The Atlanta Falcons dropped their last game before the bye week to the Denver Broncos and have a few key questions to answer during their week off. Will McFadden breaks down the action with Taylor Vismor and Amna Subhan. They discuss their concern level heading into the bye week as well as the corrections they'd like to see on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
00:00 - Intro
01:05 - Concern going into the bye week
03:00 - Atlanta's offense doesn't get it done
13:20 - A pivotal moment for Falcons defense
23:50 - Raheem Morris' post-game comments
26:20 - Closest to the Pin recap!
28:30 - Outro
Dirty Birds. What's Up?
And welcome to another edition of Falcons Final Whistle presented by Zaxby's I'm your host Will mcfadd and I am joined by Amna Savon and Taylor Vismore, and we are here to break down the first back to back loss that Atlanta has had this season. They fell to the Denver Broncos thirty eight to six. This was a really tough one, honestly, you know, I think the Seattle game prior to this one was the one everybody pointed to as kind of the one game this year that Atlanta just wasn't in, you know, as the second half rolled on, Seattle pulled away. This one was worse, frankly, I mean this one, there were a couple of moments where it felt like Atlanta maybe could get back into it, but kind of from the jump, this one went Denver's way. Just there's no other way that you can really say it. And so as we were kind of thinking about the topics for tonight's podcast, it's gonna be less about the specific of this game and I think a little bit more about the state of the Falcons heading into the bye week. So Taylor will start with you after these last two losses. What's your concern level for this team going into the bye week?
You know, I think the buye couldn't come at a better time. You if you watch the game and you heard about the inactives and then you saw all the injuries that happened during the game. I mean, this team has got to get rest. They've got to get rested in their belt. They have to get you know, bet like get back to where they were before Week ten really and I think what you saw in Week ten win eleven was this really beat up team just trying to figure out a way to stay in these games with the Saints and now with the Broncos.
I mean, I want to know.
What I was thinking about when I was watching this game, was where is that Week five team? Where is that? You know, like against the Tampa Bay Bucks? Where where is that team? You know, there's it's there. You know, you got your offense and they can make these big plays. You have a running back that can running backs that can do really impressive things. And then on the flip side, you had this defense who has a lot of years and games under their belt. Together. What's not clicking? What happened in the locker room or what. That's what I'm thinking. I don't know that I'm super concerned moving forward. I just more so A'm wondering what changed the last two weeks that we haven't seen prior, what's different and how do we get back to plan A, which was the Bucks games and all those different wins that the Falcons have had so far this year.
Yeah, it just felt like in Week five this was a team that was making plays. You know, it wasn't on every single play, but there were enough big plays being made offensively and defensively to overcome some of these setbacks. And the last couple of weeks it's felt like they've missed out on some of the biggest possible plays that really you need to win in this league. And you mentioned the running backs like Bjeon Robinson finished today twelve carries, thirty five yards. That's not a Bajon Robinson stat line that we are used to seeing this season. Tyler Algier didn't record a single touch in this game. Now, part of that, I do think has to do with just the way it shaped out and Denver getting a big lead, and obviously Tyler is going to be the running back that you give the ball too late in the fourth quarter when you're trying to kind of cement the game, and they just weren't in a position to do that at all. But I'm gonna you know, when the team kind of does the self scouting and gets underneath the hood, which side of the ball do you think they suld should start on.
That's well tough because they both both sides need work, But I'm going to go start with defense. I think that's the first thing you look at because while this game they gave up the most points this season, and they they really just look like they're being, for lack of a better word, just like tossed around, like they didn't have a lot of given the missing tackles.
I mean, I think Raheem said it best after the game. He said that the Broncos out efforted them and out physicaled them. And I mean, I think that that's that's very fair and accurate to say.
Yeah, for sure, And but so they look like that in this game. And obviously when you're missing tackles and all that stuff, that's gonna help you. But there was a lot of question marks about this defense before your secondary was decimated by injuries. Still no sacks in this one. Oh you know what, never mind, Matthew Judon did have one sack.
One sack.
Bow Knicks did go down.
That did happen.
