The 2025 Atlanta Falcons are proof that talent can only get you so far; coaching is what takes talented teams to the next level. Just look at the New England Patriots.
Zac Robinson's play calling has been awful, and if you somehow don't believe me, take it from the guy who helped limit the Dirty Birds to ten points on Sunday Night Football. 49ers' DB Chase Lucas said postgame knew what to expect with the game on the line on that crucial 4th-and-1.
Chase Lucas knew what play was coming on his HUGE 4th & 1 PBU due to the tape Robert Saleh and Daniel Bullocks showed earlier in the week and gave all the credit to them.
— KNBR (@KNBR) October 20, 2025
"When I see [Drake London] motion over I'm like 'oh wow they're really about to run this on 4th & 1. I'm… pic.twitter.com/r41TzlO99r
A backup defender knew what the Falcons were running on the most important play of the game...
The Falcons' offense relies way too much on exceptional talent
Defenses know what play is coming more often than fans realize. Every team has tendencies and favorite plays, which are exposed when a team has a week to watch film.
However, there are certain times when running a common play is not acceptable, and a fourth down is one of those times.
A second-year OC has to be more creative than that. Everything from his personnel usage to his basic play calling is an absolute mess.
Take that fourth down attempt for example. The Falcons took out Bijan Robinson for Tyler Allgeier, lined up in shotgun, and motioned Drake London to the weak side. It doesn't take a genius to realize what is happening; they are trying to get London the ball on a quick route.
Quite honestly, it shouldn't have even taken film study to realize what was coming.
Not to mention, Robinson doesn't even take the liberty to get some sort of pick on the defender. He is simply relying on London's motion to get an advantage.
The crazy part is the Falcons almost executed the vanilla play call.
All of this is to say that there is nothing to this offensive scheme. The Dirty Birds are relying on their players' talent, and nothing else.
This has nothing to do with Michael Penix Jr., Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, or any other offensive player you can name; this is a play-calling issue. None of those guys are getting any kind of help from the team's scheme.
The times this offense has produced were the times when their best players have been playing like generational talents. As soon as that isn't there, they curl up in a ball and suffer.
We didn't need to look far to see the opposite side of the spectrum. As much as we have a disdain for Kyle Shanahan, he spent the week studying to exploit the Falcons' weakness, which was the middle of their run defense.
He scrapped his patented outside-zone scheme and ran the ball right up the gut. It completely changed the outcome of the game, and it saw Christian McCaffrey have his best game of the season.
There is so much Robinson has to fix to avoid these up and down performances. Right now, there is no reason to think things will improve, as not even the move to the sidelines couldn't rectify the red flags.