Koetter learning from mistakes is Atlanta Falcons key to Super Bowl

The Atlanta Falcons brought back former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter in January in hopes he will right the ship and help get the Falcons back to the Super Bowl in 2019.

The question that Atlanta Falcons fans should be asking is simple – Is he really the one that is going to pick up the pieces from the 2017 and 2018 seasons?

The celebration seems to be premature. Sure lots of people have opinions on the matter and at this moment it is all speculation on just how good or bad the offense will be in 2019. There is no denying that Thomas Dimitroff has added some much-needed pieces in order to help this offense become more prolific; drafting the right guys and bringing in solid free agents at needed spots.

Most agree on this premise – Koetter is an upgrade from Steve Sarkisian. However, someone should counter with “is he?”

When Dirk Koetter arrived in Atlanta for the 2012 NFL season, he took over a top ten offense and kept it hovering in the top ten. However, most of that was due to the arm of Matt Ryan as the Atlanta rushing offense was among the worst in football under Dirk Koetter from 2012-2014; the Falcons ranked 29th, 32nd and 24th respectively during those years.

The last two seasons under Steve Sarkisian, the offense was ranked among the top 10, but the run offense again suffered ranking 13th and 27th in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Kyle Shanahan understood how important it was to run the ball and how much that would help Matt Ryan and the passing the game. During his two years as the Falcons offensive coordinator, the Falcons improved to 18th in rushing offense in Shanahan’s first year and then fifth in his second year.

With that type of improvement in the run game, there was no wonder why Devonta Freeman was able to establish himself as one of the best young backs in the league and why Matt Ryan had a career year and led the Falcons to the Super Bowl. (Though, it is even more mind blowing looking back that Shanahan refused to run the ball in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI)

Blogging Dirty has chronicled how much better the run game should be in 2019, however, that all comes down to just how much Dirk Koetter wants to win in his second stint as the Falcons offensive coordinator. Koetter has to prove very quickly that he has learned from the error of his ways and be willing to allow Devonta Freeman and the offensive line to shoulder a lot of the responsibility in 2019.

With one of the three toughest schedules in the NFL, Dirk Koetter and the Falcons offense do not have much time to get things figured out and must hit the ground running in 2019. Let’s hope they take advantage of the five pre-season games in order to make sure that they are good to go come week one.

To quote 11-year NFL veteran Randy McMichael – football is easy, coaches make is hard.