Falcons vs Titans – Postgame Falcons Grades

Each week after every game, win or lose, I will grade the performance of the Falcons’ Offense, Defense, Special Teams and coaches.

• Offense (B) – Between the 20’s the Falcons Offense was very efficient, getting most drives throughout the game into Titans territory. QB Matt Ryan was absolutely on fire and produced one of his best games of the season. What helped Matt was the resurgence of Roddy White, who had a huge day, recording 147 yards off 7 catches. Turner also impressed, shedding tackles left, right and center on a few big runs. Two big drawbacks that prevented a higher grades was the lack of points (considering the productivity of the offense in terms of yards) due to the inefficiency in the red zone. The other drawback was the fumble by Michael Turner, it was such a disappointing one inside the Titans’ red zone, and against a better team that could of cost us the game.

• Defense (B) – Against Matt Hasselbeck and the run, the Falcons D was truly awesome. Shutting down Chris Johnson for 12 yards off 12 carries was a superb effort. The D limited Hasselbeck as well, not allowing the Titans to sustain any real drives in the first half, as well as creating a turnover (Interception from Dunta Robinson). Whilst the first half was great, the second half was largely disappointing. When Jake Locker came into the game, our defense struggled to adjust and i’m sorry but you cannot allow a rookie QB to convert a 4th and 16 so late in the game. This poor second half play combined with so many dropped chances for interceptions (I can remember three great chances off the top of my head) means the Falcons grade averages out as a B.
• Special Teams (B-) – Both Kickers did OK, Bryant converted some easy field goals and Bosher did a decent job when asked to punt. I was disappointed with the kickoff coverage, giving the Titans returner a huge runback. Although Weems made a nice play on a punt coverage, I would still like to see more out of him in the return game.
• Coaching (C) – The Falcons were too conservative today on 4th downs for start. I could make a case for most of the 4th down go/ no go opportunities, the Falcons made the wrong decision. Whilst i praised the aggressiveness last week, it seems the staff have let what happened in OT last week affect them. Mularkey did OK today, but lacked creativity in the red zone. Van Gorder did a good job gameplanning shutting down Hasselbeck and Chris Johnson but seemed unable to adjust when Locker came in the game, which is disappointing.