Atlanta Falcons vs. Oakland Raiders: To-Do Checklist for Week 2

1. Limit The Penalties 

Hidden within the Falcons loss to Tampa was the amount of costly penalties that altered momentum during offensive drives and gave the Buccaneers cheap yards during their offensive drives.

The mistakes started quite early with linebacker De’Vondre Campbell receiving a 25-yard pass interference call on the Bucs first offensive drive which moved the ball from the Bucs 44-yard line to the Falcons 31-yard line and well into field goal range.

Left tackle Jake Matthews had his share of costly penalties, one in particular with a false start penalty late in the 2nd quarter that may have altered the Falcons as they were driving to score before the half. These mistakes are going to have to be cut down.

Especially when you account for the fact that the Raiders themselves garnered 14 penalties for a mind-boggling 141 yards during their contest with the Saints. What that tells me is that while the Raiders are young and getting better, penalties can mount for them. If head coach Dan Quinn wants to instill discipline, one way of incorporating that is to allow other teams to defeat themselves in other ways than on the scoreboard. The veteran Falcons team must allow to let a Raiders team to hurt themselves via penalties if possible.

Next: Win In The Red Zone