But again, like a lot of times where you're getting pressure at the quarterback but not always getting him down. That's a common theme. So you really, I feel like the defense has to be looked at first. And and and yeah, the offense has a lot is trending in a way that I'm sure a lot of fans are aren't happy about. And you know, to your point, Taylor, like wondering where that that team was from a couple of weeks ago, and I was saying about it, and they had that like don't blink mentality, like they kept making those plays and they're staying in it. And there was those you know graphics where it's like the win percentage looks so different. Yeah, and that wasn't a sustainable thing. I think everybody knew that. But yeah, at this point, like you took those wins and you took those moments of like forging yourself into being a team that won't quit. But at the same time, like I said, it's not sustainable. You had to be able to start fast, be able to put it a team away, and they had a chance to do that against the Bucks a couple of weeks ago, and they didn't do it as strongly as they probably wanted to. And here we are in week eleven.
Yeah, and I think Dallas was another game where you look at they had kind of that opportunity to really build and close out that win, and it was still a win, but it wasn't as convincing as it could have been. And that's what the great teams start to do at this time of year is separate themselves. And the Falcons now have missed back to back opportunities to separate themselves. Yeah, there's still four and one in the division and that's great, and they still have a nice little cushion there, but I you know, you just can't help but feel like they're making this a little bit tighter than they need to.
Well, and I think it makes you wonder too.
I think, you know, it's always said in baseball, right, it's all about when the team gets hot. I think that also happens in the NFL. It's all about when the team gets hot. And it kind of makes you wonder where the Falcons sit now is were they hot in the first like kind of quarter of the season.
Was that their moment where they were hot?
Is this the Falcons team that they're going to fans are going to be watching for the rest of the season. I sure hope it's not. I don't know that it is. I don't think that it is, but I do think that a lot of people are starting to kind of think that way. Is was that kind of flash in the pan? Was that just the when when the team got hot? And this is who the team actually is now? And I think I don't know, I hope that the Falcons team isn't that. I think that I personally think that as the season goes on, when they come back from the by I think they might get hot and they might find that stride. But that's I mean, that's only a matter of time that you have to kind of look forward and kind of cross your fingers and hope upon Well.
Yeah, and you mentioned, you know, injuries and health is part of the reason why the bye week is coming at the perfect time for Atlanta, and there were several more injuries that popped up On Sunday. Kevin King was evaluated for a head injury and then ultimately ruled out with the concussion. Darnell Mooney sustained a hamstring injury in the third quarter and to my knowledge, never returned to the game. Zach Harrison a knee injury, was ruled out, Casey Washington a concussion was ruled out, and then Nate Landman there at the very end, also a hamstring and you know, I don't even know if we've ever got any indication as to whether or not he could have come back because it was so late in the game and they pretty much pulled all their starters anyway. But those were the five injuries of note. And going into this when you're already down, Dee Alford, You're already down my cues, You're missing some players to Kwan Graham, James Smith, Williams go on IR this week. So the injuries has started to mount for Atlanta. This bye week is hopefully a way to mitigate them and offset them a little bit. But I'm gonna let's kind of dig into the offensive performance a little bit here. And the offense doesn't score a touchdown on Sunday, It's felt a lot like that Saints game again, you know, for better and for worse. But Kirk hasn't thrown a touchdown in back to back games for the first time in his career. After Kirk tober in which he was just going off. You know, have you noticed anything that's changed about this passing game about Kirk anything to your eye?
I think they just look at a sync, like from all phases from the offensive line to Kirk to the receivers. You know, Drake and Mooney were a little banged up for the last few weeks, but you know, they always say injuries aren't an excuse. It's always like a next man up mentality. But yeah, like when you're playing in a game where you're playing catch up and then you have a penalty from Matthew Berchern from Jake Matthews, like that's gonna shoot you in the foot, That's gonna take you back to where you where you can't be. I would say, like trying to look at like the patterns from the Saints to this one. Like obviously we talked about it all week. The Broncos defense is no joke. They had four sacks today. Ye you know, I feel like this offensive line held up relatively well, giving Kirk some time at you know, some moments where it's like, oh, okay, he's still he still has the ball, how does that happen? But yeah, just like completely out of sync and the Saints. I feel like the Saints this year just had Kirk's number in a way because in both games he didn't have an offensive well in the first one was an offensive touchdown or an offensive score, and then the second one a passing touchdown. But yeah, I mean it's hard to really pinpoint one thing, but it's just been out of sink.
