How was Dirk Koetter successful in Atlanta in 2012?

[Falcons Fan MVP]

Dirk Koetter was very successful in 2012 as the Falcons offensive coordinator. 10 yards away from the SB. Our running game wasn't great that year. It was okay. What did Dirk do in 2012 that he hasn't been able to do since? What was it about the 2012 team that was so good? The defense and running game were both average. Hopefully our offense can rekindle that 2012 magic and the defense can rekindle that 2017 magic.

[Lornoth]

Our 2012 team wasn't good. We surprised some teams early in the season and squeaked by mediocre teams late in the season.

Our offense was successful because we were stacked. Roddy, JJ, TG, and Turner were all amazing (Though Turner was on the downslide I think), and our role players like HD, Quizz, and Snell were good at what they did too. OLine was good enough to get the job done. Dirk did what he always does: Put up great numbers, good scoring, but ultimately a let down.  

[FalconsIn2012]

We were not particularly efficient in 2012.  Our offensive DVOA was good for just 3rd in the NFCS despite all our offensive firepower. 
 

The big thing was our +14 TO differential.  Do that again this year and we will go a long way

[jdawg4876]

Our offense was good in 2012 our defensive line ok and the secondary was pretty great for the most part, where it fell apart was the linebacking group. they got worse and worse as the yr went on and by the playoffs they were getting abused over the middle constantly

[jdawg4876]

49 minutes ago, Lornoth said:

Our 2012 team wasn't good. We surprised some teams early in the season and squeaked by mediocre teams late in the season.

Our offense was successful because we were stacked. Roddy, JJ, TG, and Turner were all amazing (Though Turner was on the downslide I think), and our role players like HD, Quizz, and Snell were good at what they did too. OLine was good enough to get the job done. Dirk did what he always does: Put up great numbers, good scoring, but ultimately a let down.  

Turner  was not amazing at all in fact he kind of sucked, besides the playoff game against the Seahawks. he was running in quicksand cuz he was no longer turner the burner but turner the burger. The best thing he did do for us was get  short yards but he couldn't catch out of the backfield to save his life  and he was way overweight

[Lornoth]

4 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said:

Turner  was not amazing at all in fact he kind of sucked, besides the playoff game against the Seahawks. he was running in quicksand cuz he was no longer turner the burner but turner the burger. The best thing he did do for us was get  short yards but he couldn't catch out of the backfield to save his life  and he was way overweight

Almost 1000 all purpose yards and 11 TD's isn't 'suck'. He was on the decline but he was still good in our rotation. Koetter's offense doesn't help the run game any either.

[Snafu]

6 minutes ago, Lornoth said:

Almost 1000 all purpose yards and 11 TD's isn't 'suck'. He was on the decline but he was still good in our rotation. Koetter's offense doesn't help the run game any either.

The thing is, Koetter has shown glimpses of being able to run an effective rushing attack. He did it for Doug Martin and MJD. W/ him, it seems to be one or the other, not effectiveness in both.

 

If he sucks it up this year, I think the ink will finally dry in his book of mediocrity.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Snafu

[jdawg4876]

1 minute ago, Lornoth said:

Almost 1000 all purpose yards and 11 TD's isn't 'suck'. He was on the decline but he was still good in our rotation. Koetter's offense doesn't help the run game any either.

Dude he was terrible overall. I agree he could still get touch tds in short yard situations. But as a complete running back he was awful that's why quiz got more and more of his touches and he was nothing to write home about either a downgraded version of Freeman

[Vandy]

1 hour ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

We were not particularly efficient in 2012.  Our offensive DVOA was good for just 3rd in the NFCS despite all our offensive firepower. 
 

The big thing was our +14 TO differential.  Do that again this year and we will go a long way

Smitty teams usually won TO battle, and were among least penalized teams in league during that 2008-2012 run.

Fundamental football.

[Lornoth]

2 minutes ago, Snafu said:

The thing is, Koetter has shown glimpses of being able to run an effective rushing attack. He did it for Doug Martin and MJD. W/ him, it seems to be one or the other, not effectiveness in both.

Koetter has a decent run game the first year or two he's at a place if they already have a great running team set up, but as he installs his own offense in place of whatever the team had before him it goes away. Doug Martin had one good year under Koetter because he wasn't running his own offense yet. Every other year of Koetter the Bucs couldn't break 500 yards rushing with any of their RB's.

The Jaguars were a decade ago, not sure I still care what he did with them to be honest. He's shown ever since that that's not the kind of offense he plans to run. 

