In the Nest
Behind-the-scenes stories, locker room insight into team culture
The Falcons have a third-down problem. They have only converted one of their 19 appearance on third down in their last two losses. Since they began their current 4-game slide, they have only converted third downs at a rate of 20%. It isn’t good enough, and issues in these gotta-have-it moments have become trends.
In her film study this week, Tori McElhaney took a look at all 107 third-down plays the Falcons have ran this year. What she found were three main consistencies. The bad news is that there were commonalities of which to find. The good news is all of them are indeed fixable. Here’s a summary of those trends:
The Falcons’ offensive line continues to struggle with picking up defensive stunts, leading to frequent free rushers and suggesting possible issues with either protection calls or individual execution.
Michael Penix Jr. has been inconsistent and at times inaccurate on third down, completing just 17% of third-and-5-plus attempts for first downs, as he often opts for deeper throws instead of taking — potentially — easier completions.
The team’s route concepts on third-and-long frequently develop too slowly for the current protection level, leaving Penix under pressure before receivers are open.
Until the Falcons fix their protection breakdowns, sharpen Penix’s decision-making and speed up their route development, third-and-long (particularly) will keep being the place drives go to die.
Meanwhile, the reason the Falcons are in too many third-and-long situations to begin with is because the run game is struggling to consistently pick up yards on first and second downs. This is not because of a lack of talent, though. Everyone knows what Bijan Robinson is for this team, but Tyler Allgeier remains a major cog in the offensive wheel, too.
“He’s one of those guys that just comes to work every day and does his job,” Morris said. “We talk about these operational executions, these operations pieces, and it’s just what Tyler is. Wherever you put him, whatever you ask him to do, he’s able to go out there and have that resiliency and that toughness. He’s able to just play the game, play the play — whatever it is — and be ready to go. That’s why we love him.”
Terrin Waack explores why Allgeier is the Falcons’ “quiet superstar” on offense.