Yeah it is.
You know, it's that lack of I think just ripping these balls in to some of the tight windows, Like I've noticed that go away a little bit. I do think teams are starting to recognize Darnol Mooney for the player that he's become this season. Drake Lennon had some more tough catches today, like Kyle Pitt's only one reception, which which was interesting. I kind of thought today would be a bigger game for him. But across the board, it was a lackluster performance for Atlanta's offensive weapons. You know, Taylor I touched on kind of the low rushing totals for Atlanta in this game, but we spent all week talking about Atlanta or Denver's front four as a pass rush unit. I didn't see them holding Atlanta's run game down the way that they did. What'd you make of Atlanta's inability to run the football today?
Yeah?
I mean, I think when you go against any team, there's always a list of guys that you star that you make sure you're watching all their film before you go into it. And I think for this Falcons offense, when you prepare to go against that offense, you're starring a couple guys. Right. Number one though, is Jean Robinson. You have to stop him. You have to lock down, You have to make sure that he doesn't get open in space. You have to make sure that if he is in the backfield and he does he get the handoff, that you stop him before the line of scrimmage. Those are all things that you make sure that you can do with Bijon Robinson. And yeah, you've seen the last five weeks, it's one hundred plus yards from scrimmage for Bjon Robinson. So I only can imagine that when the Denver Broncos got in their meeting rooms on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, they watched him and they said, we have to make sure that we shut him down, that we have nothing, that he can't get anything past us. Right, And yes, he had that really great catch from Kirk early on in the game. But I also think you have to look at the injuries again for the Falcons team. Charlie Warner was that when you talk to John Robinson and Tyler Algier, they both applaud and give all the flowers to Charlie Warner. He's a great blocking Titan and he has helped them so much in this rushing attack, and I think without him, it was really a big missing link for Bajhon Robinson.
And I mean Tyler didn't even have one carry.
But I think what this Falcons offense saw at halftime was we can't run the ball.
There's they're not going to let us run the ball at all. And I think what you didn't see in the second half was.
Any sort of inspiration to change something up to get the ball to anyone else. Right, it just felt flat, like you said, like it just felt like out of sinc It felt flat from the start to the end on this Falcons offense.
And that includes but John Robinson today, Yeah.
And I think coming on the second half too, just the game got into a position where everybody knew what Atlanta had to do, right, you had to throw the ball. Everybody in that building knew it. Coaches, players, fans, everybody, And that just makes life so much harder when you are forced to be one dimensional like that.
Yeah, and I said this to you when we were watching the games, you know, like I just mentioned, they Starbagon. That makes almost makes it feel like a one dimensional offense. Is what you have is when you can lock down John Robinson and then you get to the second half where you're up by twenty two points, you have now made this team so one dimensional by making them throw the ball. And that's kind of what happened in the second half is we've made you one dimensional.
We've pressing you for time.
Now we're sacking you, We're pressuring the quarterback more and more.
And it just got out of hand very quickly there in the second half.
Yeah, the moment where it felt like it specifically started getting out of hand on it was that fourth down reception that it in the moment was ruled an incomplete pass and then overturned to be a fumble. A recovery and the Broncos pick up a first down. After the game, Raheem Morris said, look, that's a fumble. They clearly recovered it. It was a moment we got to jump on the ball. It went their way, it didn't go ours. However, I do think that was a very bang bang call. And it is fair if Falcons fans are saying, hey, wait a minute, where was that third foot? Where was that football move that we hear so much about? So I think it's fair to say that you can equip with that call how important of a moment in your mind. When we talk about the Broncos pulling away in the second half and the Falcons trying to keep it close, you know, it feels like that was a big moment.
