Dec 11, 2011; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has removed his name from head coaching consideration for other teams.

Dirk Koetter has signed a contract extension with the Atlanta Falcons, a deal which will keep him in Atlanta for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

This doesn’t really add much to the Falcons as a team, but having job security for your offensive coordinator is a really big deal. Not having to worry about your OC potentially leaving after the season certainly eases the mind of Thomas Dimitroff and the rest of the Falcons front office. Coming up with a contingency plan is time consuming and expensive, and the mental toll it could take is just not worth the headache.

Koetter has done a lot of really good things in his one season so far in Atlanta. It’s a miracle that the Falcons offense has been as good as it’s been without much of a running game at all. Dirk has also added screen passes in a big way to the Atlanta offense, something that had been missing for the previous two years. And his willingness to put the ball in Ryan’s hands and let him throw the ball deep down the field has been just as, if not more, important.

For only two days, Falcons fans were slightly concerned if their offensive wizard was going to be moving along after one magic season. Turns out, Koetter will have at least two more seasons to work that magic in Atlanta. And let’s be honest, wouldn’t you rather call plays for an offense featuring Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Tony Gonzalez, than try to rebuild the lowly Kansas City Chiefs?

Dec 5, 2011; Jacksonville FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter prior to the start of their game against the San Diego Chargers at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has worked wonders for the Falcons offense in 2012. He’s found a way to allow Atlanta to be extremely productive offensively without much of a running game. He’s also implemented more screen passes, draw plays, both of which have helped out the offensive line and allowed for very successful downfield passing plays.

His success in Atlanta has not gone unnoticed. For the past couple months, his name has been a very popular one when talking about filling potential head coaching vacancies. Although there weren’t any real head coaching vacancies until today, Koetter’s name has floated around a good bit.

That changed today, on Black Monday. Black Monday is the Monday after the final game of the NFL regular season, when struggling teams tend to unload their head coaches and front offices. And Black Monday 2012 has been one for the ages.

The Browns, Bills, Eagles, Chargers, Bears, Chiefs, and Cardinals all fired their head coaches today, something that leaves massive voids. Those voids will be filled with the best candidates possible. Not surprisingly, Koetter is one of those names. In fact, Koetter is already setting up interviews with teams.

According to ESPN, Koetter already has an interview set up with Kansas City, something that the Falcons have given permission for.

But there are also reports that Koetter has an interview set up with Philadelphia, and that Cleveland is also interested in interviewing Koetter.

Koetter has a bunch of experience as a head coach at the college level, and also a bunch of experience as a coordinator at the NFL level. The logical jump is that he take over as the head coach of an NFL team.

Now that doesn’t mean Koetter is gone for sure. But it will be hard to say goodbye to a good coordinator like him. The Falcons should look to be in the market for a new OC sometime soon.

Aug. 24, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) throws a pass against Miami Dolphins defensive back Vontae Davis (21) during the second quarter at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

There is almost no doubt that the inclement weather affected this Falcons offense which had a difficult time gaining traction on the slick, grass turf in Miami last night. That being said, the offensive play calling was more realistic for what to expect in the regular season than what was on display against Baltimore and Cincinnati.

Dirk Koetter didn’t run the ball at all in the first two preseason games. In 50 snaps for the first team, only 14 of them were runs. That is a tremendously high percentage of passing plays, something that fans loved, but is unrealistic to expect against opponents in games that count.

The run, however, was a mixed bag. Michael Turner had 10 carries for 35-yards, and Jacquizz Rodgers had 4 carries for 4 yards. Both were very productive in the passing game however, notching 3 receptions for 36 yards, and 1 for 18 yards respectively.

Matt Ryan continued to look sharp and in-sync with his receivers. He was unafraid to take shots down the field, and hit on an appropriate percentage of them, including a 49-yard gain on a post route to Julio Jones, and a 20-yard strike to Roddy White down the right sideline for a touchdown in the corner of the endzone. Ryan was 18-of-26 for 220 yards; that is good for 8.5 yards per attempt, which is outstanding for a quarterback to be able to lead his team to victory. This preseason, Ryan has completed 75% of his passes for 549 yards, 3 TDs, and one INT, for a 112 passer rating. He is playing very efficiently.

Peter Konz was not to be seen with the first team offensive line, but Garrett Reynolds did a good job up the middle. The same can not be said for the Atlanta offensive tackles who gave up a good amount of pressure against the Dolphins line. At least Tyson Clabo was giving up pressure (and the two sacks that go with it) to Cameron Wake, a very good pass-rushing DE. The same cannot be said for Sam Baker who was giving up lots of pressure and a half of a sack to Olivier Vernon, a third round pick by the Dolphins in this year’s draft. Vernon may be a diamond in the rough, and become a future pro-bowler, but there is probably a very good reason he only went in the third round and I haven’t heard anything about him during the preseason aside from today. Sam Baker wasn’t outstanding by any means.

The offensive line wasn’t outstanding, but that doesn’t mean that Ryan wasn’t able to move around in the pocket to find the calm in the storm and deliver the pass. A couple times Ryan felt major pressure off the edge, was able to keep his eyes downfield and step up in the pocket, and deliver good passes down the field. The tackles may have given up some edge pressure, but they never lacked effort last night, something that is a very good sign.

Nobody who watched the game would say the Falcons defense was stifling last night, but I think the word ‘opportunistic’ would come to mind for anyone who watched the game. There was significant gains surrendered in the run game early, which allowed Ryan Tannehill to use the play-action and complete short to intermediate range throws. The rush/backside coverage was good enough where no really deep passes were attempted or completed, which is a good sign.

Keeping an opponent into long drives increases the likelihood that a mistake is made, and exactly that happened when Tannehill threw a pass to a crossing receiver, it was tipped by Sean Weatherspoon, and the tip was caught by FS Thomas DeCoud for an interception. It doesn’t really matter how turnovers are produced, as long as the defense does a little of that.

That wasn’t the only pass-breakups of the game for the defense. Sean Weatherspoon defended at least one other pass that was intended for a receiver, and the corners were nearly always in good position to play the ball, or make the tackle right after the reception. I can’t really complain too much about the pass coverage.

The defensive line didn’t get much pressure on Tannehill. John Abraham was able to generate a sack, but for the most part the Falcons were perpetually getting almost to the quarterback. The Dolphins have a very good left tackle, and surprisingly good talent at other spots on the offensive line, so I’m really not too surprised the rush didn’t always get to the passer.

The things that I think have to be improved from this game are things that have been needing improvement for a long time. First, improving the percentage on third downs on both sides of the ball. The Falcons allowed the Dolphins to convert 37% of their third downs, which is better than last year’s percentage, but still isn’t very good for a team that could be really rough. The Falcons only converted 20% on offense, which is absolutely atrocious. For a team seeking to do big things this season and bigger things in the postseason, 20% conversion rate isn’t going to get it done. A major reason this number was so low was the inability to convert short yardage situations by running the ball. It’s been a major issue since way back into last year, and I don’t think the problem is going anywhere anytime soon. The Falcons absolutely have to get tougher up front if they are going to win ballgames.

One last note: Lamar Holmes did very well at left tackle in relief of Sam Baker. He prevented the speed rush, the power rush, inside, and outside. Granted he was lined up against the 2nd team, but he still did a very good job. He won’t contribute much this season, but maybe he could be a replacement at left tackle of right tackle in the future.