How bad do you hate Mularkeys play calling? And do you want him gone?

[Sporkdevil]

(09-14-2010 11:14 PM)harveybirdman Wrote:  I was interested to know when the last time was that MM had a top 10 offense outside of 2008, so I just figured I'd compile his entire career.

2000: (Pitt) 18th in total offense
2001: (Pitt) 3rd in total offense
2002: (Pitt) 5th in total offense
2003: (Pitt) 22nd in total offense

2004 (Buff) 25th in total offense
2005 (Buff) 28th in total offense

2006 (MIA) 20th in total offense
2007 (MIA) doesn't matter Cameron demoted him to TE coach

2008 (ATL) 6th in total offense
2009 (ATL) 16th in total offense

I know that this is a broad generalization and not necessarily reflective of his chops as an OC, but it makes one wonder how much 2008 may have been an aberration due to no one expecting the Falcons to do anything.

Yup, he has at best been inconsistent. He has essentially been riding out 2 good years in Pittsburgh for a decade.

I don't know how he has managed to get worse with more weapons and player development. He needs to stop playing Mularkeyball if he wants to keep his job.

[harveybirdman]

(09-14-2010 11:21 PM)Jesus Wrote:  I forget how long Buffalo has been so awful. Being demoted in 07 might have been the best thing anyone did for him. That team was 1-15. Those were some good Pittsburgh offenses with Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox at QB.

I was just going to draw a parallel between Maddox and his first year and Ryan and his first year.

No one knew what the Tommy Maddox Steelers would look like, much like the 2008 Falcons with Ryan.

With Maddox the first year = great success, subsequent years..... well not so much.

Hope history doesn't repeat itself.

[Jesus]

(09-14-2010 11:24 PM)harveybirdman Wrote:  

(09-14-2010 11:21 PM)Jesus Wrote:  I forget how long Buffalo has been so awful. Being demoted in 07 might have been the best thing anyone did for him. That team was 1-15. Those were some good Pittsburgh offenses with Kordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox at QB.

I was just going to draw a parallel between Maddox and his first year and Ryan and his first year.

No one knew what the Tommy Maddox Steelers would look like, much like the 2008 Falcons with Ryan.

With Maddox the first year = great success, subsequent years..... well not so much.

Hope history doesn't repeat itself.

Pressure is on maybe he will step up.

Maddox was never more than average. Actually Stewart's 1st year numbers look a lot like Ryan's. He had the Bus as well.

[harveybirdman]

I hope so Jesus.

[RnB]

I am the only "No" vote, im sure people saw that coming. I really dont believe that you can honestly hire a guy knowing what his offenses look like, have some success, then turn on him like a rabid dog when circumstances change. There are a myriad of reasons why I have seen people calling for MMs head, the main one being "lack of downfield passing". The thing people forget is that we DID have that with MM as our OC. In fact, we still do have it but MM cant force Matt Ryan to take a risk and throw the ball deep. The OC cant force the OL to block for a couple seconds longer to let downfield plays develop.

Someone pointed out today, I forget who, the correlation between us acquiring TonyG and our lack of a deep passing game. Its something that I thought about before but seeing someone else bring it up really drove home how evident it is. Dont get me wrong, I love having TonyG on our team. He is an outstanding player. However, when we didnt have him Ryan used to throw deep pretty often because Turner is not really a pass catching RB and our TEs back then werent real threats. Ryan was forced to let routes develop downfield. Now that we have TonyG, MM has been forced to work in a highly paid pass catching TE, and its dramatically changed our passing game.

I think Ryan has not only gotten too comfortable throwing short passes but he is genuinely afraid to take a risk. He plays it safe, going as far as throwing the ball away multiple times per game, rather than take a chance on a deeper route. He always talks about how important his accuracy is and if you watch the routes he throws to, they are all high percentage passes for the most part. If we want to get more explosive on offense, with a passing attack that can stretch the field, it all starts with Ryan CHOOSING to do it.

Either way, I think the best thing for our team is to keep a cohesive unit of coaches together for as long as possible. Mr. Blank and TD said that was their longterm goal, keep our coaching staff together. I hope they stick with that plan because its what good teams do. It seems like every single year fans want one of our coaches fired, it never fails. Last year it was BVG. This year its Mularkey. Next year itll be another coach. In years past its been others, such as Wade Phillips.

At some point people need to realize that calling for someones head isnt always the best option. Coincidentally, laying all the blame at the feet of one person is rarely ever laying it in the correct place.

That is all.

[bF™]

(09-14-2010 11:21 PM)AUTiger7222 Wrote:  I also think part of the problem is that people's expectations of Ryan might be a little bit too high. He's not Peyton Manning and I highly doubt the Falcons offense will ever be that of the Colts where Ryan averages close to 300 yards and 3 touchdowns per game. Ryan is who he is. That's a solid QB that when the game is on the line will make the plays more to win more times than not but I don't foresee him being a guy that puts up eye popping numbers like many want. I'm trying to think of the right guy to compare Ryan too and I've having a little trouble with that right now. The only person coming to mind that I think would be a fair comparsion to is Mark Brunell when he was in his prime with the Jaguars in the late 90s.

i think ryan can do it. he's one of the smarter qbs in the league ALREADY and he has all the tools he needs to be successful. in college BC lived and died off of ryans arm (he threw 650 passes for 4,500 yds in a single season).

i know it was college, but you don't see that kind of production from a qb in a WCO every day in college. i think he can be a star.

pocket presence, arm strength, smarts, ACCURACY, mobility, leadership...he has it all.

