As everyone knows by now, The Falcons lost at Minnesota 41-28. While the national media was consumed by the performance of Teddy Bridgewater, the focus of Falcons continues to be on the team's inability to handle the opponents run game. The Falcons gave up 241 rushing yards to the Vikings, and currently rank 28th in the NFL at stopping the run.
But here is what I took away from this game review:
- QB Teddy Bridgewater was very comfortable dealing with the Falcons games up front.
- DT Paul Soliai is having a tough time anchoring the interior defensive line.
- The Falcons interior LBs are consistently sub par.
- With the injuries to the O-Line, the Falcons will have to be quicker in their pass game.
Let's take a look at a few plays:
3rd and 7 - 12:44 (1st QT) 0-0 score:
The Falcons decided to challenge Bridgewater and his offensive line on their first third down opportunity. We've seen Mike Nolan show these sorts of pre-snap formations in the past in order to create the confusion that doesn't come from the pass rush. The Vikings had a conservative solution to the Falcons defensive front, a simple screen pass to Wright. The Falcons dropped into a Cover 2 look at the snap, and set themselves up perfectly for the Vikings blockers.
2nd and 5 - 3:35 (1st QT) 7-7 score:
The big issue (pardon the pun) is that the additions to the defensive line are not playing well. DT Paul Soliai has made an NFL career out of performing one of the most difficult jobs in the NFL: anchoring in against offensive guards and centers. Soliai's job is to maintain his ground against a constant double team. The Vikings were committed to the run against the Falcons and routinely had Soliai pushed 3-4 yards down field. Opening up massive holes in the middle of the defense. The Falcons 49 was the line of scrimmage on this play:
1st and 10 - 13:07 (2nd QT) 14-7 Minnesota Leads:
The Falcons had just pinned the Vikings down on the 8 yard line due to a terrific punt from Matt Bosher. Trailing by seven, the Falcons had an opportunity to even up the game by creating a short field for their offense. The Falcons decided to run blitz the Vikings on their first down play. The defense lined up in a five man front and brought ILB Prince Shembo as a sixth rusher on the snap. The Vikings C quickly eliminates Shembo from the play. As the hole opens up, only ILB Paul Worrilow is left to step up, shed the FB, and make the play. Instead, Worrilow was blown up in the hole and blocked to the ground. Falcons S Kemal Ishmael takes a poor angle as RB McKinnon takes off for 55 yards.
1st and 10 - 5:56 (2nd QT) 14-14 Score:
Let's be very honest about what the Falcons are currently playing at ILB. They have a 2nd year player who wasn't drafted and a 4th round rookie. Paul Worrilow and Prince Shembo are now starters as Shembo has moved ahead of Bartu. In the play below, The Vikings are running a standard lead play. Shembo (in blue) has moved into position to fill the hole and eliminate the running lane. The play comes down to Worrlow (in red) taking on the FB and limiting the yardage on the play.
But as you can see, Worrilow was once again removed from the play allowing the Vikings to gain seven yards on the play.
3rd and 7 - 7:29 (3rd QT) 27-14 Minnesota leads:
The final takeaway from this Falcons game is how the offense might have to change with the injuries to the offensive line. Losing C Joe Hawley, RT Lamar Holmes and G Justin Blalock to injury over the course of the game forced the Falcons to play TE Toilolo at RT and quicken the pace of their passing game. The Falcons decided that getting the ball out quickly to WR Devin Hester on the key 3rd down was the best option given the situation. The picture below shows the setup of the play, just after the snap of the football:
On the play, Lamar Holmes is supposed to be the key blocker on the play. Due to his foot injury, Holmes is basically useless on the play. The ability for Hester to shed tacklers is why the play resulted in a touchdown. Moving forward, I expect to see more of the short passing game until this line gets healthier.
-los