Falcons: What the hell is going on around here?!

[ggp]

I want to point out a few concerns/observations about this team. There has been a lot of criticism early in this season. Most of us expected a better showing. I, for one, felt that our offense was ready to dominate. Clearly, we have not reached expectations. Let me list a few points and possibly start some conversation about what we can realistically expect this season. Although I will mention some execution problems, I want to focus on coaching and management.

Mike Smith impressed me when he took a team in tatters and almost instantly turned it into a disciplined, well-oiled machine. Improvement was evident from year to year. The defense was shutting down the rush and making strides in cutting out the big plays. Meanwhile, the offense was a methodical time consumer that was becoming more talented with the addition of a unique WR.
This season has been a radical departure. The team looked rusty in the preseason and almost apathetic during the season opener. The penalties are rampant and basic, fundamentals, such as tackling and blocking have been major issues. Why? How? The lock-out explains some rustiness, but the total lack of preparation has been shocking.
The OL has been delt some significant changes. McClure sustained an injury (not unexpected, given his tenure) and we lost his savvy presence. Dahl (a mediocre OG) departed and the right side of the OL became less cohesive. I get that OL's take time to gell. I am willing to accept that the interior OL needs time. But, why are we seeing so much pass rushing pressure from the left side of the OL? Baker was pretty decent, as a rookie. Is he hampered by a bum back? If so, didn't our FO know about it? Not preparing a good back up at the LT position is a major faux pas on TD's part. Not coaching up Valdez and Svitek sufficiently to take over from a struggling Baker is the fault of the coaching staff.
What is going on in our secondary? Who is our secondary coach? Why don't seasoned veterans such as DeCoud and Robinson know where they need to be and who they need to defend? I have never seen a team that allows so many uncontested, wide-open receivers.......especially in the end zone! Some people argue that our pass rush gives QB's too much time. That may be true, but two of Seattle's TD's were made by wide open receivers, in the end zone, within three seconds of the snap. Enough with the excuses. This is a calamity. The DC designs the scheme but the various unit coaches rehearse and teach individual responsibilities. News flash: Our DB's do not have a clear picture of who they need to cover. One of two things need to happen: either our DC needs to simplify DB responsibilities or our secondary coach needs to actually coach. Failure to do one of those things will result in a lost season.
Matt Ryan. What can I say? This guy is a franchise QB. He does not have a top rated arm, but he makes all the throws he needs to make. Problems with the deep ball are more about the lack of protection and working room for the QB than actual arm weakness. Even Brady needs to step into his deep passes. Ryan does not get adequate space nor sufficient time to work the deep routes. Having said that, Ryan has missed some very open receivers. Douglas seems to run invisible routes. Ryan is looking for JJ all day. He can't do that. A QB's favorite receiver must always be the one that is open. Ryan must be shown his tendencies in the film room. He has got to spread the field to be a successful QB.
One final observation. Mike Smith challenged a dropped pass by White. Multiple replays clearly showed that White made a spectacular sideline catch, only to lose control when he hit the ground. We have folks looking at the replays. They are responsible for letting Smith know when to challenge a call. On such a clear circumstance, why did they tell him to throw the flag? Why would you burn our last challenge on an easily seen play? The commentators called it, without hesitation. Do our reviewers not know the rules of the game? What has happened to our well-oiled machine? Where is the infrastructure that Mike Smith used to turn the franchise around?

To quote the late great Lombardi: What the hell is going on around here?!

I'd like to read your comments. Thanks.

[Jayhawk-Falcon2012]

Well....i was able to get through it.

I don't know....I'm not even sure there's an answer at this point. Could very well be rust, could even be complacency. All I know is we're playing games we normally wouldn't have to Struggle so much at. Games are getting harder and harder to play because we're making mistakes, or maybe not motivated enough this time around to want to do the little things like Tackle properly, or push a little harder so the QB has time.

All we can do as fans is hope that Smith is getting po'd and telling his players they need to get their shit together, because it's embarrassing. Being, now, an organization that is the a semi-blueprint of excellence and three straight years of a winning records is Not enough. We need to be the threat that New Orleans has shown over the last few seasons, that even though they finally got their ring, they want more.

I hope someone in the org speaks up and tells them to start rising up, instead of just barking it out.

[ggp]

Sorry about the run on words. I'm a little too angry to economize the verbiage.

Let's hope Smitty sets a different tone behind closed doors.

[AsylumGuido]

I'm not sure if I can add anything. I follow this team fairly closely given it's being the primary threat to New Orleans. The performance to date this season has really surprised me. Last year the Falcons were maddeningly consistent and efficient. They seldom made crucial mistakes, they stayed healthy and took advantage of opportunities. Before this season I pointed out how fortunate they had been to dodge the injury bullet the previous year and how I was concerned about the lack of depth. I think that is coming to fruition.

But, that doesn't explain the rash of mistakes in the form of penalties and turnovers that are occurring this year. Yes, in a way inexperience could be a contributor, but from what I am seeing the culprits are veterans, as well.

Not meaning any of this as a diss, just an honest assessment.

[thedead]

coaching i think

[Paulitik]

I agree and I keep going back to the coaching. I'm not crazy about our schemes on either side of the ball, but it works with the talent we have, although I feel like it doesn't take advantage of them to the fullest. The fact that after 3+ years of the same holes in coverage, same inconsitent pass-rush, that the coaches aren't putting the players in position to execute, maximizing their ability to, or just have a flawed scheme in general.

We have as much talent as anyone in the NFL. Do we have some underachelvers? Sure we do, but you see coaches like Belichick maximize mediocre talent every day. I know we have enough to win a Super Bowl. I'm just not sure that this coaching staff are creative enough, or instill the fire and confidence for this team to win it all. Whether on offense or defense, teams seem to know what we are doing practically every play, and to me the blame has to be on the coaches.

