The Atlanta Falcons Somehow Look BETTER & WORSE Than They Did Last Year…

The Atlanta Falcons Somehow Look BETTER & WORSE Than They Did Last Year…

[Music] It’s amazing to think that the Atlanta Falcons have gotten better in 2025 and yet way worse at the exact same time. In fact, I believe that this is the only team in the NFL that has accomplished that feat this entire season. somehow have solved their biggest problem and yet unlock an entire plethora, a cornucopia if you will of new problems. Welcome in Falcons fans to Falcons Today by Chat Sports. My name is Moose. On today’s episode, I’m going to tell you how the Falcons have gotten better and how they’ve gotten way worse. Mark Rami is going to kind of lead us off with an interesting statistic. The Falcons are fifth in the NFL in sacks with 29 through9 games. They had just 31 sacks all of last season. So, what did we talk about the very beginning before this season started, right after Matthew Peterson left, right as I was taking over? The one area of concern that all eyes were going to be on were the two rookie pass rushers. How is this pass rush going to fare this season now that you address addressed it in the 2025 draft? I think it’s worked out pretty well, don’t you think, producer Reed? I mean, you’re almost at your entire 2024 sack total and you’re only nine games played. That’s pretty damn good. And the reason because of the or the reason that your pass rush is so good is because Jaylen Walker and James Pierce Jr. are absolute rookie nightmares. In a good way, not in a bad way. Last week, Jaylen Walker forced the sack fumble recovered by James Pierce Jr., they flip-flopped it against the Indianapolis Colts. These two are the future of your pass rush. If you are somebody that believes it’s Brandon Dorless, if you’re somebody that believes it’s Arnold Deati, if you’re somebody that believes it’s Ruka Roaro, you’re fooling yourself. These two are the future of the Dirty Birds, indicated by their rookie numbers in their splash rates. Walker number two, James Pierce Jr. number five. So splash play rate is basically kind of like your big play rate. It’s just a different way that ESPN categorizes this. So essentially among all rookie defenders, Jaylen Walker and James Pierce Jr. are both top five in splash play rate. That’s only going to increase as the season goes along and as their careers develop. It’s good stuff. You also cannot forget players like Kaden Ellis who also are excellent at getting to the quarterback. And I’m going to keep telling you until I’m blue in the face. Kaden Ellis needs to be a pass rusher. If Troy Anderson is going to remain on this team, it should be Troy Anderson and Deine Diablo at your interior linebacker positions. Kaden Ellis, Jaylen Walker, and James Pierce Jr. as your big three. Can you imagine if that is how you trifecta those three players with Divine Diablo coming back and Troy Anderson who tells who everybody tells me is really good in pass coverage, then you’re going to have an unbelievable front line when it comes to the pass rush because there’s still a major area and a major hole at uh stopping the run. But I digress. I think it’s also important to identify that Jeff Albrich is an ultimate high aggression defensive coordinator. This team blitzes the most in the NFL. I mean, look, they’re far right. They’re as far right as you can get. I mean, that is Rush Limbbo far right, but it remains the same point. Jeff Albrich has a new way of identifying what this defense is. They’re going to get to the quarterback. They’re going to lock down your wide receivers with their secondary. They’re going to make your life a living hell. And like I said, you can blitz a lot because of your secondary. AJ Terrell, hell, even D. Alfred has played really well recently. AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes has played well recently. Billy Bowman Jr., D. Alfred, all of those players have done an excellent job this season at locking down their respective wide receivers. So, those are two things that you can absolutely build on. Those are the building blocks of this defense and of this team moving forward. Now, I’ve been the first one to say need a new coaching staff. I’d keep Jeff Albrich. I’d keep him for another year. But these are the building blocks of the future for the Atlanta Falcons. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. This team is three and six. So, like I said at the beginning of the episode, Falcons got better in one great area, and that’s awesome. have also gotten a lot worse. But back on the corners for a second, I do think the Falcons need another outside corner. I don’t know that Mike Hughes with his age and his big play ability, well, not big play ability, the team’s ability to have big plays on Mike Hughes. I think you need another younger outside corner. You can go get that in the second round, you can get that in the third round. Either way, I think you need someone on the opposite end of AJ Terrell. I think you keep D. Alfred for what he’s shown you as a rotational corner, but I think there’s that one extra piece that the Falcons are missing. Just that little tiny one, that outside corner. But this team went from one extreme to the other. In the Arthur Smith years, it was, hey, we can run the ball really effectively. The offense can score points. We couldn’t stop a nosebleleed. And now it’s the complete opposite. You can stop a lot of different opposing quarterbacks. Hell, Daniel Jones, I said this yesterday, Daniel Jones had the highest quarterback passer rating of any quarterback since week one against Baker Mayfield. That’s an impressive statistic. But before we break down the bad, what is your confidence level in this Falcons defense right now? I can’t give it an eight or a nine or a 10 even because of how bad they are against the run, but from what I saw yesterday in their ability to sack the quarterback and their ability to lock down other wide receivers, I’m going to say it’s probably a six right now. That’s probably what I would say, but you let me know down in the comments section down below. Okay, before I get on to the extreme ugly, got to tell you about our friends over at HelloFresh. Fall’s here. When it comes to those cooler nights, heartier meals, and the craving for something warm and satisfying, HelloFresh comes in in a big way. Bringing you comforting chef designed recipes and fresh seasonal ingredients right to your door. This season, they’ve taken things to the very next level with their biggest menu refresh yet. Say hello to a whole new way to do dinner. It is bigger. HelloFresh has doubled its menu. You can now choose from up to 100 options each week, including seasonal dishes and recipes from around the world. Dig into bigger portions. That’ll keep everyone satisfied. 