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5 signs of life from the Atlanta Falcons in their win over the Saints

By Brent Sanders

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 22: Julio Jones #11 of the Atlanta Falcons attempts to catch the ball as Eli Apple #25 of the New Orleans Saints defends during the second half at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 22: Julio Jones #11 of the Atlanta Falcons attempts to catch the ball as Eli Apple #25 of the New Orleans Saints defends during the second half at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on November 22, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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3. Locking up Austin Hooper is a priority

He didn’t have a great day, only four catches, but one of those was a clutch reception in a crowded end zone. He brings an extra dimension to an offense with other, flashier weapons, and is functioning much like Tony Gonzalez did when he was in Atlanta, a safety valve threat who sucks up coverage and makes other receivers even better.

He left the game early with an injury, and, as of this writing, we’re still awaiting word of the severity. That makes no difference. Keeping him in Atlanta is important.

4. Matt Ryan is still an elite quarterback.

Even in downtimes of his career, when his offensive line was porous and he was trying to come back against a lead his defense coughed up, Ryan put up numbers and fought back. When given an opening for a win, he’s done it more often than not.

Sunday, he was clean, methodical, and deadly, hitting when he needed to, and steering his team down the field. When the coverage was there, and he could, he ran for the necessary yardage, or he did a little damage control to get to the next down.

It was a performance stingy on numbers, only 182 yards, but long on results. His lone interception was, given the down and situation, a high-reward, low-risk toss.

Ryan took some flack for his interceptions early in the season, but that is a residual effect of Dirk Koetter’s offense and constantly playing from behind. His numbers are consistent, and it’s not his fault he’s been forced to chase multiple-score leads and put the ball up when opposing defenses knew what was coming.

To Koetter’s credit, he allowed Ryan to use his cerebral skills, and take charge on the field. With Ryan entrenched and allowed to take command, as he was in 2010, 2012 and 2015, good things happen.

Even though he’s been the Atlanta Falcons OC in the past and Ryan had some familiarity with him, Koetter came in with a fresh system.  Conventional wisdom states a minimum half-season to install a new offense to the point of maximum effectiveness.

Although Ryan has performed well, the offense has been out of sync with the defense. Dan Quinn has done a poor job of constructing a defense to keep them in games while the offense works out the bugs of a new system. Rather than play to the offense’s considerable strengths, Quinn played it backward and let his opponents bring their game to him.

Which brings us to:

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