Yasinskas: Reaction To Falcons Devastating Loss

[theProf]

Rapid Reaction: Giants 24, Falcons 2

January, 8, 2012

3:59 PM ET

By Pat Yasinskas

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Thoughts on the Atlanta Falcons' 24-2 playoff loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

What it means: This was much more than just a loss. This was devastating for the entire Falcons organization. Yeah, give the Giants credit for winning the game. But give the Falcons plenty of blame for losing. This team had sent out a strong signal that the Super Bowl was the goal when it traded up to draft Julio Jones and signed free-agent defensive end Ray Edwards. The Falcons didn’t even come close to the Super Bowl. For the second straight year -- and the third time in four years -- the Falcons lost their opening playoff game.

When you have those expectations and those results, you can’t expect owner Arthur Blank to remain patient forever. Coach Mike Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan never have won a postseason game. Their jobs aren’t in jeopardy -- yet. But everyone around them (assistant coaches, offensive linemen and receivers who can’t hang onto passes) is suddenly on the hot seat. This loss will prompt some changes in Atlanta.

Fourth-and-nowhere: Smith elected to go for it on fourth-and-inches twice when he could have kicked field goals. That didn’t work either time. Smith also failed when he went for it in overtime against the Saints during the regular season. Anyone notice a theme here? I think you’ll be reading a lot more about this in my follow-up column.

What happened to the offense? This was a legitimate question during the regular season, but it really showed in the playoff game. The Falcons have no offensive identity, no idea whether they’re a running or passing team. Against the Giants, they weren’t either; they simply were a terrible offense. That’s a far cry from those lofty expectations I mentioned above.

Big players make big drops: Atlanta receiver Roddy White led the NFL in drops during the regular season. He escalated that in the postseason. White dropped at least two passes, possibly three and maybe even four. I’m not sure how or why, but White went from being one of the league’s most sure-handed receivers in 2010 to a drop machine this season. I’m not saying White’s done in Atlanta by any means. But he’s getting up in age, he comes with a high price tag and it wouldn’t totally shock me if he’s dangled for trade in the offseason.

Total mismatch: Atlanta’s offensive line was totally destroyed by the Giants’ pass rush. Not surprising, really. The Falcons built this line for run -- not pass -- blocking. Ryan was bad, largely because he had no chance. The Falcons already had given up on Sam Baker at left tackle. Journeyman replacement Will Svitek got exploited and showed he’s not a long-term answer. The Falcons need to get a left tackle. Problem is, they won’t have a first-round draft pick (that went in the deal for Jones), and the list of left tackles coming available in free agency isn’t too promising. Remember what I mentioned about perhaps shopping White. Oh, and Joe Hawley doesn’t look like the answer at right guard.

What’s next: An offseason of change at the Falcons’ Flowery Branch facility. This team has a ton of talent, and it won’t be blown up. But there will be significant tweaks in different areas.

[d#d#d#]

Yasinskas was to soft in that article imho...

[theProf]

Time for Falcons to get introspective

January, 8, 2012

7:09 PM ET

By Pat Yasinskas

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Their season ended sooner than expected, so the Atlanta Falcons haven’t had time to come up with a title for their highlight film.

I’ll throw them a few suggestions:

• "Fourth-and-inches: Next year, we’ll just kick it."
  
• 
  
• "Explosive or implosion?’"
  
• 
  
• "How I lost that Jacksonville job," narrated by Mike Mularkey.
  