91% of customers say that they feel healthier after eating with HelloFresh because the best way to cook just got better. Go to hellofresh.com/valchhat10fm to get 10 free meals plus a free item for life. One per box with active subscription. Free meals apply at discount on first box. New subscribers only varies by plan. That’s hellofresh.com/valchhat10fm to get 10 free meals plus a free item for life. All of that’s in the comments and description of today’s video. So, the offense has got us feeling like this bird, drunk, sad, and just all kinds of turned upside down. It’s a Zack Robinson and Michael Penn Jr. problem. The marriage doesn’t work. It doesn’t because this is a quarterback driven game. And as much as we can sit and pick apart that we don’t have wide receivers, which I agree with, by the way, you need another wide receiver, too. The problem right now is the marriage between Penn and Zack Robinson. Well, Penn isn’t going anywhere. I’m just letting you know right now. The offensive problems though from a schematic standpoint standpoint, they don’t use play action ever except for this thing, whatever. This is the ballerina twirl. what I like to call it. Maybe we’ll do a ballerina twirl counter on our next game. They’re terrible on third down, 0 for8 against the Indianapolis Colts. They don’t consistently find the end zone. Recently, they’ve been scoring more, but as evidenced against the Miami Dolphins, this team does not score and they have a lack of weapons for Michael Penn Jr. So, we could go on and on about the offensive inconsistencies, the offensive woes. Nothing is going to change under Zack Robinson. I’m sorry, that’s just the reality of the situation, but it’s not entirely on Robinson. I will be the first one to say football is a gray area. There’s a lot of things that can be true at the exact same time. Penn is the worst quarterback in the league right now against the Blitz, and it isn’t close. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this most recent chart that we just found out after the Indianapolis Colts game. This is pathetic. It is awful. So bad throws versus pressure faced. So the amount of times that you face pressure versus the amount of bad throws that you have. Well, Michael Pennix Jr. is facing the least amount of pressure and still making bad throws. So it’s clear to me that when Pennix is blitzed, he gets panicky. But it continues on. And this is where the first graphic is a Michael Penn Jr. stat. Okay. Pennix is not good against the blitz. This is a Zack Robinson stat. This is your quarterback throws in the system. So the amount of times that you throw on script based off of the plays that are called. Well, as we could see, Shane Stiken is a master play caller. Look at Daniel Jones at the far right. That’s unbelievable. Where’s Michael Pennock Jr.? Right there in the middle. slightly to the right. So that’s telling you that in Zack Robinson’s scheme, about half the time his plays are getting open and about half the time Michael Penn Jr. has to go off script. So it’s clearly not working. This proves that Pennix and Zack Robinson are a bad match. They don’t work. Oil and water. It doesn’t fit. So how do you fix something that doesn’t fit? Somebody’s got to go. and it’s not going to be Michael Pennock. You’ve invested way too much in this quarterback to get rid of him. And despite his offensive deficiencies right now, Zack Robinson is the scapegoat. But he’s also the problem. It’s a bad marriage. Somebody’s got to get out for the sake of the kids and the rest of the kids of the team. And now you got these injuries that you’re worrying about to the offensive line. You’ve got injuries to Darnell Mooney that you’ve been dealing with. You don’t have Ray Ray Mloud anymore. I mean, the laundry list of problems goes on and on and on. Here is what Michael Penn Jr.’s offensive line looked like against the Indianapolis Colts. This is from all 22. So, you know, the stats are top tier. On Sunday morning, Penn will be lining up behind offensive tackle one, offensive guard three, center one, offensive guard one, and offensive tackle four. So, we’re on second, third, and fourth string offensive lineman at some spots. How the hell are you supposed to get the ball out quickly with no receivers to explode in the screen game? That specific stat goes on to say that even despite the offensive wos problems, you need to get Michael Penn Jr., you got to get the ball out of your hands quick. Well, that only works if you got somebody that excels in the Yak game. yards after completion. Well, Darnell Mooney is okay at that, but he’s more of a middle-of the- field player. He’s more of a chunk player. He chunked the ball down the field. In 2024, he led the Falcons in yards per reception. So, his game, while he can do some things well at the line of scrimmage, it is not what he is known for. You need a player that excels at the line and can get the ball in their hands as fast as possible. You needed Tyler Lockett. You didn’t go out and sign Tyler Locket. The Raiders did a lot of good that’s doing them. So, I could all put this in one specific bucket. The Falcons have gotten so much better in a lot of areas as evidenced by the defensive personnel that they’ve got on the field. But until Terry Fontnau decides to pull the trigger and get rid of Rake Morris and Zack Robinson, nothing around this team is going to change. Sure, they might win a game here. They might win a game there. Hell, they might pull off two or three wins in a row, but nothing is going to change for the Falcons future if they don’t address this problem immediately because the time is ticking on Michael Penn Jr.’s development. If you cannot develop Penn, it is a wasted draft pick. That’s going to do it for us on today’s episode. A reminder that this is why you subscribe, my fresh Falcons perspective. Not saying it’s the Bible. You don’t have to listen to it. But if you do like what you hear, hit that subscribe button. Join the family today. And as always, rise up and be cool. [Music]

