URGENT: Atlanta Falcons Need More From Top Playmakers to Beat Patriots in Week 9

URGENT: Atlanta Falcons Need More From Top Playmakers to Beat Patriots in Week 9

If the Atlanta Falcons want to beat the New England Patriots, then their best players are going to have to show up and step up. [Music] You are Locked On Falcons, your daily Atlanta Falcons podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome back everyone to another illustrious episode of the Locked On Falcons podcast. Your daily Atlanta Falcons podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And today’s episode is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail. Because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week’s Moving the Game Forward. Monster move and be moved. So on today’s episode, we are joined by none other than Jarvis Davis of Locked On Sports Atlanta. We’ll be talking all about sort of keys to victory for this Falcon team in week nine. What does this team need to get right, you know, in terms of their get back in the win column. We’ll talk about both sides of the ball. We’ll touch upon a little bit on, you know, maybe Rich Mccay’s recent appearance on 680 The Fan, which, you know, got some people in a tizzy. So, we’ll we’ll we’ll we’ll touch on that as well. But, uh, for those of you that are, you know, not quite everydayers, meaning that you don’t make this podcast your first listen each and every day, how could you? Um, you know, I should introduce myself. I am your humble host, Aaron Freeman, uh, aka Mr. AKA, and I’ve been covering the Atlanta Falcons for almost two decades, formerly of Falfans.com, RIP. Uh, still going strong. And I appreciate each and every one of you that have made the correct life choice and become everydayers of this podcast. Meaning that you make it your first listen each and every day. And all you got to do to become an everyday subscriber or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts and for those of you that aren’t quite every day, you know, hopefully you you you’ll make the right choice in the end and and come around. But, uh, Jarvis, as we talk about this week nine matchup against the New England Patriots, expectations are not particularly high given the performance of the Falcons the last two games. Hopefully, they’ll get a boost on offense with the healthy returns of players like Michael Penn and Drake London. And we’ll see about some of these other players that are a little beat up. You know, how will they perform uh this week like Kyle Pittz, Darnell Mooney, Tyler Alier, etc. Uh but when we talk about this Falcons offense, we’ve talked a lot about this team’s need to be physical and, you know, sort of establishing the run. Uh and they’re going up against a Patriots defense that is one of the best teams in the NFL when it comes to stopping the run. And I’m curious, do you feel like the Falcons, you know, a key for their success is essentially, you know, seeing that brick wall in front of them potentially and just basically like screw it, let’s just run through that thing. Or do they try to, you know, switch it up and, you know, for you, what is the thing that you’re expecting or hoping to see for this offense this weekend in order for them to get back on track, however you think that is? I I think that in order for this offense to have success, they have to have their guys, right? You have to have wide receiver one. We talked about on the Falcon squad show about who’s the man beaters or who are the man beaters. And I I think that, you know, we established the fact last year that Darnell Mooney is that guy, but he did that in a wide receiver too world. So, he wasn’t facing the best corner. So, in order for him to be considered a man beater, he had Drake London has to be in the lineup. And if Drake London isn’t in the lineup, you have no man beaters except for Kyle Pittz. And we know, yeah, he’s been playing well, but he can’t be the focus point of an offense. That scares no one. I don’t care how fast you can run. You can line him up at the exit all you want to and run and go routes, and he might be able to run past some folks, but no, that no one is scared of that at all. So, I think in order for them to be able to have success, run through that brick wall and or come up with that counter punch that we talked about. Also, they have to have their guys back in that lineup. And I think it starts with Michael Penn one and then Drake London making sure he’s there in order because at the end of the day, there is no one that scares me on this offense. without Pennix and Drake London being in the lineup. So, it had somebody has to be circles in the game plan. And right now, I feel like there’s no one right now. Um, if you talking about going into last week with what the wide receivers that group that they had last week, ain’t nobody scared of that. I don’t care who. And it it was anyone too because it was one of the worst defense in the league and they out there looking elite and they only gave up 10 points. So, so yeah, I think of course you establish yourself, you try to run through that brick wall initially, but you got to have your guys, you know, lining up at that X and or in the slot and going in motion and all that