It was. Obviously there's a lot that happened before that. The score was twenty one to six at that point. The game is getting out of hand at that point. But still, I'm a big believer in momentum. And Jesse Bates before that made a big play, and then he and Natron Brooks made that play, which I yeah, we could go back and forth about. I think a lot of people will know probably how we feel about it, but yeah, I think it's relatively huge. It turned into a touchdown. Then they're up twenty eight to six, and it just continues to snowball from there. Is that a moment where they get the ball back and let's say Kirk does throw that touchdown and now it's a I'm terrible at math, but you know a little bit more manageable.
Twenty one thirteen twenty with thirteen there you go one possession game technically.
Yeah, And I thought the third quarter had just started. There was a lot of time left, Like, in terms of momentum, I think that was a huge killer. But when you start flat and you don't start fast, it's tough to recover, especially in those moments.
Today's episode of Falcons Final Whistle is brought to you by Zaxby's. And after a long game, when I'm tired and I need to refuel, I turned to Zaxbies their marinated, handbreaded fried to perfection chicken fingers. They hit the spot every time. Get yours with seasoned crinkle fries, a nice drink in whichever of their twelve signature sauces you're feeling at the moment, But it always hits just right so next time you need to refuel, go get yourself some zaxbies. The way that the Broncos came out and started this game, and especially on offense, they marched down the field, it felt like they had the ball for so long in this game, and it was another one in which you know, the home team in that first quarter really kind of establishes itself early on. They go down and score a touchdown in a seventy yard drive that covered four or eight up four and a half minutes to start this game. Then Atlanta does a decent job I think of answering, but they are answering with field goals and they brought a field goal kicker to a touchdown scoring contest. And bo Nix was on fire in this one. As much as it kills me to say, because this, you know, is a rookie quarterback, you would like to think your defense, your secondary that you've kind of leaned on, although they come into this one banged up, can force a few turnovers.
They didn't.
He was twenty eight to thirty three, three hundred and seven yards, four touchdown passes Taylor. When you see the Falcons and they kind of have stopped generating those turnovers, and you brought up what was it like in Week five? Right, they were making big plays. We were still sitting here saying it's a Ben don't break type of feel to this defense. But they weren't break because they were usually getting off the field via Jesse Bates punching the ball out or somebody making a big play on fourth down.
They stopped doing that.
You know, where else do they need to start picking things up if they're no longer going to be making those big, splashy plays.
Yeah, I don't know if it's as much of the spot splash plays I think when I watch this, I think I even said it to you guys while we were watching. I thought about the Nick Saban, I mean, legendary Pola. I'm not going to say it because he uses an expletive on it.
You said it, it was great, and.
It's from when they played Georgia Southern.
And he's even said it on game day a couple of times too, where he basically he's saying, they.
Ran through us like something through a tin horn.
Man.
We could not stop them. We could not stop them.
And I felt like that's what you saw from this Falcons defense today. It just felt like, and I hate to continue to bring up the injuries and let that be an excuse, but I think that's what you saw is like this Falcons cornerback room, the secondary as a whole, it was just like next man ups. I mean, you had a Ritchie Grant Plan Nickel like this was just get anyone out there that can play the position, that knows the call, that knows where to go, that knows what he's doing, and it was just I think that's where the explosive plays aren't, right, is when you have to just get Ritchie and Nickel, or get Clark out there and Nickel, whatever it might be, just get a guy on the field to stack the eleven. That's what it felt like, especially towards the end of the game with all the other defensive injuries too. I think, yeah, if you want to ask, you know, what can this Falcons defense do outside of explosive plays, is they can sack the quarterback. I think those are really the two big things that happen that in terms of explosive plays that most fan bases want to see out of their team's defenses, either takeaways or a sack. So I think if you don't have those two things of the defense. You got to you have to step away from from the frame and think, Okay, what do we need to do in order to get at least one of those things rolling again. And I don't know if that the lack of explosive plays is as much of the Falcons defensive scheme as it is just a lack of depth at those secondary positions.
Today against the Denver.
Broncos, Yeah, I definitely think injuries played a big role and kind of did again, Kevin King goes up pretty early in this game, so you're relying on even more guys further down.