  • 
    Hey, wait, we just got a submission from Atlanta coach Mike Smith.
    "It was a lot like our season, very inconsistent," Smith said after his Falcons lost 24-2 to the New York Giants in the wild-card round Sunday at MetLife Stadium. "We played some that were good. We played some that were not so good. I think that’s really the story of our 2011 season."
    Take any of those suggestions or add your own. There are seemingly endless ways to summarize how a team with Super Bowl expectations came up dramatically short.
    Since the arrival of Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan in 2008, the Falcons had been to the playoffs twice before. They lost both those games, including a home game against Green Bay last season when the Falcons were the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
    But this loss was far worse because the Falcons weren’t even competitive. That was mostly their own fault, because the Giants were as inconsistent as the Falcons during the regular season. On Sunday, the Falcons made the Giants look like champions.
    The offense White referred to as “The Greatest Show on Turf’’ in the preseason didn’t score. Atlanta’s points came on a safety. How does an offense that has Ryan, White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez and Michael Turner get blanked?
    “I have no idea,’’ said White, who finished with five catches for 52 yards and dropped at least two passes, after leading the NFL in drops during the regular season.
    Since White has no idea, I’ll throw out a few quickies: The Falcons couldn’t run the ball (Turner finished with 41 yards on 15 carries), Ryan was held to 199 passing yards and Smith (and offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey) got outcoached by Tom Coughlin and his staff. All that calls out for more detail.
    Let’s start with the coaching, because this has been a huge issue before. On two different occasions, Smith elected to go for it on fourth-and-inches. On two different occasions, that decision failed miserably. Smith decided on the same thing, with the same result, in overtime during a regular-season loss to New Orleans.
    The first decision to go for it on fourth down came on the first play of the second quarter. The second came with 4:21 left in the third quarter, when the Falcons were trailing only 10-2. Both times, the Falcons had Ryan, who will never be confused with Michael Vick as a runner, try a quarterback sneak. Both times Ryan came up short. The second one was far more damaging, and even more insulting to anyone with common sense. It came with Ryan lining up with an empty backfield, a clear signal of what was coming.
    “It was about half a yard, maybe even less than that,’’ Smith said. “That was the play. We go through the sequence all through the week, and we felt like that was the play that we had up and we just didn’t execute it. We felt like at any point in time that we ought to be able to move the football less than half a yard with a quarterback sneak.’’
    Forget the fact the Falcons could have handed the ball to Turner, who has gained more than a half yard plenty of times in his career. The Falcons tried that approach in the New Orleans loss and that didn’t work, either.
    What’s more disturbing is that, unlike the Turner play against the Saints, both of these opportunities came when the Falcons were in position to attempt a field goal. Both opportunities came at points in the game when a field goal would have meant a lot.
    “You could have gone ahead and attempted the field goal,’’ Smith said. “I felt and we felt as a staff, with our offense, that we could move the ball and we wanted to get seven points.’’
    Instead, the Falcons ended up with two points for the day. That’s not the sum total of just a couple of coaching decisions and play calls. That’s a sign of much larger problems for a team that clearly was shooting for the Super Bowl when it dealt draft picks to trade up to get Jones in April and paid a ton for free-agent defensive end Ray Edwards as soon as the lockout ended.
    Both decisions were based almost entirely on what Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff decided was lacking after last season’s playoff loss to Green Bay. They talked repeatedly about how Jones and Edwards would add “explosiveness."
    Instead, the Falcons ended up with a dud of a season. People are going to start to question if Smith and Ryan ever can win a playoff game. They’re also going to start to question if the trade for Jones was wise, especially as the 2012 draft approaches and the Falcons are looking to rebuild an offensive line that was built for run blocking and showed it can't pass block no matter how many receiving weapons the Falcons have.
    “Well, I think that’s a mistake,’’ Falcons owner Arthur Blank said after he was reminded the Jones trade is officially open to criticism. “Julio stepped up and did everything we wanted him to do this year. He’s going to be an outstanding receiver and player in the league. He has certainly proved his worth this year. He clearly showed his explosive capability throughout the year. You saw that in a number of games. You didn’t see it today.’’
    You didn’t see much of anything offensively against the Giants and that took a toll on Atlanta’s defense as the game went on, which just compounded Atlanta’s problems.
    “Our expectations for our football team and our organization are much higher than just making an appearance in the playoffs,’’ Smith said.
    Blank didn’t sound like a man who was ready to do anything rash. But he sounded frustrated and made it clear he expects Smith and Dimitroff to do some serious introspective thinking as they look back at the season.
    “I think the answer is you’ve got to do a thorough diagnostic on the team, the players, the coaches and personnel area on why we didn’t perform the way that we’re capable of,’’ Blank said. “The beauty of Smitty and Thomas is that they will do that. They’re not, by nature, defensive individuals. They’re thoughtful, they’re bright and they care obviously about the franchise and winning. They will do what I would want them to do which is to be objective and go through a detailed analysis and not be emotional about it. Do it from a thoughtful standpoint. Where that takes us, I can’t tell you. That’s not up to me to tell you. That’s up to them to figure it out and we’ll work on it organizationally.’’
    One hint to Smith and Dimitroff: As you found out with fourth-and-inches, doing the same thing repeatedly isn’t going to work. Don’t do what you did last year and just fix two glaring holes. Fix every little hole on your team or you’ll never win a playoff game.
    