stuff or you got and the quarterback got to be there as well. Yeah, we’ll see what uh version of the Falcons um offense comes out this week. And you know, obviously we we’ve seen and heard the challenges from this coaching staff, particularly when it comes to that trench play, but at the same time, you know, people are going to need to start challenging some of these skill position players, which are the strength of this team. And at least as far as this podcast goes, we’ll get that ball rolling by challenging none other than Mr. Blue Magic himself. Yes, Bejian Robinson is going to have to step up among several others if the Falcons are going to beat the Patriots. And we’ll get into all of that, guys, as we continue today’s locked on Falcons. Today’s episode is brought to you by Ma Masa’s moving the game forward. For those who believe it’s not just about playing the game, it’s about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board. They move crowds, they move culture, and they keep the game moving forward. This week’s moment that moved the game forward was the first play of the Falcons second series against the Miami Dolphins where Kurt Cousins under center dropped back for a play action hit Kyle Pittz on a deep crosser for one of the few explosive plays the Falcons had this past Sunday that helped set up their first field goal. And we hope that that play moved the Falcons offense forward and we hope that it continues to move the Falcons offense forward and evolve it under Zack Robinson with Michael Penn back in the lineup. And when you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there’s more to every highlight, there is more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda, move and be moved. And today’s episode is also brought to you by FanDuel. Since the NBA season is back, why not celebrate and get in on the action at FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. 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Um, and you’re you’re not quite seeing these guys live up to that. Again, some of that is owed to injuries, especially at the wide receiver position. But, you know, and it’s not to sit here and be like he he’s the reason why the Falcons lost the game. It was a complete team loss, but you know, Bejian Robinson um has got to step it up. Like, you know, you got this allp pro player the last two weeks getting run over by um backup linebackers in in blitz protection. That like that’s not good enough. You have a guy last week that’s, you know, fumbling the football when you have an opportunity to drive down the field and make it a a one-sore game. Uh, and it’s not because, oh well, you know, Peanut Tilman came across and and made a perfect punch. He He’s jarring the ball out of his own hands by hitting it off his knee. And, you know, it’s frustrating. We talk all the time on this podcast about him being, you know, blue magic and walking on water. And, you know, he does do that on a normal basis, but like, it’s going to be really hard to win football games if your best guys aren’t playing like your best guys. and that needs to change. And yeah, so we we’ll see on that front. I’m glad you brought that up because that that has been burning me up a little bit because when you talk about being a leader, when you talk about being that guy, Mr. Walk on Water, you going to get all the praises coming especially coming from me, you know, like I know you give him all the praise like you mentioned on this pod and on the Falcon Squad as well. We we when seven is doing it’s humming, he going to get all of it. But just when it’s bad like it was last week, when I don’t see you stepping up in past pro like you normally do, like I’m used to seeing you do. Like that looked like your rookie year. Yeah. That’s who he looked like in past pro last week. And that’s not good at all because I wasn’t a big fan at all in in in that department, that particular department. like he literally had to be taken off the field if they were if they if it was third and long because you’re not you’re not g you’re not going to get what you need to get from him. So from that standpoint for those reasons. Yeah, man. He needs to step it up. You got to be set your offensive lineman up like you normally do, you know, in know in those particular in that specifically in that wide zone because like your center is having a little issues getting to that next level. So hey, if if your left guard is not doing what he’s supposed to do on on those on those combos, if he’s not staying as long as he need to so can get around on on that defensive tackle so uh Berseron can actually get to that next level and get to that linebacker so it can be one-on-one with the safety with seven right there in the hole. Those things matter, man. So I think that it starts with seven, though. like he has to do with his part if you’re going to put a a blunt of the uh a grunt of the blame on your offensive line. So yeah, he he has to play better, man. And it starts with him because man, when you’re great, you’re expect to be great all the time. Yeah. And if you ain’t hurt, you better be great. So ain’t no in between when it come especially in NFL, man, because those guys got to bring it every single