The Atlanta Falcons sputtered on primetime and couldn’t keep their hype train rolling. The offense is a mystery box every drive, but the defense managed to put up a fight with one of their strongest soldiers
MIA.
Here’s the Week 7 Snap Reactions.
Devine Deablo goes down
The Falcons new star linebacker and key defensive contributor went down early in this game and would not return due to a forearm injury. Deablo’s loss was felt immediately; the middle of the field became the top target for Kyle Shanahan’s offense. JD Bertarnd was the primary backup, and the second-year ILB did not fill in well.
To be fair, Christian McCaffery is a tough draw, but it’s a next man up business. The Falcons are going to have to figure out a temporary solution if Deablo can’t go next week, and by solution, I mean wake up Troy Andersen from hibernation.
Pass protection showing signs of cracks
The line started well, but tonight’s game and last week’s against Buffalo have shown that this offensive line is going to struggle against teams that are above average in terms of getting to the quarterback. The protection Penix has become accustomed to isn’t there, and the quarterback is starting to get jittery, even when pressure isn’t significant. Sacks are a quarterback stat just as much as they are an offensive line one.
Penix did hold the ball at times and drew an awful intentional grounding penalty, but ZRob is going to have to start taking extra measures to protect the quarterback.
Compounding errors
Whenever this team starts to accumulate one or two mistakes, they seemingly come in bunches after that. The Falcons went weeks without procedural issues, but they reared their ugly head again. Blown assignments soon follow, and before you know it, you’re lined up in the gun on 4th and 1 with no Bijan on the field and the game on the line.
Maybe this team really hates playing on the road, who knows? The only thing that’s been consistent is their inconsistent play.
More Kyle Pitts
Kyle Pitts was open a lot tonight, and it would’ve been nice to see him used more like Kyle Pitts and less like Ray-Ray McCloud. Coming into the game, Pitts leads the Falcons in EPA/target against man, and yet he is an afterthought when it comes to scheming up plays that take advantage of that skill.
Pitts had more key blocks tonight, and he’s executing exactly what’s asked of him, but it’s time to mix up the menu and get him some different looks and get him involved even more. Penix should be going to him on 3rd and long, not Casey Washington.
An up-and-down team
The Falcons are their record. It’s been a tale of two seasons. In three wins, we’ve seen running dominance and a quarterback that can deliver the ball to his playmakers. In three losses, the offense has hardly looked functional outside of Bijan Robinson. Even with the loss of Devine Deablo, the defense did enough to give Zac Robinson’s offense a shot tonight. Unfortunately, this unit can’t shake its two-faced persona, and it’s dragging down the team. Raheem Morris has been quick to pull weeds this year, and we’ll see if he pulls another one.
The Falcons two-game winning streak has come to an end on primetime. It was another uninspiring performance from the offense, while the defense fought valiantly. Atlanta has to shake this loss off and get back above .500 next week.
