FLOWERY BRANCH, GA— The Falcons start Week 13 with a 6-5 record, having lost two games before the bye week, but they remain atop the NFC South rankings.
Atlanta should reasonably hope to make the playoffs as the season nears its end. The Falcons are 4-1 in the division and have a critical tiebreaker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to The Upshot, Atlanta has a 76% probability of making the playoffs with only the Monday night game remaining in Week 12.
“Everything is still right in front of us,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris stated after the Week 11 loss. “I think that’s the most important thing for everybody to know.”
Here are five things the Falcons should do to make the playoffs:
Bring the quarterback down.The Falcons’ pass rush needs to improve. Morris has said this several times.
“You still need to strengthen our pass rush. “Nobody is making excuses for those guys,” Morris stated ahead of Week 9. “We have seen different practice performance than we have seen game performance, and that is what you have to address.
That increase in production did not continue in the following weeks. The Falcons have 10 sacks in 11 games, the fewest in the league. The Carolina Panthers, ranked 31st, have 17. Atlanta is league average, if not slightly better, in quarterback hurries and knockdowns, but it is not getting sacks at the desired rate. With games against several strong offenses remaining on the Falcons’ schedule, improvement in this area would go a long way toward clinching a postseason berth.
Turnover, turnover, turnovers.
Creating takeaways was an early strength of the Falcons’ defense, which had at least one takeaway in six of their first eight games, five of which were victories. Safety Atlanta is led by Jessie Bates III and cornerback A.J. Terrell, each with two interceptions. Bates has four forced fumbles, which is the highest in the NFL.
However, the Falcons have not recorded a takeaway in their last three games and are 1-2 during that time.
Atlanta has relied heavily on its secondary for much of the season, while the defensive front struggled with its run defense early on and is still figuring out the pass rush. For the most part, the defensive backs have delivered. However, the decrease in turnovers has been noticeable. The Falcons have lacked momentum-shifting plays in recent weeks, and turnovers would help solve that.
Red Zone Efficiency
On both sides of the ball, the Falcons could improve their efficiency around the goal line. Good teams finish drives with touchdowns and force opponents to settle for field goals.
Offensively, the Falcons are currently ranked 22nd in red zone conversion percentage, with a touchdown on 53.1% of their trips inside the 20-yard line. They have demonstrated their ability to perform in past high-pressure situations. The Falcons’ fourth-down conversion rate is 73.7%, which ranks fourth in the NFL.
Atlanta ranks 21st defensively, with a 61.1% allowed red zone conversion rate. Overall, the Falcons are ranked number 23 in terms of points allowed. Their bend-don’t-break approach must be extended to the point where it is most needed in the final stretch of the regular season.
Continue spreading the ball around.
For the majority of the season, the offense has been a bright spot. The Falcons’ attack, led by quarterback Kirk Cousins and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, is now ranked among the top 10. This is primarily due to their extensive arsenal.
Darnell Mooney and Drake London are the Falcons’ leading receivers, with 711 and 710 yards, respectively. With six games remaining, the Falcons are less than 1,000 receiving yards away from surpassing last season’s total; they have already far beyond the wide receivers’ total from previous year.
Against a top-10 Broncos defense, Atlanta had its second-lowest passing performance of the season. Cousins must continue to put the ball in the hands of his playmakers to secure a playoff spot. They’ll have another difficult test following the bye; the Los Angeles Chargers boast the league’s best scoring defense.
eliminate self-inflicted wounds.
There isn’t much a team can completely manage, but playoff teams have two things locked down: effort and discipline.
Morris stated Monday that self-inflicted wounds had “killed us” on offense. The Falcons have committed 65 penalties this season, the seventh fewest in the league. However, 40 of those have been offensive penalties, ranking 12th among NFL clubs. In Week 11, Atlanta’s offense committed five of the six infractions that cost them the game. “If we can find ways to control those first two, the discipline and concentration of effort that it requires to score touchdowns, yourself, we can be a really good offense,” Morris told the crowd. “And we have been, and we can be so much better.”
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