Kyle Pitts and his breakout game for the Atlanta Falcons

Although it took injuries to the Atlanta Falcons and their top two wide receivers, tight end Kyle Pitts had himself a game in London. Pitts had nine receptions on ten targets for 119 yards and his first career touchdown in the first quarter. At the present time, he has the third-most receiving yards amongst tight ends at 308 yards. With this in mind, the question moving forward for Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith is the usage of Pitts.

During the post-game conference, Smith was asked about his rookie tight end’s performance and praised the rookie.

On the positive side, Pitts is second on the Atlanta Falcons roster with 36 targets. Wide receiver Calvin Ridley leads with 42 targets. For fans, this is the kind of the game they have waited for since Pitts was drafted fourth overall out of Florida.

While as a Gator, his career-high game in receiving yards was 170 vs. Ole Miss last year. Shifting back to his budding NFL career, he is also the third in targets amongst tight ends at 36. Moreover, his catch rate of 66.7% is greater than both Ridley and Russell Gage on the Falcons team. As shown above, Smith wants Pitts to be an integral part of this offense. He creates mismatches, and not many defensive backs or linebackers can cover him.

As the Falcons enter a bye week, I am certain Kyle Pitts feels confident and reassured of the talent he possesses. Unquestionably, expect the reemergence of Pitts in the offensive rookie-of-the-year conversation if he has more games like this one. This was a statement game by Pitts. By and large, Pitts and his play in this game are one every defensive coordinator will have on film to try and stop him in the future.