The depth chart.
But you talk about pressure, and this is a crazy stat by Next Gen Stats, but the Falcons pressured Bonix only five times in this game on thirty five dropbacks, which is a season low fourteen point three percent pressure rate. They already entered this game with the league's worst pressure rate. So this continues to be something where when you're late in the season and you've got games coming up against Justin Herbert and Jaden Daniels and some really good quarterbacks left on the slate, like you're going to have to find ways to affect them from the pocket. Is it discouraging it all all to see the team still through eleven weeks have this kind of same thing. And really it's only the Cowboys game where we've seen them get three sacks in a single outing.
I was here reading that stat. I was just taking it in and I'm just like, oh, dang, I mean I Bodix is the guy that can extend place with his legs. We knew that, but a lot of these guys can. Like they've played several quarterbacks who are mobile. They played Dak Prescott who wasn't as mobile this season, but he still got out and run a little bit. Like you really have to go back to the drawing board, And that's a great time to do it because this is the bye week. This is when defensive coordinators, offensive coordinators get to look at things from a thirty foot view a little bit rather than week to week to week. And you know, they are in those positions for a reason. I can't not going to even begin to try to, you know, diagnose that and analyze that for them when they can do it one hundred times better than me. But this is the time to do it. And you've got to come back because you're still outrunning the south right now. So you just got to, you know, keep with your objective and this is the time to do that.
Yeah, I want to piggyback off what you're saying about BONICKX and his ability to extend plays with his legs, and then.
You bring up Dak Prescott.
I mean, like the list goes on, especially with teams that this Falcons team has seen this season with quarterbacks that can extend plays with their legs. And I was actually talking about it with Derek Grackley today before our pregame show of is this kind of the new pro style quarterback if you will, like you're seeing it bons of like you have a guy that wants to hair it out that is his number one goal. I'm gonna wait and wait and wait in the pocket as long as I'm going to go through all of my progression, I'm gonna go through it two or three times if I can.
But if I have to.
Escape the pocket and extend a play with my legs, I can also do that. Is that the new style of pro style that we're starting to see. I don't know that you're going to get many more. Drake May's out of college football anymore. Where they're just going to stay in the pocket and that's who they are, their pocket passing quarterback. I just don't know that that's going to exist too too much longer. Where those guys really really make it in this league.
You gotta be able to extend place with your legs.
And so if this Falcons defense cannot learn and figure out how to get that quarterback to stay in the pocket and to get them down faster, that's a lot of trouble that you have coming down the line, not just for the rest of the season, but the seasons to come as well. And then and then after the bye you talk about pro style quarterbacks. You got one of the best young pro style quarterbacks in the league coming to Atlanta and Justin Herbert and man, he will make you pay if you let guys get out in space and you give him time in the pocket. He is one of the best young quarterbacks in this thing that not a lot of people talk about.
Your threshold for pro style quarterback is so high. Drake may my man can move. Justin Herbert, my Man can move.
Okay, They're not moving like Bone Nixes, They're not moving like Patrick mahomes is.
Because people say that Patrick Mahomes.
Is not a dual style, dual threout quarterback, pro style quarterback. They are not moving like bow Nix and Patrick Mahomes are. Those guys are not moving like that. That's all I have to say.
Got you scrambling over here like Drake May, I'm not scrambling.
Look, everyone got mad at me last week for saying stuff about Koup and not it wasn't his fault here.
We are Coup perfect today, Yeah.
Perfect today.
I appreciate you bringing him up because we like this. This was something where in the one o'clock games you see Justin Tucker have some similar struggles to what Young Wayku did last week. He misses multiple kicks in a game. It happens. It happens these guys. The expectation is never for a kicker to be perfect. We know that no kicker in NFL history has been one hundred percent perfect. Guys are going to have some struggles. But I do appreciate kind of what Ree Morris said throughout the week standing by Young Wayku, gave him a vote of confidence. He comes through two for two today for Coup. A lot of rhyming there, but a very different tone I think from Raheem Morris after this one last week against New Orleans he was a little upbeat. We were kind of surprised, I think by that tone after the game this week. He wasn't sugarcoating it at all. Right, more effort than us, more physicality than us. They came in, they wanted to take it. Do you appreciate him kind of keeping a real tailor going into the bye week?