[Peyton]

(10-05-2011 05:50 PM)AsylumGuido Wrote:  I'm not sure if I can add anything. I follow this team fairly closely given it's being the primary threat to New Orleans. The performance to date this season has really surprised me. Last year the Falcons were maddeningly consistent and efficient. They seldom made crucial mistakes, they stayed healthy and took advantage of opportunities. Before this season I pointed out how fortunate they had been to dodge the injury bullet the previous year and how I was concerned about the lack of depth. I think that is coming to fruition.

But, that doesn't explain the rash of mistakes in the form of penalties and turnovers that are occurring this year. Yes, in a way inexperience could be a contributor, but from what I am seeing the culprits are veterans, as well.

Not meaning any of this as a diss, just an honest assessment.

I think the 2010 Falcons were playing a bit over their heads. Always thought it. They seem to be confirming it this year.

[harveybirdman]

I don't want to hear any excuses. The Giants are getting it done for the most part and they've been totally decimated by injuries and lost a ton of talent to FA.

I'm tired of "the process" with no results. I stand by my original terms of measuring the success of this season:

We must beat the Eagles: Check
We must beat the Packers:
We must beat the Saints at least once:
We must win a playoff game:


Any less than these things is a step back in my opinion.

[TeamPlayer1]

(10-05-2011 02:23 PM)ggp Wrote:  I want to point out a few concerns/observations about this team. There has been a lot of criticism early in this season. Most of us expected a better showing. I, for one, felt that our offense was ready to dominate. Clearly, we have not reached expectations. Let me list a few points and possibly start some conversation about what we can realistically expect this season. Although I will mention some execution problems, I want to focus on coaching and management.

Mike Smith impressed me when he took a team in tatters and almost instantly turned it into a disciplined, well-oiled machine. Improvement was evident from year to year. The defense was shutting down the rush and making strides in cutting out the big plays. Meanwhile, the offense was a methodical time consumer that was becoming more talented with the addition of a unique WR.
This season has been a radical departure. The team looked rusty in the preseason and almost apathetic during the season opener. The penalties are rampant and basic, fundamentals, such as tackling and blocking have been major issues. Why? How? The lock-out explains some rustiness, but the total lack of preparation has been shocking.
The OL has been delt some significant changes. McClure sustained an injury (not unexpected, given his tenure) and we lost his savvy presence. Dahl (a mediocre OG) departed and the right side of the OL became less cohesive. I get that OL's take time to gell. I am willing to accept that the interior OL needs time. But, why are we seeing so much pass rushing pressure from the left side of the OL? Baker was pretty decent, as a rookie. Is he hampered by a bum back? If so, didn't our FO know about it? Not preparing a good back up at the LT position is a major faux pas on TD's part. Not coaching up Valdez and Svitek sufficiently to take over from a struggling Baker is the fault of the coaching staff.
What is going on in our secondary? Who is our secondary coach? Why don't seasoned veterans such as DeCoud and Robinson know where they need to be and who they need to defend? I have never seen a team that allows so many uncontested, wide-open receivers.......especially in the end zone! Some people argue that our pass rush gives QB's too much time. That may be true, but two of Seattle's TD's were made by wide open receivers, in the end zone, within three seconds of the snap. Enough with the excuses. This is a calamity. The DC designs the scheme but the various unit coaches rehearse and teach individual responsibilities. News flash: [b]Our DB's do not have a clear picture of who they need to cover. One of two things need to happen: either our DC needs to simplify DB responsibilities or our secondary coach needs to actually coach. Failure to do one of those things will result in a lost season.[/b] Matt Ryan. What can I say? This guy is a franchise QB. He does not have a top rated arm, but he makes all the throws he needs to make. Problems with the deep ball are more about the lack of protection and working room for the QB than actual arm weakness. Even Brady needs to step into his deep passes. Ryan does not get adequate space nor sufficient time to work the deep routes. Having said that, Ryan has missed some very open receivers. Douglas seems to run invisible routes. Ryan is looking for JJ all day. He can't do that. A QB's favorite receiver must always be the one that is open. Ryan must be shown his tendencies in the film room. He has got to spread the field to be a successful QB.
One final observation. Mike Smith challenged a dropped pass by White. Multiple replays clearly showed that White made a spectacular sideline catch, only to lose control when he hit the ground. We have folks looking at the replays. They are responsible for letting Smith know when to challenge a call. On such a clear circumstance, why did they tell him to throw the flag? Why would you burn our last challenge on an easily seen play? The commentators called it, without hesitation. Do our reviewers not know the rules of the game? What has happened to our well-oiled machine? Where is the infrastructure that Mike Smith used to turn the franchise around?

To quote the late great Lombardi: What the hell is going on around here?!

I'd like to read your comments. Thanks.

I have watched the replay twice and this jumped out at me! These DB's have worked in this system 2 years and I have are hard time believeing that they are less intelligent than the DB's around the league. The obvious answer is the scheme they are trying to implement.
Watching the Ravens/Jets game Monday night and then on replay, the Ravens playe a press coverage, "bump and run" almost all game and rushed 5 most of the time and often 6. The Jets played that scheme as well but not as much.

The obvious theory is to put extreme pressure on the QB and disrupt the WR routes at the line to kill the timing routes. This can result in a throw away, sack or a rushed throw.

We could do this with Robinson and Hayden with Grimes playing nickle since he would be a poor bump and run candidate.

Nicholas, Spoon or Lofton could be the 5th rusher with Moore as the 6th on obvious passing downs with a combination of d-line stunts.

Anything should be better than the 3-3-5 soft zone failure.

[Paprika Neck]

interior penetration is what's fucking up this offense.