The Search for Offense

A year after a Super Bowl appearance, the Atlanta Falcons were the only team in the NFC to make it to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.  That does a lot to deflect the notion of a Super Bowl hangover.  But a divisional round loss continued a season long discussion point for this franchise...what happened to the offense?

The Falcons were not going to have the same offensive production in 2017 as they did in 2016.  The 2016 team scored the 7th most amount of points in NFL history under San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan when he was calling the plays in Atlanta.  New offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian took nearly the same offense and scored the 15th most amount of points in the league in 2017.  That's the epitome of regression.

The lack of points would have been further highlighted if not for the massive improvement of the Falcons young defense.  The 2017 Falcons defense turned in a top 10 ranking in total defense last season.  Head coach Dan Quinn has put his stamp on a defense that now features young players who fly around to the football with speed and athleticism.

If the Falcons are to jump back into the top of the NFC Playoff field in 2018, the offense will have to find their footing to match the improvement in the defense.  Atlanta's interior offensive line play will look to receive some improvement after being pushed around late in the season.  If the Falcons can improve their guard play, hopefully the offense can return to scoring more points in 2018.

If not, the Falcons will continue their run of playing one-score, nail-biting football in 2018. 

Offensive Ranking: 8th

Defensive Ranking: 9th

Key Free Agents:  

Dontari Poe - DT - Interior run stuffer who has not regained his ability to get after the quarterback in recent seasons.  Recorded 2.5 sacks, but helped keep Falcons linebackers clean to run and hit in Dan Quinn's defense.  Commanded an $8M dollar contract last offseason.  Should be considerably less in 2018.

Adrian Clayborn - DE - Recorded 9.5 sacks in 2017, with six in one game against the Dallas Cowboys.  Quality veteran player who will be 30 years old by the start of training camp.

Matt Bryant - K - Ageless.  Made 34 of 39 field goal opportunities in 2017 including eight of nine from 50 yards or more.  42 years old and still performing well.

Taylor Gabriel - WR - A 30 catch receiver in the NFL who can provide an explosive spark to any offense out of the slot.  Gabriel's 2016 season, in which he scored six touchdowns, was followed up by just one score in 2017. 

Potential Cuts/Restructures:  

Andy Levitre - G - The decision to keep or move on from Levitre will be greatly impacted by the Falcons play at offensive guard in the final month of the season.  With Levitre's loss due to injury, the Falcons struggled to protect quarterback Matt Ryan with their guard play.  Levitre is set to count $8.3M against the cap which is too much considering his level of play.  But he was the best guard on the roster in 2017.  Cap savings: $7M

Jake Matthews - LT - Matthews enters the final year of his rookie contract with a salary of $12.4M.  This places Matthews amongst the top five highest paid left tackles in the league.  A long term contract would allow the Falcons to lower his cap hit while also giving Matthews long term security.

Derrick Shelby - DE - Shelby started 14 games in 2017 and was part of the Falcons defensive line rotation.  However, Shelby only played on 37% of the team's defensive snaps while recording just one sack.  Shelby is set to count $5.7M against the cap in 2018.  Cap savings: $3.2M