Andy Levitre (two) and left tackle Jake Matthews.
"We are disappointed with the turnover [and penalties], especially the one resulting in a long play coming back from Devonta, so those are the ones we would like to have over," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
The Falcons, who entered the game converting close to 50 percent on third down, were 5-of-14 (36 percent) on third down Sunday. They were 0-for-2 on fourth down, where they were 7-of-8 coming into the game. And 10 points is their lowest scoring output since the 34-3 shellacking in last year's regular-season finale against Carolina.
Matt Bryant missed his third field goal of the season -- a 47-yarder -- adding to the offensive woes. But at least Julio Jones was back to his spectacular self with nine catches for 92 yards and an 8-yard touchdown reception. He should have had two scores, but the officials said he came up short on what appeared to be 4-yard touchdown reception at the pylon with 7 minutes, 38 seconds left in regulation.
"I thought it was ," Jones said. "The whole discussion that I heard from the referees was, 'Did the ball break the plane?' They weren't questioning was I [in bounds] or not. And I guess when they went to the replay, it wasn't conclusive. But I was still in with my foot. It goes like that."
Ryan, who surpassed 30,000 passing yards for his career but posted a passer rating of just 64.7 on Sunday, tried to explain the offense's issues. He completed 22 of 38 passes for 251 yards, a touchdown and those two interceptions.
"You have to convert more third downs and, when we have more opportunities in the red zone, we've got to score touchdowns," Ryan said. "We had a chance on fourth down, maybe in the first half, when we went for it around midfield and didn't get it done. We've got to convert there to get more points. And obviously when we've got the ball on the 1-yard line, we've got to get it in."
Ryan was referring to the two failed attempts after Jones' near-touchdown. The first was a fullback dive by Patrick DiMarco on third-and-goal for no gain. Then the tipped interception occurred on fourth-and-goal on a play designed to go to tight end Tony Moeaki. Quinn said he was disappointed those plays didn't work but did not regret the decisions made by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, although running the ball with Freeman looked like a better option, at least on third down.
The Falcons still got back on a winning track following last week's loss to the Saints. Winning games without offensive flow and with Ryan struggling could be a sign of great things to come.
"We've got to fix what we've got going on," Jones said. "We came here to get the W, and we got the W. It's on to the next team, and that's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This game is over and done with. Nobody's going to look back at it. Like I said, we just came here to get the W. It wasn't pretty, but it shows we're just going to fight to the end."
NASHVILLE -- Roddy White knew not to boast much about Sunday's 10-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Sure, the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver and his teammates are 6-1 and have equaled their win total from last season. At the same time, White realizes his team is capable of playing much better, particularly from an offensive standpoint.
"We're in a funk right now on offense, and we've got to play our way out," White said. "We've been struggling, so we have to find a way. We've got to keep grinding.
"People might not care about this game in a couple of weeks, but we care because we know we can be better. ... I felt like we had maybe two drives that were good out of [10]. We had two the whole game. And the rest were penalties or little setbacks that got us down and distances that we couldn't recover from. We just have to find a way to get out of this funk before we get to a team like Carolina that is really good, that when you get behind the sticks, you're going to get blown out."
White's words should be echoed throughout the locker room. Yes, the Falcons found a way to finish, thanks in large part thanks to timely interceptions by undrafted rookie safety Robenson Therezie and middle linebacker Paul Worrilow. However, the offense has to find a way to start. In the past three games against the Redskins, Saints and Titans, the Falcons have failed to score in the first quarter. Throw in a variety of turnovers and mental mistakes and its all a recipe for disaster in the future, if it's not cleaned up now.
Sunday's offensive blunders included quarterback Matt Ryan throwing another ill-advised interception on a screen pass to Tevin Coleman, a Ryan interception in the end zone on a ball tipped away from tight end Jacob Tamme, an illegal block on White that wiped away a 47-yard run by Devonta Freeman, and three offensive holding penalties attributed to left guard Andy Levitre (two) and left tackle Jake Matthews.
"We are disappointed with the turnover [and penalties], especially the one resulting in a long play coming back from Devonta, so those are the ones we would like to have over," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
The Falcons, who entered the game converting close to 50 percent on third down, were 5-of-14 (36 percent) on third down Sunday. They were 0-for-2 on fourth down, where they were 7-of-8 coming into the game. And 10 points is their lowest scoring output since the 34-3 shellacking in last year's regular-season finale against Carolina.
Matt Bryant missed his third field goal of the season -- a 47-yarder -- adding to the offensive woes. But at least Julio Jones was back to his spectacular self with nine catches for 92 yards and an 8-yard touchdown reception. He should have had two scores, but the officials said he came up short on what appeared to be 4-yard touchdown reception at the pylon with 7 minutes, 38 seconds left in regulation.
"I thought it was ," Jones said. "The whole discussion that I heard from the referees was, 'Did the ball break the plane?' They weren't questioning was I [in bounds] or not. And I guess when they went to the replay, it wasn't conclusive. But I was still in with my foot. It goes like that."
Ryan, who surpassed 30,000 passing yards for his career but posted a passer rating of just 64.7 on Sunday, tried to explain the offense's issues. He completed 22 of 38 passes for 251 yards, a touchdown and those two interceptions.
"You have to convert more third downs and, when we have more opportunities in the red zone, we've got to score touchdowns," Ryan said. "We had a chance on fourth down, maybe in the first half, when we went for it around midfield and didn't get it done. We've got to convert there to get more points. And obviously when we've got the ball on the 1-yard line, we've got to get it in."
Ryan was referring to the two failed attempts after Jones' near-touchdown. The first was a fullback dive by Patrick DiMarco on third-and-goal for no gain. Then the tipped interception occurred on fourth-and-goal on a play designed to go to tight end Tony Moeaki. Quinn said he was disappointed those plays didn't work but did not regret the decisions made by offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, although running the ball with Freeman looked like a better option, at least on third down.
The Falcons still got back on a winning track following last week's loss to the Saints. Winning games without offensive flow and with Ryan struggling could be a sign of great things to come.
"We've got to fix what we've got going on," Jones said. "We came here to get the W, and we got the W. It's on to the next team, and that's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This game is over and done with. Nobody's going to look back at it. Like I said, we just came here to get the W. It wasn't pretty, but it shows we're just going to fight to the end."