[JKH5785]

if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck....It's Mularkey!!

[bF™]

(09-14-2010 11:36 PM)RnB Wrote:  I am the only "No" vote, im sure people saw that coming. I really dont believe that you can honestly hire a guy knowing what his offenses look like, have some success, then turn on him like a rabid dog when circumstances change. There are a myriad of reasons why I have seen people calling for MMs head, the main one being "lack of downfield passing". The thing people forget is that we DID have that with MM as our OC. In fact, we still do have it but MM cant force Matt Ryan to take a risk and throw the ball deep. The OC cant force the OL to block for a couple seconds longer to let downfield plays develop.

Someone pointed out today, I forget who, the correlation between us acquiring TonyG and our lack of a deep passing game. Its something that I thought about before but seeing someone else bring it up really drove home how evident it is. Dont get me wrong, I love having TonyG on our team. He is an outstanding player. However, when we didnt have him Ryan used to throw deep pretty often because Turner is not really a pass catching RB and our TEs back then werent real threats. Ryan was forced to let routes develop downfield. Now that we have TonyG, MM has been forced to work in a highly paid pass catching TE, and its dramatically changed our passing game.

I think Ryan has not only gotten too comfortable throwing short passes but he is genuinely afraid to take a risk. He plays it safe, going as far as throwing the ball away multiple times per game, rather than take a chance on a deeper route. He always talks about how important his accuracy is and if you watch the routes he throws to, they are all high percentage passes for the most part. If we want to get more explosive on offense, with a passing attack that can stretch the field, it all starts with Ryan CHOOSING to do it.

Either way, I think the best thing for our team is to keep a cohesive unit of coaches together for as long as possible. Mr. Blank and TD said that was their longterm goal, keep our coaching staff together. I hope they stick with that plan because its what good teams do. It seems like every single year fans want one of our coaches fired, it never fails. Last year it was BVG. This year its Mularkey. Next year itll be another coach. In years past its been others, such as Wade Phillips.

At some point people need to realize that calling for someones head isnt always the best option. Coincidentally, laying all the blame at the feet of one person is rarely ever laying it in the correct place.

That is all.

good post man. definitely makes some sense....

[AUTiger7222]

(09-14-2010 11:38 PM)bF™ Wrote:  

(09-14-2010 11:21 PM)AUTiger7222 Wrote:  I also think part of the problem is that people's expectations of Ryan might be a little bit too high. He's not Peyton Manning and I highly doubt the Falcons offense will ever be that of the Colts where Ryan averages close to 300 yards and 3 touchdowns per game. Ryan is who he is. That's a solid QB that when the game is on the line will make the plays more to win more times than not but I don't foresee him being a guy that puts up eye popping numbers like many want. I'm trying to think of the right guy to compare Ryan too and I've having a little trouble with that right now. The only person coming to mind that I think would be a fair comparsion to is Mark Brunell when he was in his prime with the Jaguars in the late 90s.

i think ryan can do it. he's one of the smarter qbs in the league ALREADY and he has all the tools he needs to be successful. in college BC lived and died off of ryans arm (he threw 650 passes for 4,500 yds in a single season).

i know it was college, but you don't see that kind of production from a qb in a WCO every day in college. i think he can be a star.

pocket presence, arm strength, smarts, ACCURACY, mobility, leadership...he has it all.

But as long as Mike Smith is the head coach our offense is always going to revolve around running the ball to open up the passing game. The Colts offense revolves around letting Peyton call his own plays and throwing the ball to open up the running game. If they can't get the running game going than it's no big deal to them. They don't mind letting Peyton throw 55 times if that's what it takes to win the game. They don't force the running game. Much too often under Smith I have asked the question why are we trying to force the running game when it's not working. Ryan has the ability and the weapons to sling it 45-50 times and win the game. And I don't know what the numbers is but I would bet since Smith came here we run on 1st down at least 75% of the time. Way too much in my opinion.

[kibitzer]

I voted Not Sure, but for a lot of reasons that rnb laid out there. It's kinda like the old "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know..." saying.

And ftr, on BVG, I never said, "fire his ass" but yeah, I rode him hard last year. I questioned him like an Iraqi Interrogator. I second-guessed him most of the season. By the end of the season, it dawned on me that really my only question about him was: is it him, or does he not have the talent? I posted a lot about this and got very little response (surprisingly people were non-commital to the answer). But if nothing else, the FO has made every effort to give him the talent this year. And it appears thus far, that he is doing something with it.

So, that is another reason I'm tempted to say, give MM another year. They go out and get him some new toys next year, well, let's see what he does with them. But like ALL Falcon fans everywhere, I'm tired. Things are looking up for this team, and that makes the waiting even harder to do these days. Just getting harder to "wait another year" for the pieces to come together.