There’s been a feeling of the Falcons hitting rock bottom continually since 2019. It started with a 1-7 start that season, followed by losing the first five games in 2020, leading to the firings of Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff. While 2021 was a rebuilding year, the season opener at home against Philadelphia ended in a 32-6 defeat. That’s not how you want to start a new era with Arthur Smith.
Being heavily linked to trading for Deshaun Watson in 2022 was a dark moment in franchise history. Losing
to a one-win Panthers team in 2023 essentially ended their playoff aspirations and the plan to develop Desmond Ridder. A four-game losing streak last season, with non-NFL caliber quarterback play from Kirk Cousins, ending in a 42-21 defeat to Minnesota, felt like the latest moment of hitting rock bottom.
It didn’t take long for the Falcons to do it this year. A 34-10 defeat to a dysfunctional Miami team has left everyone wondering what the Falcons can do to rectify what could become another lost season. They looked bewildered in all aspects against one of the worst teams in the league. A roundtable is very much needed to assess the team. Dave Choate, Adnan Ikic, and Aaron Freeman for this month’s roundtable. The previous 2025 season editions were published in September and August.
How can Zac Robinson overcome the lingering schematic issues surrounding the offense?
Dave Choate: I don’t think there’s an easy, clean answer here. Like Dirk Koetter and Arthur Smith before him, Robinson has shown himself to be inflexible about his preferences. I don’t think he’s going to suddenly abandon the pistol, his preferred pre-snap motions, or his ideal personnel; all we can really expect are tweaks.
I do think the team can rely a little less on the pistol and try to eliminate tells that have made it easy to guess when the Falcons are running, like particular pre-snap motions for Charlie Woerner. I definitely think more Casey Washington and KhaDarel Hodge at receiver in place of David Sills, a willingness to use a little more Feleipe Franks or Teagan Quitoriano if you’re not willing to commit to using a sixth offensive lineman on days where the ground game is struggling, and in general a lighter reliance on three receivers when the Falcons don’t have three worth putting on the field at the same time can only help.
That’s what this needs to be about: Making this offense less predictable and more tailored to helping the guys on the field succeed, rather than what Robinson thinks will work (and has really not). Even modest gains can make a big difference over time.
Adnan Ikic: With pure talent, at this point. The schematic issues are such a hindrance and give defensive play callers such an advantage to know if the next play will be run or pass based on the formation (for the most part). If nothing changes, all we can hope for is for Bijan Robinson to make people miss, for Drake London to make contested catches, and for Michael Penix Jr. to rapidly improve. There’s really nothing else to it if there’s a refusal to make any adjustments.
Allen Strk: Realizing that the offense hasn’t evolved at all from 2024 would be a start. The Y-motion with Woerner into the B-gap. The unbalanced screens where there aren’t enough blockers to take on defenders. The minimal spacing and deception on vertical route concepts. The complete lack of under-center play action. All of this was happening last season. Defenses had plenty of time to prepare for adjusting to what they were successful at in 2024. Robinson hasn’t made the necessary adjustments to expand on what they built from last season and identify troubling tendecies.
A fresh approach with more detail behind their screens and route concepts to schematically create openings can help bolster a passing game that has limitations at wide receiver. Not being fixated on wide outside zone runs would be beneficial for second-level defenders not to key on running plays. There needs to be more ingenuity from a play caller who worked under one of the best offensive minds in the last decade. Sean McVay consistently rises to the occasion when adversity strikes by knowing how to keep defenses unbalanced with a relentless mentality and an open mind. Robinson has to use that as inspiration to help resurrect a rapidly fading season.
Aaron Freeman: One of the biggest schematic deficiencies has been the team’s struggle to consistently incorporate an effective play-action passing attack into the offense. After a season and a half of these same struggles, it may be chalked up as a lost cause. Instead, other areas where the Falcons can continue to grow under Robinson include diversifying the run game and attacking the middle of the field.
Using some of the motions and horizontal runs with Bijan Robinson, as they did against the Bills, while also incorporating new variations of zone and gap runs, will enhance the rushing attack’s diversity. Coaxing Penix Jr. to throw more frequently over the middle should unlock a new area to exploit in the passing attack.