Sunday. Yes. Yes. And I know maybe Jarvis and I will differ on this point, but uh you know when you play at the level that he usually plays, you’re held to a different standard, right? You know, absolutely. JD Bertrren was not very good last week. Downright terrible, right? I I don’t hold JD Bertrren to the same standard that I hold BJ. Now JD Bertrren certainly on the scale of who who was a bigger problem for the Falcons last Sunday. JD Bertrren definitely but at the same time like you know JD Bertrren that that scale is going to tip off. You need Bejian to kind of tip it back in the favor you know a little bit. Just a little bit. Yeah. You know just because you already know the scales tipping one way, right? That’s that’s kind of the point I’m trying to make. And I think you you mentioned it with the with the rookieness and like that was a thing when his rookie year. There was several games that year with the fumbling where the Falcons would be, you know, in the second half trying to drive to to come back in the game and then Bejan break a run and then fumble the football and then that would come and ruin their momentum. And so, you know, I I don’t want to see rookie year again. He was he was a good player then, but yeah, not not the same level of uh player that he is today. So, mental lapses aren’t acceptable at this point. Yeah. So, not for this team, you know. Speaking of of JD Bertrren struggling, uh we’ll flip the script, talk about this defense, what what needs to change for this defense. Can they slow down Drake May, who’s going to present many of the same challenges that this defense faced a couple weeks ago against Josh Allen? Is the blueprint the same for this Falcons defense? What are going to be some of the keys to be able to slow this young upand cominging AFC East quarterback like they were able to slow down the other great AFC East quarterback? And we’ll get into all of that, guys, as we continue today’s locked on Fox. So, let’s be real. Making excuses doesn’t solve anything. Whether we’re talking about excuses on the football field or in the bedroom where you’re feeling, hey, you know, I’m just a little stressed or I’m tired or, you know, it happens to everyone sometimes. And when it comes to performance in the bedroom, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. That’s where Rouette comes in. 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[Music] So, Jarvis, when we look ahead to this defense, as I mentioned, a lot of the same challenges, uh, facing this version of the Patriots offense that you were going up against the Buffalo Bills, but winning things we talked about on the Falcons squad show on Thursday, you don’t have the same quite the same defense heading into this game, in part due to injuries that you had going into that week six uh game against the Bills. probably the the most central figure is of course linebacker Devine Diablo who was instrumental in part of your strategy to try to keep Josh Allen’s running contained. Um, you know, we talked about this on the Falcon squad. Talking about the potential return of Jaylen Walker this week, who’s been out the last couple of games and and maybe, you know, not quite the same player as Devine Diablo, but can do can do some of that stuff, particularly when it comes to spying the quarterback that Devon Diablo was able to do successfully earlier in the season. But when you look at this defense overall, what is for you going to be, you know, their biggest challenge facing this Patriots uh offense? And, you know, what for you is the thing that you want to see them do if this defense is going to get uh a similar performance as we saw a couple of weeks ago against the Bills? For me, it it starts up front. Um, I hate to be hate to sound like Raheem Morris calling out offensive line and stuff, but I mean it was and it and it’s really didn’t it hit me. It’s been kind of in in like the bottom of my stomach, you know, but I ain’t really talked about it. But, you know, just from the young guys, man, are specifically Brandon Doris and James Pierce Jr. guys who we were having conversations about to start the season. We were like, “Oh, okay.” All right. Brandon Doors had an excellent training camp. James Pierce Jr. had a dog on noisy slash good camp, right? You know, when it comes to just creating havoc, causing havoc, everybody, their names being in a lot of people’s mouths. And that has just gone down ever since the season has started. And I think that when you go back to that first game and we were talking about even in a loss against a divisional opponent, I was saying, I know you were saying, man, this team looks different. This defense looks different. It looks different. Why? Because guys getting off the ball. They’re getting into the back field. They are meeting these offensive linemen on the other side of the football when that ball is snapped. Like that’s the stuff that has been missing these past couple of games. What I don’t like these guys too gapping and cuz you know one the main reason why I don’t like seeing these guys too gap they ain’t got enough rocks in their pocket man. Ain’t no G Browns on this team ain’t no Grady Jacksons on this team. A ain’t no big ain’t no Jonathan