1 minute ago, jdawg4876 said:

Dude he was terrible overall. I agree he could still get touch tds in short yard situations. But as a complete running back he was awful that's why quiz got more and more of his touches and he was nothing to write home about either a downgraded version of Freeman

I disagree that he was terrible. Not the elite RB he was for us for a while but still better than anything we've had since 2016, for instance. Probably before that too, since Kyle kind of makes giants out of dwarves in the running game. He was old and on his way out, so yes he gave up snaps to the other RB's, but he wasn't worse than average, at the very worst. 

[jdawg4876]

Just now, Lornoth said:

Koetter has a decent run game the first year or two he's at a place if they already have a great running team set up, but as he installs his own offense in place of whatever the team had before him it goes away. Doug Martin had one good year under Koetter because he wasn't running his own offense yet. Every other year of Koetter the Bucs couldn't break 500 yards rushing with any of their RB's.

The Jaguars were a decade ago, not sure I still care what he did with them to be honest. He's shown ever since that that's not the kind of offense he plans to run. 

I disagree that he was terrible. Not the elite RB he was for us for a while but still better than anything we've had since 2016, for instance. Probably before that too, since Kyle kind of makes giants out of dwarves in the running game. He was old and on his way out, so yes he gave up snaps to the other RB's, but he wasn't worse than average, at the very worst. 

disagree, when turner was in the game you knew what was coming, which in goaline situations who cares, he was a bowling ball to the endzone from 2 yds out, but he was no real threat to catch the ball even in his younger days, or to run away from people in 12. Plus while I would say the o line was great in pass blocking, it was one reason why kotters 7 step drop worked so well in 2012, the were very below avg run blockers, which was only exacerbated by turner no longer having any burst to the hole. thats what im hoping gurleyd oes for us this yr a quick burst to the hole, im far less concerned about his long game speed. we already know he catches way better than turner, but can he consistently get us 3 yds for first downs and touchdowns by hitting the hole and moving the pile with his big body. If he can still break away too, than we are gravy. 

[jdawg4876]

14 minutes ago, Vandy said:

Smitty teams usually won TO battle, and were among least penalized teams in league during that 2008-2012 run.

Fundamental football.

our secondary in 12 was easily top 5 in the league, asante, decould, and moore were turnover machines, they has 17 turnovers between the three of them alone. We have not sniffed that really under quinn

[Mr.11]

1 hour ago, Falcons Fan MVP said:

Dirk Koetter was very successful in 2012 as the Falcons offensive coordinator. 10 yards away from the SB. Our running game wasn't great that year. It was okay. What did Dirk do in 2012 that he hasn't been able to do since? What was it about the 2012 team that was so good? The defense and running game were both average. Hopefully our offense can rekindle that 2012 magic and the defense can rekindle that 2017 magic.

What happened in 2012 wasn't magic. We just had a lot of talent and a decent pass-blocking O-line that made Koetter's average to outdated scheme work. Julio was going into his second season. Roddy was in his prime. Tony G was still doing his thing. Ryan threw the ball a lot.That resulted in more passing yards, slightly more TDs, and more interceptions. That said, that offense didn't particularly set the world on fire. It was good enough to win games on most afternoons/evenings. Also, as Vandy mentioned, we were the least penalized team in NFL history that season. That helps a lot.

 

[Lornoth]

Just now, jdawg4876 said:

disagree, when turner was in the game you knew what was coming, which in goaline situations who cares, he was a bowling ball to the endzone from 2 yds out, but he was no real threat to catch the ball even in his younger days, or to run away from people in 12. Plus while I would say the o line was great in pass blocking, it was one reason why kotters 7 step drop worked so well in 2012, the were very below avg run blockers, which was only exacerbated by turner no longer having any burst to the hole. thats what im hoping gurleyd oes for us this yr a quick burst to the hole, im far less concerned about his long game speed. we already know he catches way better than turner, but can he consistently get us 3 yds for first downs and touchdowns by hitting the hole and moving the pile with his big body. If he can still break away too, than we are gravy. 

Definitely agree on the OLine. It didn't help things. And the predictability is true as well. All good reasons why we weren't as good that year as people thought we were. 

[ATLSlobberKnockers]

A big reason was MS always had the team disciplined and close to mistake free.

[ATLSlobberKnockers]

24 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said:

Dude he was terrible overall. I agree he could still get touch tds in short yard situations. But as a complete running back he was awful that's why quiz got more and more of his touches and he was nothing to write home about either a downgraded version of Freeman

He had a role as a 4h qtr closer that he played well that year

[jdawg4876]

1 minute ago, Lornoth said:

Definitely agree on the OLine. It didn't help things. And the predictability is true as well. All good reasons why we weren't as good that year as people thought we were. 

predictability is fine if no one can stop it. as you pointed out turner scored a lot of tds, those were not 20 yd plus tds, they were short yardage ones. freeman was not scoring those last yr. Same thing with kotter's old shovel pass, how many times did we use it in 12, and it was never stopped much. The big issue is we didnt have anything close to a tony g last yr ora short yardage back. Julio is great but he is not a real redzone threat. Im hoping gurley and ridley in yr 3 can find the gaps in the redzone for tds.