What has hindered the offense more, the lack of pass catchers or progress made on the offensive line?
Dave Choate: I think that answer has shifted over time; the offensive line feels like the biggest trouble spot right now because both Penix Jr. and Cousins have struggled behind it the past two weeks. If that trend continues–if the Falcons can’t replace Elijah Wilkinson soon with Storm Norton, in particular–that’s at the top of my list.
But the receiver issue has been the bigger one throughout the season. Darnell Mooney has not looked like himself and has either dropped passes or been in the wrong place far too often. Washington, Sills, and McCloud haven’t been getting open consistently and making the most of their opportunities. Hodge, who is an occasionally useful playmaker but not a starting-caliber receiver, looked more dynamic than any of those three receivers did on Sunday, and that’s obviously going to hurt the passing game when those are your best options.
Adnan Ikic: I’d more so highlight the pass catchers. Mooney got hurt on the second day of camp and still doesn’t look healthy. London has been battling his own ailments since the season started. McCloud was released after becoming inactive out of nowhere. Atlanta’s receiver room would have been just good enough with no injuries, but the nonexistent depth has been completely tested and fully exposed. It’s hard to tell what Ike Hilliard could have done given the circumstances, but I think it’s more than clear at this point that he was just Raheem Morris’ scapegoat.
Allen Strk: Ever since McCloud was phased out of the offense, the lack of depth at wide receiver has been glaring. They weren’t able to build on their success against Buffalo because Sean McDermott made second-half adjustments and started sliding his coverage alignments toward containing London. A superhuman effort from Robinson kept them afloat. The issues continued against San Francisco, where there weren’t many clear throwing windows for Penix Jr.
Once London was ruled out against Miami, and the wide receivers couldn’t create much separation against arguably the worst secondary in the league, the evidence was clear on how the coaching staff mismanaged their personnel evaluations. Expecting Casey Washington and David Sills to replace McCloud’s production appears to be a baffling decision. As frustrating as the offensive line has been, the current wide receiver group is nowhere near good enough.
Aaron Freeman: After Kaleb McGary’s injury, it was a given that the offensive line would take a significant step back. They were able to avoid that in the first month of the season, but the chickens have finally come home to roost. The pass-catchers have been the real problem.
Darnell Mooney was one of the most explosive wide receivers in the NFL in 2024, but has been virtually a non-factor through eight weeks in 2025. Until he returns to his previous levels of performance, the Falcons’ offense will have a much lower ceiling than anticipated.
How does the defense move forward at linebacker without Divine Deablo?
Dave Choate: They have to not just pay lip service to a committee. DeMarcco Hellams is a fundamentally sound player who excels against the run and moves well, making him an interesting player to have on the field instead of JD Bertrand on obvious passing downs. Jordan Fuller, Josh Woods, and Ronnie Harrison all have shown a better ability to read and react to plays more quickly than Bertrand at points in their career. Not all of these players are going to be better than Bertrand as full-time starters, if any, and Fuller and Hellams probably are going to struggle a bit with getting off blocks from offensive linemen.
So has Bertrand, though. The goal should be to mix-and-match based on opponents, situations, and who has the hot hand. The Falcons have already failed trying to replace Deablo with just one player, something Jeff Ulbrich said and has now proved is impossible. It’s time to have Bertrand be part of a mix rather than The Guy and give Hellams, Woods, and Harrison at minimum chances to show what they can do to help.
Adnan Ikic: Not with Bertrand, who doesn’t look capable of being a linebacker at this level. We need to expect subpar play from this position, as there was really no depth to speak of coming into the season. Although the easy answer would be to make a trade, a team already down two picks looking the way they do should not be buyers at the trade deadline. I would give Harrison the next crack at the position, given that he should have some coverage ability. Beyond that, DeAngelo Malone could be an option, albeit not a good one. I don’t expect anything from Troy Andersen, either.