Today’s Atlanta Falcons episode is dedicated to how the Falcons have gotten better throughout the 2025 NFL season, and to how they have gotten significantly worse at the same time. Falcons rookie edge rushers Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr have excelled in the last few weeks at making splash plays. Walker and Perace seem to be the future of this franchise at the edge position with both rookies making the top 5 in the NFL in “rookie splash plays” by ESPN. The episode is then continued by an offensive breakdown in play and scheme through Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.

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Falcons All22 On Offensive Problems
“On Sunday morning Michael Penix Jr. will be lining up behind OT1 – OG3 – C1 – OG1 – OT4 Falcons have to stay run committed during all 4 quarters. And when passing they need to make a concerted effort to get the ball out of Penix’s hands quickly.”

Atlanta Falcons offensive problems:
No play action used
Terrible 3rd down %
Don’t consistently find the endzone
Lack of weapons for MPJ

Falcons Fans you know what to do! Comment your answer down below:
– What’s your confidence level in this Falcons defense? Scale 1-10

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– Atlanta Falcons Rumors: TOP Falcons Free Agent Targets After The 2025 NFL Trade Deadline https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPuB6KsRRzw

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Falcons rushing leaders:
– Bijan Robinson: 304 carries, 1,456 yards, 14 TD
– Tyler Allgeier: 137 carries, 644 yards, 3 TD

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