Atlanta Falcons vs. Indianapolis Colts: Final Thoughts
The Atlanta Falcons host the Indianapolis Colts in a huge game for both teams’ playoff ambitions. Here are my final thoughts.
This is it. The Atlanta Falcons are finished with the bye, and it’s time to turn around the poor form and finally get a seventh win on the board. Since the Falcons walked in to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome undefeated, they have won just once and played some poor football along the way.
In the past four games, Atlanta has combined for just 67 points, which averages out at 16.8 points per game. By the Falcons’ high offensive standards, this is awful. Up against the Matt Hasselbeck-led Colts, Dan Quinn’s team has a chance to get back on track.
Hit the deep ball
Teams are becoming more and more focused with stopping Devonta Freeman. That’s what you can expect when the passing game is struggling. The Falcons must be able to hit the deep ball and force a defense to try and avoid giving up big plays.
The Colts secondary has struggled all year and can be exploited. If the Falcons can establish the run game with Freeman and begin to add in the play-action pass, Julio Jones could be poised to take one to the house. It’s that big-play threat that’s been lacking on offense in recent weeks.
Shut down Frank Gore
With Andrew Luck out, expect the Colts to lean on the ground game with Frank Gore. Gore is still a dangerous running back and continues to hold back the hands of time. Stopping him forces the game into the hands of Matt Hasselbeck.
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Hasselbeck is an experienced quarterback who is still more than capable of being productive on offense. But forcing the Colts to be one-dimensional and throw often with Hasselbeck will make the entire job easier on defense.
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Hasselbeck is a solid quarterback who will beat the Falcons if they don’t play better than they did two weeks ago, but he’s not Andrew Luck. Take away the run game.
Find a rhythm on offense
This has been a problem dating all the way back to the Week 5 victory over Washington. The Falcons struggled to move the ball the way they had in the opening four weeks, and teams have found a way to shut down the unit ever since.
Converting third downs has been the biggest concern, and it starts by fixing that. Limiting turnovers and improving the third down conversion rate is exactly what this offense needs. Doing this helps swing the time of possession in Atlanta’s favor; this takes pressure off the defense by limiting the time they are on the field.
It also keeps the opposing defense on the field while the offense gets in sync and builds momentum. Converting on third down more often could be the key that opens up this offense once again.