Dirk Koetter has to be less predictable for Atlanta Falcons to win

Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn made the decision to hire Dirk Koetter, his third offensive coordinator during the offseason after Steve Sarkisian was unable to get the Falcons back atop the NFL like his predecessor Kyle Shanahan had.

The hire seemed perfect, the Atlanta Falcons were bringing back a coach that had a familiarity with the Falcons big three – Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman. Matt Ryan knew his playbook and the transition would not be nearly as difficult as it would have been had they gone with a coach that Ryan did not have a previous relationship with.

The NFL preseason is hard to gage, teams are very vanilla with play-calling to not put too much on film. While offenses in week one of the NFL season are still very vanilla, play-calling is usually much different than in the preseason.

Dirk Koetter was not and that has to change.

There is talent all over the Falcons offense. Sure, the offensive line was trash last week, but Koetter’s predictability last Sunday did not help. When you allow an NFL defense, especially the league’s best defense, to pin their ears back and come at the quarterback, it is going to be a long day.

If the Atlanta Falcons are going to win Sunday evening and get back on track, it will start with Dirk Koetter’s game plan and his ability to identify the matchups that benefit the Falcons and expose them over and over again. This offense cannot afford to wait until the third quarter to get on track and move the ball effectively. Garbage time stats made this game statistically closer than it actually was.

If Koetter is unable to identify those matchups and cannot minimize the areas where the Falcons struggle offensively, the Falcons will start 0-2 for the first time in Matt Ryan’s 12 seasons.