Why Can't We Defeat Good Teams? Serious Posts Only Please

[laynepink]

I love Mike Smith and this team is much better to watch than it was under previous regimes where we'd inexplicably lose to horrible teams.

However, that being said, whenever we play a "good" team it seems we can't get over the hump. Beating bad teams is good enough to get us into the playoffs but once we're in we can't move on because we're facing the elite teams in the league.

Is it just that we play exactly to our talent level, and no better or worse? What's going on?

Is it a schematic problem? Is it a talent problem? Are we not as talented as we fans think we are? It's so frustrating, especially losing to our hated rival the Saints like that, getting the record broken against us, humiliation.

[shockerfalcon]

Imho it's because of a combination of playing not to lose and second guessing our selves. Have you noticed that since the 4th and 1 debacle turner hasn't get the ball in short yardage situations? Speaking of which how can Smitty make a gusty call like that but when down by two scores in the saint's redzone he doesn't go for it not once but twice? This team is too laid back from owner to players. When we need a spark where does it come from? No where and that is the problem.

[FalconinPA]

I think it is because we are stuck in mediocrity. We haven't seemed to make the right adjustments or bring in the right players to change anything for the past few years. Take Dunta Robinson and Ray Edwards for example. They totally added nothing to the equation. A little upgrade over what we already had in my opinion.

We gave up valuable draft picks in the trade for Julio Jones. So we probably aren't going to change much next year unless we make a big splash in the free agency market, but judging by past free agency pick-ups, I don't see much happening.

Team like the Saints, Patriots, and Saints get great players via free agency it seems yearly now. Also, they seem to know how to pick good talents and fits from the draft. The Falcons, not so much. We overpay for players like Dunta and take chances with players like Hayden and Brian Williams who are injury prone.

I wont even get started on our coaching..

[Aftermath]

the best teams have outstanding coaching; we have seen time and time again that coaching can make up for a lack oftalent but talent cannot make up for a lack of coaching.

[I Even Bleed Red]

We're out-coached. It's not even seriously debatable anymore.

[paulitik]

In my opinion, it has little to do with personnel, talent, or even scheme to a certain degree, although I think the scheme needs to be reevaluated and the talent needs to be held accountable for their lack of execution. I think our biggest issue is philosophy. The language our coaching staff uses, quite frankly is disturbing. "take what the defense gives you" is one example. Another is Smitty saying that winning all your home games and winning half your road games as the goal of how a season unfolds. This team has a system that can only succeed by perfect execution rather than overcome its shortcomings via willpower or confidence. We play with too much anxiety and not enough anger, passion, or sense of superiority.

[cyofish]

Well to be honest New Orleans and Green Bay made a lot of teams look bad. The great teams control the line of scrimmage. We had a hard time protecting our QB on offense and couldn't get penetration on defense. Give Rodgers or Brees all day to throw and they will carve you up. Especially when we play a soft zone defense, the receivers will run open.

[Soccerfan]

In october 2011 Manchester City inflicted Manchester United's worst home defeat since February 1955 by beating them 6-1 at Manchester United's HOME. Nobody complained that Manchester City should have stopped at 4-1 or any other arbitrary score. Sir Alex Fergusson took it on the chin and admitted that they did not play well and the team took reponsibility for the loss in front of their own fans. They actually appologized to their own fans for the ridiculous loss.

Falcon players should be fired for complaining. These are not athletes but the product of a sports system that invented the mercy rule and participation diplomas.

There is no complaining in ANY sport if you are a professional.

[laynepink]

Biggest difference.. when Saints/Packers/Patriots/etc get a penalty and are in 3rd and 15 situations they don't panic. We panic and throw a 5 yard checkdown... punt.

We play pre-2004 football. Before the passing rules got changed. Both Mularkey and BVG coach like 3rd and 10 is an unmakeable down and distance. Today's QBs can and will make that with today's rules. We need some younger coaches. The one I'm thinking of: Josh McDaniels, about to go out with the coaching staff in St. Louis. He can take this offense to new levels.