Yeah, I mean I think it kept it real in week ten.
I think that there was this you know last week there and I said it on the podcast.
Last week there was this.
Like huge like reaction from media and everyone else. I watched the Falcons about like, well this felt this, you know, like Samuel Falcons, whatever you want to call it. And I think Raheem Morris's response to that was normal. I didn't think it was, you know, sugarcoating anything. I think he was just like, listen, it's one game. It's one week. We got to move forward. We have another we got another bron we got another road trip, excuse me to look forward to.
We have another team to look at, and then yeah, you look at this one.
I don't know that there's anything to try to even sugarcoat. I think he I think last week and this week he called it fairy. Listen, they beat us by what thirty thirty two points? Hm?
They outplayed us.
They were they came out ready to go, They played fast, they played hard, they outphysical, outplayed us.
What else can you say?
I mean, I don't know that there's anything else to say about that game in particular.
What else can you say?
Not much?
I mean he was very quick and to the point. I mean when asked about, like, you know, penalties, he was like, don't do it, you know, like we can't.
We can't know this happened, right, like sort you want me to say, don't commit the penalty. Help the guy.
But one thing he did say that that stuck with me and I think is a good tone setter for them as they go forward, is that no one game defined to you. In this game won't define us. As he said, that's what you need. I mean, this is going to stick in your mouth throughout bye week if you let it. And it's just you would want to go into the buy with the win, think seven and four rather than six and five. But that's not the reality. You can't let it define you. You have a whole rest of the season to go.
Amen, this one is sticking in the old crawl for two weeks. But they're gonna have to Yeah, they're gonna have to sit on it for a little bit. It' just like you guys are gonna have to sit on that phrase. Let's go ahead and wrap it up and touch on our closest to the pen now. Unfortunately, neither Tory nor Tarn are here to wrap this week's results up, but we are in the presence of our resident victor on the season. I'mna still leads the way with two guesses correct, but she is going to have a little bit of company. We're gonna give Taran the win here. She got it closest with Justin Simmons tackles. Tory was also three off in Kyle Pitt's receptions, but he only had one reception and I kind of feel like Taren getting five Justin Simmons tackles.
We're going to give the edge.
It kind of feels like it could controversy.
It could be.
It could be, but also Taran, you know, is one behind you, and so I like to keep a competitive game going on.
So you know, wow, I don't. That's a political vote, right, It.
Is a political vote.
But the real, the real news out of this one is that I remain winless.
Probably the most bad I literally.
Have competed in this every single week. Taylor will get you in on this one, but yeah, I'm.
I think over four. It's just really, really tough. It sounds like.
Sour grapes to me, and I feel like I should still be the leader in this.
You are still the leader.
It can be like the final vote if you win, since I don't compete in this, you want to give it to Tori or not this one?
Not this one? Just one no like I mean like week eighteen, who like wins?
Oh okay, all right, Well, if I has a runaway with it by then, if it's still if it's so clear, or if I have a runaway, I'm going to use this bye week. I'm really I'm g under the hood. I'm self scouting, and I'm coming back strong. Thanks, that's what's going to happen. Thank you guys so much for listening. Unfortunately, the result is not at all what the Falcons wanted on this one, and they go into the bye week licking their wounds after a thirty eight to six loss on the road. Lots of work on over the bye, but a big fun hopefully stretch still to come, and we will be back to preview the Los Angeles Chargers. That will be the next Falcons Final Whistle podcast that you all get in two weeks basically, so it'll be a bit of a break, but everybody, please unwind, relax, take.
A breath, go tak a breath, take some grass. We're all going to be fine.
Thank you. You're so much better at that tonight.
It shouldn't be that hard, but outros sometimes are so brown Misabon and Taylor Vismore. I am all McFadden. This was Falcons Final Whistle presented by Zaxby's. Thank you all so much for listening and we will see you again soon.
Bye guys,