[jdawg4876]

Just now, ATLSlobberKnockers said:

He had a role as a 4h qtr closer that he played well that year

meh as all falcons teams, we allowed opponents to come back far too often, so he was below avg there too in 12.  Turner did not fumble a lot though, so that was a great thing

[FalconsIn2012]

38 minutes ago, Vandy said:

Smitty teams usually won TO battle, and were among least penalized teams in league during that 2008-2012 run.

Fundamental football.

It’s shocking how often you win if you are +1 TO and have fewer penalties

Rundamental Football

[FalconsIn2012]

40 minutes ago, Snafu said:

The thing is, Koetter has shown glimpses of being able to run an effective rushing attack. He did it for Doug Martin and MJD. W/ him, it seems to be one or the other, not effectiveness in both.

 

If he sucks it up this year, I think the ink will finally dry in his book of mediocrity.

If left unchecked, Koetter will run the ball 16 times per game.  And I’m not sure Quinn has any interest in overseeing the offensive side of the ball

"I'm absolutely more comfortable in the passing game, but one guy, one coach doesn't just dictate that," Koetter said. "That depends on the philosophy of your general manager, the philosophy of your head coach. How good is your defense? How good is your kicking game? How good is your quarterback? Can you protect the quarterback? There are a lot of things that go into whether you can run or pass the ball besides my preference."

And he admits his preference is throwing the ball.

"Absolutely," Koetter said. "That's my background. My background is in the passing game, but again, they don't pay you as a coach to go with your preference. They pay you to try to help the team win. It's the ultimate team game, and so there are things involved with whether you run or pass more, besides just what I like."

[jdawg4876]

4 minutes ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

It’s shocking how often you win if you are +1 TO and have fewer penalties

RUNDAMENTAL FOOTBALL

as much as fans make fun of mike nolans schemes, they were working until the linebacking group fell completely off a cliff by mid season, I will never forget old as dirt dallas clarke running wild through the middle of our defense when he played for tampa bay.

[jdawg4876]

6 minutes ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

If left unchecked, Koetter will run the ball 16 times per game.  And I’m not sure Quinn has any interest in overseeing the offensive side of the ball

"I'm absolutely more comfortable in the passing game, but one guy, one coach doesn't just dictate that," Koetter said. "That depends on the philosophy of your general manager, the philosophy of your head coach. How good is your defense? How good is your kicking game? How good is your quarterback? Can you protect the quarterback? There are a lot of things that go into whether you can run or pass the ball besides my preference."

And he admits his preference is throwing the ball.

"Absolutely," Koetter said. "That's my background. My background is in the passing game, but again, they don't pay you as a coach to go with your preference. They pay you to try to help the team win. It's the ultimate team game, and so there are things involved with whether you run or pass more, besides just what I like."

as much as kotter likes to throw he would have ran it in 16 during the 4th quarter at the superbowl, At least I think so. Do I want more handoffs, yes I do, but more than that I want 2 to 4 yard dumpoff passes to the rb. That is my big problem with kotter, all short yrd plays seem to be screens. We went from mike murlarkey who hated screens, to dirk who loves and I mean LOVES screens. Can we just meet in the middle

[FalconsIn2012]

11 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said:

as much as kotter likes to throw he would have ran it in 16 during the 4th quarter at the superbowl, At least I think so. Do I want more handoffs, yes I do, but more than that I want 2 to 4 yard dumpoff passes to the rb. That is my big problem with kotter, all short yrd plays seem to be screens. We went from mike murlarkey who hated screens, to dirk who loves and I mean LOVES screens. Can we just meet in the middle

Maybe so...but we probably lose to Seattle in 2016 with DK

[Lornoth]

14 minutes ago, jdawg4876 said:

as much as kotter likes to throw he would have ran it in 16 during the 4th quarter at the superbowl, At least I think so. Do I want more handoffs, yes I do, but more than that I want 2 to 4 yard dumpoff passes to the rb. That is my big problem with kotter, all short yrd plays seem to be screens. We went from mike murlarkey who hated screens, to dirk who loves and I mean LOVES screens. Can we just meet in the middle

We never would have been in position to need to run it in the SB if Koetter was still OC. 

[jdawg4876]

7 minutes ago, Lornoth said:

We never would have been in position to need to run it in the SB if Koetter was still OC. 

50/50 Asante Decoud or moore would have held onto that 2nd interception unlike Alford