What Do the Falcons Need to Fix?

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What Do the Falcons Need to Fix?

Newprofile_tiny by Adam Schultz on Sep 15, 2010 11:45 AM EDT in Editorial
I think this photo is faster than Turner from the backfield on Sunday. (AP Photo/Gene Puskar)

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Ok, so last Sunday's game didn't go so well. We ended up with a big fat 1 in the L column and our tremendously hyped, "high powered" offense was left touchdown-less. Falcons fans' spirits fell and fell hard. It's a tough thing to see a team we all know is capable of greatness slip into a field-goal kicking, time wasting, and head shaking slump.

The question arises: what needs fixing? Good question. Hard question to answer. I'm counting on Coach Smith and his merry band of X's and O's geniuses to find the true answer. Me? I'm just a fan and today I present to you, my fellow fans, just a few of the items I saw that needed some attention.

* Michael Turner. He looked slow off the ball. He was sluggish and too gunshy when picking lanes. He didn't see some of the gaps. He didn't adjust well. He didn't push the pile after contact. I've seen this man be in the middle of a five-defender scrum and somehow make it out high-stepping to the endzone. Where was that?
* Matt Bryant. I really have only one thing to say. We need a new kicker. Comrade, work your magic.
* Sam Baker. Oh boy. Sam, Sam, Sam. James Harrison, hero of Super Bowl 43, oxygen sucker extraordinaire, treated you like a rag doll on his way to a sack. I really don't know if its his technique, his lack of experience, or his awareness, but Baker seemed out of his element against an admittedly scary Steeler defensive line. Oh, and thanks for that hold on a converted first down. Great timing there. Of course, had he not held, I'm sure Matt Ryan would have likely had to put on his dancing shoes and pray that someone was open downfield.
* Play calling. It was obvious by the end of the first quarter that Turner wasn't going to burn anyone all day long. It was also obvious that with the Steelers stacking the box and bracketing Gonzalez, Mularkey was going to have to get creative to keep the Steeler D on its toes. Unfortunately, Mularkey's only answer was Matty Ice's no huddle offense. No statue of libertys, no flea flickers, (correct me if I'm wrong) no end arounds. Nada. Just run it up the gut or outside and have Matt try to dink and dunk his way to a first. I know it's early in the season and I know we have fifteen games left to win and you don't want division foes seeing our greatest plays, but I would have expected at least one or two "WTF" plays from our "mad scientist" offensive coordinator. Maybe it's all a ruse to win the division. Pretend to suck against OOD games and then KILL the NFC teams. I'd still rather have a win.
* Clock management. Smitty was both hot and cold on this issue. You get this with extra-conservative coaches from time to time. The hotness: down 3-0 with less than a minute to go until halftime, the Falcons use the no huddle and some spectacular medium-range passing to get within field goal distance. With 17 seconds left, Matt Bryant drills the tying score through the uprights. Hoorah! Great one-minute drill. One of the best I've seen since 2008's contest against Chicago. Now, I have to ask, WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT FIRE? The coldness: the Falcons get the ball back, the game tied 9-9, with forty-four seconds left. 44 seconds. Did Smith really not trust Ryan's no-huddle to get us the win? Forty-four seconds to drive to the 30, maybe even 35 yard line (if you want to risk that with Bryant. Shaky gamble). I think we could have done it. We did just that before the half. So why did we lose our mojo, swagger, spunk, what-have-you here? Please keep it consistent, gang.

[BubbaBean]

I can see an improvment on defense from last season, but the offense is essentially the same as it where we left off last year. We were told that another year together to gel or improve the chemistry for the offense will make a difference... OK.. but so far we only see the same hot & cold offense. We will look good against bad defenses, and hit a wall against good ones.
Great teams are steady and show up each week. I hate to say it, but we are 2-3 years from that if TD/Smith stay the course (same weapons, little action in free agent market, draft for speed/undersize players).

[Radical]

1. Where was Turner supposed to go? Hit in the backfield and his line was getting pushed back into him from the hand-off. If you push the pile, generally that means the guys in front are matched evenly or are pushing the other line forwards. No, Turner was keeping the center of our line from being 5+ yards behind the LOS.

2. Other than an early miss in the wind and rough kicking surface, what did he do wrong? Dude acts like Bryant missed just about every kick, and barely made one at best.

3. The holding play was weaksauce, but it isn't like Baker was going to win that match-up one on one, and he the rest of the line was anything but in position to assist.

4. A flea flicker or end around isn't going to work when your line is getting blown back like that. I thought criticism of Mularkey had to do with his gadget plays. People exploded when that end around didn't work out against the Saints last year(even though it was huge earlier in the game). Make up your mind people.

5. I honestly was surprised we didn't make an attempt with :44 left and 2 time-outs.