    • 
      
      • “That Allstate commercial is not going to happen, but maybe I can fill in for that Mayhem guy," hosted by Roddy White.
        

[high impact]

Yasinskas was to soft in that article imho...

I think he was still in shock.

[niels petersen]

If this wild card weekend has shown us anything, it is that having an OL like the saints is paramount to having consistent success in the postseason.

Next, it showed us that our offensive gameplans and playcalling is absolutely horrible, and the players have no longer any faith in this offensive scheme..

First, get Tom Clements, Todd Haley, or just anyone who understands passing routes and matchups.. And someone who Ryan can have faith in.

Second, do everything it takes to grab Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs in FA, and use pretty much the entire draft on OL.

Third, resign Grimes, Abe, Lofton as the core resigns, plus a couple of other players depending on the money situation.

Edited January 9, 2012 by niels petersen

[capologist]

Of course Hawley isn't the answer at guard--he's a CENTER!!!

[muskokas finest ©]

There is more than enough talent here for a QB to succeed. Matt Ryan must take the lion's share of the responsibility for an embarrassing loss.

[capologist]

There is more than enough talent here for a QB to succeed. Matt Ryan must take the lion's share of the responsibility for an embarrassing loss.

Not behind that line and not with that dumbass calling plays...

[theProf]

Not behind that line and not with that dumbass calling plays...

Agree!

[Mattbob_Icepants]

Not behind that line and not with that dumbass calling plays...

this. he of course has to get his share, but he is not a hole we need to fix. get mularkey out and get an o line

[DirtybyrdGA]

That's not an ornament in my avatar, that I haven't changed yet, it's a bomb

"KABOOM"

[Objective Critic]

There is more than enough talent here for a QB to succeed. Matt Ryan must take the lion's share of the responsibility for an embarrassing loss.

No there isn't. Ryan is overrated, though he is a good QB. Roddy and TG are overrated also and the line stinks. Add to that Turner is one dimensional and you have an vanilla offense. I don't want to hear about pro bowls or HOF either - that doesn't mean diddly if you don't show up when it counts. These guys only play well against crap teams and they pad their stats with them also.

The playoffs are a true measuring stick in how good your team really is, and not the pro bowl, and we can clearly see that Atlanta, is bottom of the barrel when it comes time to play the better teams.

[blizzard_falcon]

If this wild card weekend has shown us anything, it is that having an OL like the saints is paramount to having consistent success in the postseason.

Next, it showed us that our offensive gameplans and playcalling is absolutely horrible, and the players have no longer any faith in this offensive scheme..

First, get Tom Clements, Todd Haley, or just anyone who understands passing routes and matchups.. And someone who Ryan can have faith in.

Second, do everything it takes to grab Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs in FA, and use pretty much the entire draft on OL.

Third, resign Grimes, Abe, Lofton as the core resigns, plus a couple of other players depending on the money situation.

I agree with this completely. I think we need three new starters on the o-line: at LT, C and RG.

I think we almost HAVE to get Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs...

[fly_falcon_fly]

There is more than enough talent here for a QB to succeed. Matt Ryan must take the lion's share of the responsibility for an embarrassing loss.

I did not see him putting much blame on Matt. Not that he did not deserve any, but whatever blame he put on Matt qualified it with that he could not do much behind that line. Which was built for run block and not pass blocking.

[Pay the Zebra]

I agree with this completely. I think we need three new starters on the o-line: at LT, C and RG.

I think we almost HAVE to get Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs...

Maybe Grubbs. Nicks ain't happening. No contender would let an all-pro guard in his prime go (except Hutch from SEA to MN, but that's a whole different story). They'll get rid of receivers before they lose Nicks.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Pay the Zebra

[dardan]

I did not see him putting much blame on Matt. Not that he did not deserve any, but whatever blame he put on Matt qualified it with that he could not do much behind that line. Which was built for run block and not pass blocking.

This line is actually worse at run blocking than they are at pass blocking. In short, they suck universally. The offensive line needs a complete overhaul; which includes at least two (if not three) starters.