Edited December 27, 2011 by laynepink

[redzonefalcon]

Offensive and defensive lines. If the lines are good, then mediocrity elsewhere can be coped with. Even an average quarterback can do well if has plenty of time to survey the field and pick his options.

Probably something to do with the coaching as well, but I'm not exactly sure what...

[Top Flight]

Non aggressive OC and DC nuff said..

[laynepink]

I actually thought Matt did a good job dealing with pressure yesterday. He stepped up in the pocket and made throws.

The biggest problem is going back into the huddle in the red zone on offense. And overall stupid/conservative playcalling.

Defensively BVG apparently thinks it's still appropriate to go into a "prevent" defense on 3rd and long. Where we got roasted every time. And the lack of pressure on Brees, disgusting.

[north falcon]

It starts on the lines. Our D-line is below average at generating any kind of pass rush in a passing league and our O-Line is below average at protecting the pass. We're decent to great in every other area of the field. Even secondary.

SIMPLE AS THAT

[laynepink]

Sadly football has changed since the passing rules have changed. I don't think it's possible anymore to win with the conservative style that dominated from 1900-2004. Even classic defensive teams like the Steelers win today with the passing game from Big Ben and by focusing on stopping the pass (Polamolu) rather than focusing on the run.

[Guest JoeSr]

OP, to answer your question as brief as possible: I believe it boils down to coaching. This game is just as mental as it is physical. The game is physical AND mental for the players. The game is 100% mental for the coaches. They do not partake in any of the physical aspects of the game. I liken NFL football coaching to world chess competitions. You understand your strengths and enhance those. You understand your weaknesses and strengthen them. You exploit their weaknesses and break down their strengths as feasibly as possible. You adopt a certain strategy and philosophy in your approach to the match. You adjust that strategy and approach as necessary during the match. You balance passive/aggressive and react/proactive extremes at all times throughout the match. All the while doing all of this, you take upon a "I am going to destroy you" mentality while at the same time respecting your opponent's abilities. What I mean by respecting the opponent's abilities is not underestimating them or becoming complancent.

[FalconJim]

Because we "sold the farm" to get ONE player, when in reality, we needed MANY!!!

Now, we have to wait another year to get what we need, because we basically have no high picks in this year's draft.....it's as simple as that!!! Hopefully, we can get some help in FA...

[Quarterback]

We can and indeed have beaten some good teams the past four seasons when both the offense and defense are playing with passion, a sense of urgency and disciplined, fundamental football.

What this tells me is we have the overall talent to compete with any team on a given Sunday.

However, too many times since last January's meltdown to the Packers we have come out flat, committed too many dumb and untimely penalties, called odd plays given the circumstance; and played with a serious lack of focus, confidence and purpose.

What this tells me is the current coordinators--especially the defensive coordinator--are not preparing, motivating, and, quite frankly, demanding the respect of their players and thus we are witnessing a myriad of mistakes and shortcomings in key games against equally gifted opponents.

In short, we are being out-coached against the better teams, not out-talented and last night was a perfect example. Matt Ryan came prepared to win this game last night; his supporting defense didn't!

[Psychic Gibbon]

The coaching staff plays not to lose instead of to win. Against good defenses Mularkey shrinks the offense considerably and against good offense VanGorder plays heavy zones. The problem with this strategy is that more often than not you lose when you play not to lose.

[Sun Tzu 7]

I think it starts with coaching and in my opinion we've gotten soft.

Last year our o-line would win at the point of attack and push people back. That has not happened this year.

Look at San Fran. Harbaugh comes in and makes them work hard and you can see the results. Us? We give the players extra time off instead of using it to prepare and the results speak for themselves.

This was not the first time our team was completely unprepared and our coaching staff was COMPLETELY outmatched.

Again, look what happened with Houston, Green Bay, and Houston when the right defensive coordinator comes in.

