Two weeks ago, the Atlanta Falcons were sitting pretty at 2-2 and had all the momentum in the world to take control of the NFC South, but back-to-back losses have seen momentum fade, as they're now 2-4 and coming off of ugly home losses to the Bears and Ravens, talented teams in winnable games.
It would be easy to blame Jeff Ulbrich's defense for surrendering 61 points across the last two weeks, but the offense is just as culpable in the struggles. Since Michael Penix Jr. has returned, this Falcons' offense has been humming as Atlanta has successfully catered the offense to his strengths.
The plan was for the Falcons to be a run-heavy offense that would be physical at the line of scrimmage and wear defenses down--and that would set up the play-action looks downfield. And it worked against the Packers and Saints, as they combined for 40 points per game in Weeks 3 and 4.
But defenses are starting to figure this offense out, and the lack of adjustment has been appalling. But that's not on Kevin Stefanski. He's not calling plays. Tommy Rees is the one who should be blamed for this, because he didn't exactly call a game in the 31-23 loss to the Bears on Sunday.
Atlanta went in a hole early because of some unforced errors, which would be unfair to pin on Rees, but it's not like the offensive execution was anything elite either.
Tommy Rees is starting to show shades of the same issues as Zac Robinson
At first, it seemed like the Dirty Birds upgraded going from Zac Robinson to Rees at OC, and while this statement is still true and he's still displayed promise, Sunday loss was a clear step in the wrong direction after we saw promise and creative play design in his first couple games with a real QB.
Here's what doesn't make sense. Entering Week 6, Michael Penix Jr. was lining up under center on 56.3% of his snaps this season, which was a shift from Robinson, who's system required him to line up out of the pistol. But in Week 6, we saw a change to something we haven't really seen all season.
According to SumerSports, the former top-10 pick lined up under center on just 24% of his snaps on Sunday to 74% out of the shotgun and 2% from the pistol. It feels really weird to see Rees distancing himself from concepts that were working, so the only logical explanation here would be because of Penix's injury--and even .
The frustrating part was that they also seemed to be worried about slowing down a Chicago pass-rush that was missing its two best players in Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo. Like Austin Booker and Grady Jarrett are players the Falcons could handle, but Dennis Allen grossly out-coached him.
And while the offensive line being unable to handle the blitz isn't making things any easier on the offense, it's on the play-caller to find ways to counteract the pressure sent by a shorthanded pass-rush that really hasn't been all that successful this season, and the frequent screen calls was not it.
Tommy Rees needs to go back to what was working as a play-caller
The Falcons' offense didn't come alive until the fourth quarter against the Bears' backups, and it was Tommy Rees diverting from what was successful that was the reason for it. Teams have started to figure this offense out, and while opponents are adjusting, his system hasn't adjusted along with it.
When you have the best running back in the NFL, of course you're going to see a lot of stacked boxes, but that's the point of this personnel. Bijan Robinson should always get elite usage, and he'll always do a lot with it. But that's also why you have Drake London and Jahan Dotson on the outside meant to test defenses downfield. No matter what they key in on, they should have to pick their poison.
Regardless of how bad the game script is, the should be no game this season where Bijan only gets nine carries and 11 total touches. He was still averaging 6.8 yards per carry, and even when they were down, why was it not more of a priority to get him going in the passing game? Make it make sense.
And Kyle Pitts had a big game, but there should be no instance where he has only one reception going into the fourth quarter. It should be imperative to get him involved more consistently too. He's taken advantage of the opportunities when given them.
There is no excuse to for this offense to not be successful given the elite personnel the Falcons have, so it's evident that this was the worst game Tommy Rees has called all season. Michael Penix Jr. is finally looking like a solid QB, but abandoning the run to air it out is not how this team will win games.
Hopefully things are a little fresher on this front going forward.
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