The Atlanta Falcons boast one of the NFL's most talented offenses, but struggle to move the football. Zac Robinson's unit has been one of the lowest-scoring offenses in football this season, but despite their Week 13 loss, the Falcons have finally shed their red zone woes after weeks of inconsistency.
Across the last five weeks. Atlanta leads the NFL with a staggering 92.9% red zone success rate. That number is the best in football by a wide margin, but the Dirty Birds are sitting at just 1-4 across that span. Even a resurgence from Robinson's offense has been hampered by Raheem Morris' ineptitude.
The Falcons have are 1-5 across their last six games as all but two of those games were one-score losses. Each of the last four losses were winnable games that Morris' poor clock management helped squander, so this season could have been vastly different in Atlanta if they had superior leadership.
Falcons' red zone success makes it clear that Raheem Morris is more to blame than Zac Robinson for this season
Fans have been calling for the second-year OC's job for weeks now, but this statistic could suggest he's not the problem. The Falcons aren't getting to the red zone nearly as often as they should, but for a team that's been without Drake London the last two games, the offense has looked respectable.
Since Kirk Cousins stepped in to replace Michael Penix Jr., he's looked adequate. but the 37-year-old has started to display signs of age. With that said, it's been nice to see more play-action looks with Cousins operating under center, but the London-less receiver room is still holding the offense back.
Both Morris and his 39-year-old offensive coordinator are aware of what it takes to play to Cousins' strengths, but it makes no sense as to why this level of adaptation was absent for Penix. Robinson nearly stunted the young QB's development, and Morris' complacency is only making things worse.
However, this success in the red zone doesn't matter if it's not translating to wins. The Falcons have a playoff-caliber roster with the offense finally performing up to par, but they have found every way to lose this season, whether it be through the offense, a defensive meltdown, or through special teams.
Moreover, the offense struggled to get down the field as of late. They finally solved their kicker woes with Zane Gonzalez, which has helped put points on the board, but explosive plays and the vertical passing attack is an element this offense that's consistently been missing all season long.
In Week 13 against the Jets, it was the special teams who was most responsible, but the offense did have a golden opportunity to win the game. Instead, they went three-and-out on their final two drives which effectively ended any playoff hopes this team still had.