Allen Strk: A rotation of Bertrand, Woods, and Harrison seems like the most realistic option. While Bertrand had a nightmare performance against Miami, it’s unlikely the coaching staff will completely give up on him. He also had some decent moments when forced into action against San Francisco. Inserting him into a three-down linebacker role is a mistake that can’t be made again.
Harrison is willing to take on blocks and be a physical presence. Woods has some experience. They have to work with their options, while not leaving themselves completely physically overmatched. This is an undersized defense to begin with. The idea of forcing a pure safety to play as a WILL linebacker could lead to devastating consequences against the run, particularly with a matchup against Jonathan Taylor looming. They have to prioritize being as physically prepared as possible with suitable linebackers.
Aaron Freeman: Deablo possesses the skills of a complete linebacker, so they’ll have to piece it together without him. They’ll need to get better play from Bertrand or anybody else who may serve as his primary replacement. But at the same time, the team will likely have to limit his exposure, given his struggles against the Dolphins. They can borrow a page from former Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen’s 2023 playbook, where he had to deal with similar coverage limitations when Nate Landman stepped in for an injured Troy Andersen. Nielsen’s main strategy was to deploy dime defense on the vast majority of third downs, with Kaden Elliss as the lone linebacker on the field and the other linebacker replaced by a sixth defensive back.
Having physical safeties like Hellams and Harrison, who are very comfortable playing in the box, makes them natural fits in that role, and we’ve seen the Falcons utilize both as a “big nickel” in each of the past two games. Unfortunately for Elliss, he’ll likely be forced to take up a larger portion of coverage responsibilities with Deablo out of the lineup, similar to previous years when Andersen went down with injuries. However, with Ulbrich’s willingness to scheme up pressure via blitzes, that can be a helpful tactic, as the threat of Elliss mugged on the line of scrimmage has often created pass-rushing openings for others.
Are there any defensive linemen who should receive more reps to help stop the run-stopping woes?
Dave Choate: I think trying to get more out of Sam Roberts and LaCale London on early downs is a smart play, with both players faring well against the run. Ta’Quon Graham should be in that conversation, too, but he’s looked a little rough coming back from injury thus far. The Falcons have been rotating heavily, but right now, teams are keying in on Atlanta’s hapless run defense and overpowering them up front.
Roberts and London have been two of the handful of players up front (David Onyemata is another) who have been sound and consistently come up with stops, and having them on the field more early in the game to hopefully help stymie opposing rushing attacks and force offenses to look for more balance is worth a shot. There is no one magic bullet, though; the loss of Deablo and some of the limitations on this roster mean the run defense will probably not be be better than okay in 2025.
Adnan Ikic: I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of what London could do. He seems to have fallen completely out of favor and isn’t getting much playing time at all, but he was never a bad run defender before, and could be an in-house option of “seeing what sticks.”
Allen Strk: Moving away from bear fronts and playing a more traditional base front could be the best option before anything else. It doesn’t seem like the team is well-equipped to excel with three interior linemen and two edge defenders. Similar to Zac Robinson, it’s hard to envision Ulbrich drastically shifting away from his preferred alignments. London always seemed like a capable contributor in limited snaps. The same can be said for Roberts, although London has shown to be more of a penetrator than Roberts against the run.
Reinserting London into the rotation in place of Graham could materialize into some progress. Graham has consistently been driven yards away from the line of scrimmage since returning from injury. Not having a nose tackle on the roster who can eat up space and take on double teams has come back to haunt this defense. They have to sensibly experiment to find the best formula to not be dominated in the trenches.
Aaron Freeman: London was giving the team solid work at nose tackle in base defense before his injury. Roberts has continued that for the past few weeks. It’s time the Falcons found ways to get both players on the field at the same time. While David Onyemata has been solid at times for the Falcons this year, he’s also been inconsistent, especially when it comes to holding up against the run.
The Falcons should curb his snaps, giving more opportunities to the younger interior players on early downs, where bigger bodies like London and Roberts could help keep opponents behind schedule. Eventually, it will create more obvious pass-rushing opportunities for Onyemata and others on later downs, putting them in more favorable situations.