Babinos on this team, you know, like I know Ruka Roro Ro would probably love to be cons be in that conversation with a guy like Jonathan Babino, but he ain’t there yet. And I don’t know if he’s going to get there. So these guys got to be put into position to get through one gap. Get off your block, get to your gap, and make a play, man. Find the football. So, I’m charging Brandon Doris, James P Jr., I like what DO been doing. David on your model. I I like what those guy I like what he’s been doing. They got to these young pups got to get along come on with the OG. And man, can we figure out a way to get Zack Harrison back on the field? Because when if we really talking about it just from a defensive lineman standpoint, who’s been the most consistent throughout this year? It’s been 96. Zack Harrison, I make good case. Zack Harris been the most consistent defensive lineman hand in the dirt guy in a Falcons uniform in 2025. So, yeah, he he’s a guy that’s not talked about enough as far as coming back. So, if Zack Harrison can come back, I think he can be that guy to lead that charge from the young guy standpoint. But otherwise, if he’s not, man, these the these guys got to they got they got to play better, man. They got to play better because trying to get off the ball and two gap and hold up offensive line and see what’s going on and then get off and make a tackle, that’s not going to work. It’s not going to work for them. It’s not. Yeah. You know, I I can think of plays that I broke down in the uh extended all 22 review focusing on a certain linebacker that was struggling. Uh but also noticing, you know, guys getting moved from the A gap to the C gap and it’s like talking about washed down, man. It is God that’s not good, you know? And yeah, man. And it’s and it’s like it’s not it’s not anything fancy, man. We talking about straight a down block. Like if a if a offensive lineman come this way on my right shoulder, you know, you mean on left shoulder, depend on how you’re looking at it, whatever. If you coming down on my right shoulder, man, I’m fighting over top of that block. I’m not going up field because guess what? You’re taking yourself out of the play. You’re doing exactly what they want you to do. If that the offensive lineman come down, man, you swimming over the top. be trying to get over fight over the top because that’s where the ball going. The offensive line going to tell you where the ball going every time. Wherever his butt is, that’s where it’s going, you know? So, you fight towards that, you know? Pause. You know what I mean? So, I think that, you know, it’s just stuff like that, man. That’s what gets me going. And a lot, that’s why a lot of times when I watch film, I kind of, you know, I have to be in my little quiet place because my wife can hear me, you know. She she was like, “Jarvis, are you okay?” And I was like, uh, yeah, no, no, I’m not. I’m not okay because I watch the defensive lineman get their bus whoop and I don’t like that. You know, I know these guys are better than that. It’ll be the difference is I looked at it. I’m like, okay, if if it was like number 40, like watching number 40, I know what I’m gonna get for number 40. Yeah, that’s he ain’t gonna get no better. Like he ain’t gonna get that much better. Let me say that much. Yeah. So, you know, I these guys aren’t on that level. That’s the good thing. That’s the That’s the hope. That’s the light that we have with these defensive linemen. So, I seen these guys play. I seen these guys. Shoot. Brandon Dors last week. You making plays. It was just too late. It was too late at that point. So, I need that in the first quarter. I need that getting off blocks, getting in the back field, and causing havoc. And you know that that’s that that’s the only way these boys going to make a difference or look any different than they did last week. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned it those first two games, you know, they they did an excellent job controlling the line of scrimmage. Yeah, man. And, you know, I I remember one of the questions I had was like, well, you know, are they benefiting from no Tristan Worfs and no Christian Darasaw? And it seemed like in the moment they were, and then, you know, they didn’t dominate the the Carolina game to the same degree. But, you know, they sort of bounced back the next couple of weeks. And now it feels like, you know, now that we have seven games and it’s like, yeah, are they just kind of beating up on backup offensive linemen when you look at the the bigger picture sort of conversation and you have this Patriots off line that’s playing well, you have the Colts coming up and you know, you want, you know, I have I haven’t done a deep dive in the film study yet, Jarvis, but just a couple of things I’ve seen like if you want to see an offensive line kicking some butt just go watch some Colts film uh this this season. So, um it is one of those things where like this defensive line, especially given a lot of the injuries that the Falcons are accumulating in the back seven, it’s like, you know, again, talking about the scales, you got to compensate a little bit because some of these other areas of weakness and this is supposed to be a strength