Post by Guvmintcheeze on Oct 30, 2015 3:22:44 GMT
Falcons' Kyle Shanahan: I make calls based on what I think is right
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan addresses the media once a week, so Thursday was his first opportunity to explain some much-discussed, goal-line calls in last Sunday's 10-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Shanahan was asked if he should have called a run play for NFC Offensive Player of the Week Devonta Freeman rather than a fullback dive/leap for Patrick DiMarco on third-and-goal from the Titans' 1-yard line with just under eight minutes left in regulation. He said he always wants to put his team in the best position to score, and the Falcons were counting on the Titans linebackers to play wide against the outside zone look.
"I look at myself hard," Shanahan said. "I always think about what gives our players the best chance to score, and that's based on what you're going against. Sometimes you go against certain looks that are extremely, extremely hard to run against. When you do that, that's why I went with what I did. Now, was I right? No. They didn't play what I thought they were going to play. So, no it wasn't a good call. You regret everything. That's why we don't sleep very much. You look over every play and you wish you could call a perfect game.
"I work pretty hard at what I do and I study everything. Our whole coaching staff does. We try to put our players in the best chance to be successful. We make all our decisions based off that. They're not all going to be right. But when I do regret something is when I make a decision that I didn't totally believe in, and I believed in that at the time. Didn't totally work out, and that's why I was upset with myself about it, but I try to make calls based on what I think is right, not based off of how much crap I'm going to get if doesn't work. And I'll try to be like that my whole life."
The Falcons also tried to score on fourth down after the DiMarco play, but a Matt Ryan to pass to tight end Jacob Tamme in the end zone was tipped and intercepted.
The offense, as a whole, hasn't functioned well in recent weeks, save for the running of Freeman. Quarterback Matt Ryan pointed the blame at himself and vowed to focus on his footwork more this week. Facing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team with a bad secondary could be the perfect remedy.
"We've got to clean it up everywhere," Shanahan said of the offense. "We haven't been as good as we've wanted to, especially last week, the last couple weeks in particular. Two weeks ago against New Orleans, just didn't enough points with those turnovers. And last week, missed some opportunities also. Just about cleaning everything up and trying to get better."
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan addresses the media once a week, so Thursday was his first opportunity to explain some much-discussed, goal-line calls in last Sunday's 10-7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Shanahan was asked if he should have called a run play for NFC Offensive Player of the Week Devonta Freeman rather than a fullback dive/leap for Patrick DiMarco on third-and-goal from the Titans' 1-yard line with just under eight minutes left in regulation. He said he always wants to put his team in the best position to score, and the Falcons were counting on the Titans linebackers to play wide against the outside zone look.
"I look at myself hard," Shanahan said. "I always think about what gives our players the best chance to score, and that's based on what you're going against. Sometimes you go against certain looks that are extremely, extremely hard to run against. When you do that, that's why I went with what I did. Now, was I right? No. They didn't play what I thought they were going to play. So, no it wasn't a good call. You regret everything. That's why we don't sleep very much. You look over every play and you wish you could call a perfect game.
"I work pretty hard at what I do and I study everything. Our whole coaching staff does. We try to put our players in the best chance to be successful. We make all our decisions based off that. They're not all going to be right. But when I do regret something is when I make a decision that I didn't totally believe in, and I believed in that at the time. Didn't totally work out, and that's why I was upset with myself about it, but I try to make calls based on what I think is right, not based off of how much crap I'm going to get if doesn't work. And I'll try to be like that my whole life."
The Falcons also tried to score on fourth down after the DiMarco play, but a Matt Ryan to pass to tight end Jacob Tamme in the end zone was tipped and intercepted.
The offense, as a whole, hasn't functioned well in recent weeks, save for the running of Freeman. Quarterback Matt Ryan pointed the blame at himself and vowed to focus on his footwork more this week. Facing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team with a bad secondary could be the perfect remedy.
"We've got to clean it up everywhere," Shanahan said of the offense. "We haven't been as good as we've wanted to, especially last week, the last couple weeks in particular. Two weeks ago against New Orleans, just didn't enough points with those turnovers. And last week, missed some opportunities also. Just about cleaning everything up and trying to get better."