I have a hard time putting too much blame on Ryan or Turner until this is fixed, though they are now treading water in my book. Roddy White, on the other hand, is about to sink.

[theProf]

Time for Falcons to get introspective

January, 8, 2012

7:09 PM ET

By Pat Yasinskas

One hint to Smith and Dimitroff: As you found out with fourth-and-inches, doing the same thing repeatedly isn’t going to work. Don’t do what you did last year and just fix two glaring holes. Fix every little hole on your team or you’ll never win a playoff game.

Atlanta fixed one glaring hole last season at WR, although that's probably going to create more holes due to loss of draft choices. They tried to fix the glaring hole at DE with Ray Edwards, but that didn't work. I don't see how the Falcons can fix every little hole this offseason, as there seems to be too many, and not enough cap space or draft choices to work with.

[theProf]

If this wild card weekend has shown us anything, it is that having an OL like the saints is paramount to having consistent success in the postseason.

Next, it showed us that our offensive gameplans and playcalling is absolutely horrible, and the players have no longer any faith in this offensive scheme..

First, get Tom Clements, Todd Haley, or just anyone who understands passing routes and matchups.. And someone who Ryan can have faith in.

Second, do everything it takes to grab Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs in FA, and use pretty much the entire draft on OL.

Third, resign Grimes, Abe, Lofton as the core resigns, plus a couple of other players depending on the money situation.

Good post. Falcons do need to draft some more OL, but we also need to draft some DBs too, especially a good cover/good tackling FS.

[PapaJoe]

Of course Hawley isn't the answer at guard--he's a CENTER!!!

Not too confident he's an answer there either at this point

[B_ELLIS24]

Roddy White as trade bait?? Hmmmmmm. Somebody would probably give up a #1 for him.

[slamee101]

There is more than enough talent here for a QB to succeed. Matt Ryan must take the lion's share of the responsibility for an embarrassing loss.

While I won't say the lions share, I will say he deserves about as much blame as anyone else for the offensive woes. The line might have not been great but he had time to make some throws that he didn't. Sure Roddy had some drops but he had some overthrows and under throws as well as holding onto the ball. He gets no pass from me...he's not playing at an elite level in big spots.

[nodimwithere]

Maybe Grubbs. Nicks ain't happening. No contender would let an all-pro guard in his prime go (except Hutch from SEA to MN, but that's a whole different story). They'll get rid of receivers before they lose Nicks.

Absolutely correct. The Saints may not be able to re-sign both Nicks and Colston, but I guarantee they will find a way to keep Nicks.

[kiwifalcon]

If this wild card weekend has shown us anything, it is that having an OL like the saints is paramount to having consistent success in the postseason.

Next, it showed us that our offensive gameplans and playcalling is absolutely horrible, and the players have no longer any faith in this offensive scheme..

First, get Tom Clements, Todd Haley, or just anyone who understands passing routes and matchups.. And someone who Ryan can have faith in.

Second, do everything it takes to grab Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs in FA, and use pretty much the entire draft on OL.

Third, resign Grimes, Abe, Lofton as the core resigns, plus a couple of other players depending on the money situation.

Agee with most of this but Abe if we resign him needs help bigtime that leaves Sidbury Matthews Biermann and Edwards I really think 2 possibly 3 of these guys are goneski's.

[shc]

what I don't get is Smith was criticized for his 4th and 1 playcall against NO for running Turner, when everyone agreed that a QB sneak would have done it. So then he does that against the Giants, and everyone is saying it should have been Turner.

I think when Matt wasn't going anywhere, he should have tossed it to Julio who was about 5 yards behind him when he got stuffed.

[Mike Hunt]

Falcons do have some players worth keeping, but not many. Roddy White would be good for a few draft picks and we need draft picks. Plus, he doesn't block and has become sort of a punk. Trade him. Free up cap space and let Abe go. He's getting old anyway. Try to deal Turner and get a couple of younger backs with some speed. Offensive line should be blown up. McClure is good, but getting old. Baker should just be cut if he can't be traded. He's an absolute bust. If Mike Johnson isn't ready to step in, try to trade him for a draft pick. Matt Ryan is here to stay, but he's average. Weak arm. Not a leader on the field. Nice guy, but sometimes you don't want the QB to be a nice guy. Huge disappointment for the city that's used to disappointments from its sports teams.