[Quarterback]

It starts on the lines. Our D-line is below average at generating any kind of pass rush in a passing league and our O-Line is below average at protecting the pass. We're decent to great in every other area of the field. Even secondary.

SIMPLE AS THAT

I agree in large part with this too.

The Falcons have been decorating the house with skill position players through the draft and FA since TD's arrival and have quite frankly done a poor job of building a solid foundation for this decorated home by building more gifted OL and DL personnel. We have an average OL and and average DL, and the better teams will take advantage of this over 60 minutes.

[laynepink]

Since the arrival of Smith/TD/Dimitroff in 2008, here are the "good" (above .500) teams we've beaten:

2008 Chicago Bears (9-7): Beat them on last-second miracle pass + FG

2008 Carolina Panthers (12-4): Legit win, dominated them in the Dome

2008 Tampa Bay Bucs (9-7): OT win against a team that went from 9-3 to 9-7 on a slide to getting Gruden fired

2008 Minnesota Vikings (10-6): Good road win against a playoff team

2009 NY Jets (9-7): Good win against a great defense that made the AFFCG

2010 NO Saints (11-5): OT win in the Superdome thanks to missed FG by saints

2010 Tampa Bay Bucs (10-6): Close win vs the Bucs

2010 Baltimore Ravens (12-4): Thrilling last-minute win, one of the best of the Smith era

2010 GB Packers (10-6): Close home win vs the SB Champs

2010 Tampa Bay Bucs (10-6): Another close win vs the Bucs

2011 Detroit Lions (11-5?): Good win vs Lions

2011 Tenn Titans (9-7?): Solid win vs Titans

[Tandy]

Games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage. Always. Against poor teams, we are generally facing lines on the opposite side with average to poor skills. Easy to overcome with the talent we have in the rest of the team.

Not so when the game is clearly lost at the LOS.

[Guest JoeSr]

OP, to answer your question as brief as possible: I believe it boils down to coaching. This game is just as mental as it is physical. The game is physical AND mental for the players. The game is 100% mental for the coaches. They do not partake in any of the physical aspects of the game. I liken NFL football coaching to world chess competitions. You understand your strengths and enhance those. You understand your weaknesses and strengthen them. You exploit their weaknesses and break down their strengths as feasibly as possible. You adopt a certain strategy and philosophy in your approach to the match. You adjust that strategy and approach as necessary during the match. You balance passive/aggressive and react/proactive extremes at all times throughout the match. All the while doing all of this, you take upon a "I am going to destroy you" mentality while at the same time respecting your opponent's abilities. What I mean by respecting the opponent's abilities is not underestimating them or becoming complancent.

With our coaching staff, it seems we work the opposite. The staff imposes their will (scheme, philosophy, etc) upon their unit and players. Instead, adopt a vision that benefits the entire unit and team; fit your vision to suit your team and individual talents and strengths of individual players. Also, we have always seemed to struggle with adjustments during the game. We seem to take upon a more react and passive mentality as opposed to a more balanced react/proactive and passive/aggressive mindset. Quite of a few of our field general's comments in the past leads me to believe he needs to take an attitude to take us to the next level.

[Guest JoeSr]

I would say both lines are a close second to coaching. Games are won in the trenches. Stop the run and pressure the QB. Then, protect your QB and open lanes for your RB. This can acutally go back to coaching, too. If the coaches see and know this, it is their job to rectify the issuel; either by replacement or training.

[Quarterback]

And here's a short quizz that may help answer this question:

How would you rank the below current head coaches in all around coaching ability and most likely to develop a winning game plan against another great coach or team.

Bill Belichick

Tom Coughlin

Jim Harbaugh

John Harbaugh

Mike McCarthy

Sean Peyton

Andy Reid

Lovie Smith

Mike Smith

Mike Tomlin

I'm not tackling likability; I'm talking preparation for a game against a quality opponent in a key match up like the playoffs...how would you rank them?

The first 6 or 7 are easy for me...