of your team. And I think you you’re right with with Zack Harrison. I think he’s been very underrated uh in terms of his impact for this defense both in the past and as a uh run defender and so they can get him back as well as Jaylen Walker and you know what happens with Leonard Floyd and you know it’s Billy Bowman coming back you know and Jesse Bates is like so we talked about the battle for attrition on on defense you know earlier this season with the early buy uh they’re experiencing that but like that’s not going to be an excuse cuz at the end of the day you got to step up and and perform well. And you know, I think this defense is much more capable than what they’ve shown the last couple of weeks. But, you know, this this is a game where like everybody needs to get challenged, right? Everybody has got to step it up if if this team is going to end this twoame, you know, slide. And, you know, they didn’t do it against the Dolphins. that was that was their easiest competition in this stretch and it’s going to get harder against these upcoming opponents is is kind of the point. So, you got to step it up. You can’t just be like, “Oh, well, it’ll be fine. We’ll we’ll figure it out.” It’s like, “Y’all got to y’all got to step it up.” But we’ll see. Yeah, man. That and that’s the thing, man. I I I understand everyone’s anger and angst towards Raheem Morris. They want to get him fired. They all wanted for blood. Fire Zack Robinson. Yeah, man. Do y’all do y’all understand that it might get worse if that happened? You know, you really you talking about players checking out because there going to be guys that going to check out and it might be guys that you might not expect. So my whole thing is is what you would like if you want this team to be in a have a sensible conversation about playing in the postseason like Raw got to figure it out. Zack got to figure it out and these guys got to play better man. I mean I know people want to fire the coaches all the time and that that’s the first thing they go to man but look at the tape man. We just talked about Bejian Robinson like specific plays where this man is not being himself. We we talked about you know Elijah Wilkerson being the backup to the backup initially was straight but now you know and Storm Norton going to be healthy and Raheem Bor talking about oh yeah competition not no the man is going to start. If he’s healthy enough to play he’s going to start. So yeah, I I think that, you know, I get it. I understand why he angry, but it the players got to they got to play too, man. They get they get a check just like everybody else, man. They ain’t It’s not just on the coach. I promise you. Yes, Travis. I think that makes an excellent point. I I want to add to that conversation. Uh but uh I also want to, you know, let’s talk about Rich McKay or or whatever cuz for some reason Rich McKay is still relevant to the Atlanta Falcons in 2025. Um but uh you know, that whole notion of the blame game I I do think is worthy of of a deeper discussion and we’ll get into that along with whatever is going on with Rich McCay uh as we wrap up today’s lockdown on file. Change of plans. We will be moving that conversation about Rich McCay and the blame game and we’ll also get into uh if you’re been wondering as so many Falcon fans have, you know, why have I been as critical of Zack Robinson this season as I was this past off season? Hopefully that will become clearer. Uh Jarvis and I did have that conversation, but uh it basically went very long. Uh and so we decided, hey, let’s just make this a full episode by itself. So, it’s kind of a two-part conversation. You’ll get that if you’re checking us out on YouTube, a Friday morning on YouTube. And of course, the audio listeners will also get that on Friday, probably for your afternoon commutes. So, uh, continue to make Lockdown Falcons your first listen to get that bonus episode that you can check out, you know, while you’re taking the kids out to trick-or- treat on Halloween or whatever you decide to do Friday, um, to get you guys geared up for this week nine matchup against the New England Patriots. And in the meantime, you can check out uh Locked on NFL, two shows daily that will get you geared up with all of the rest of the week action that won’t be happening in Foxboro, Massachusetts. It is all part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

As the Atlanta Falcons face a critical Week 9 test against the New England Patriots, can the offense regain its rhythm, and will the defensive line finally step up when it matters most? Host Aaron Freeman and Jarvis Davis (@LockedOnATL) break down what’s gone wrong during this losing streak, with particular focus on needing star players like Bijan Robinson to play better. The discussion tackles the defensive line’s disappearing act and why getting healthy weapons like Drake London back is essential for offensive success. The hosts debate player accountability versus coaching criticism, examining film to identify whether scheme or execution is the real culprit behind Atlanta’s recent failures.

#atlantafalcons #nfl #newenglandpatriots #nflweek9 #week9 #bijanrobinson #drakelondon #drakemaye

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