Well, to paraphrase a line from Billy Hoyle in the original “White Men Can’t Jump,” sometimes it’s better to look ugly and win than look pretty and lose, and this win was ugly. The one offensive touchdown the Atlanta Falcons scored was called back on a penalty. Kirk Cousins still doesn’t look quite right, and so the Sean McVay-inspired passing attack that was supposed to be brought over with Zac Robinson still hasn’t shown itself. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined for all 15 carries. The defense continues to bend against the run. Fortunately for Atlanta, the ball bounced their way a couple of times on defense and special teams, and Younghoe Koo has a cannon for a leg.
The Merry
Younghoe Koo
Koo was perfect on this day, hitting both of his extra point attempts and all four of his field goal tries, including two from over 50 yards out. Most importantly, he hit the game-winner from 58 yards away.
Troy Andersen
Andersen was all over the field against the Saints. He recorded nine solo tackles, seven assists, a tackle for loss, a pass defended and intercepted a pass deflected by Matthew Judon and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. He did all that despite having to leave the game a bit early with a knee injury that may keep him out of Thursday night’s tilt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The offensive line
A week after getting punished by Kansas City, an o-line working without starters Drew Dalman and Kaleb McGary limited the Saints to a single sack, two tackles for loss, and four QB hurries. The OL also paved the way for a running game that averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
The Messy
Kyle Pitts
Where is this guy, anyway? No receptions in this game. No yards. No touchdowns. Only three targets. His snap count has regressed each game thus far this season, from 54 to 45 to 42 to 38. He’s currently 5th on the team in targets behind Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, and Bijan Robinson. One of the things the acquisitions of Kirk Cousins and Zac Robinson were supposed to do was to unlock Pitts – so far, he’s still in jail.
Third downs and time of possession
Yes, these topics have been brought up before. Unfortunately, they’re still an issue. The Falcons finally improved in third down conversion against New Orleans, but they were still below-average at it, going 4 for 11 (as opposed to 2 for 9 in Wees 1, 2, and 3). For the season the Falcons’ offense ranks 29th in third-down conversion percentage at 26.3% (by comparison, last year’s offense under Arthur Smith ranked 13th at 40%). The third-down defense is also struggling, allowing opposing offenses to convert at a 47.4% rate, ranking 27th in the league (last year’s “D” ranked 3rd in the NFL at allowing third-down conversions at a rate of 33.3%).
Atlanta has been maddeningly consistent through the first quarter or so of this season with time of possession. Against New Orleans, they held on to the ball for only 24 minutes and 18 seconds. They’re averaging 24 minutes and 31.5 seconds of time of possession for the year. These (and the third down issues) are not numbers for sustainable success on offense in today’s NFL.
The Meh
Kirk Cousins
After Week One the overreaction was Cousins’ lackluster performance against the Steelers. “Why was he always in the pistol?” “Where was the play-action pass?” “Is he really recovered from his injury?” After Week Two the overreaction may have been, “Stop panicking, he’s fine.” Yes, Cousins is seeing more snaps under center and is utilizing play-action more, but he still doesn’t look like a guy worth a four-year, $180 million contract. His stats thus far are decidedly middle-of-the-road: 15th in passing yards (864), 15th in yards per attempt (minimum 100 attempts. 7.3), 18th in completion percentage (minimum 100 attempts. 64.7%), 20th in passer rating (minimum 100 attempts. 83.7).
It’s not just the stats, either. Watch the film. Yes, the issues were far more pronounced in Week One against Pittsburgh, and there has been improvement since, but he just seems a bit off. Deep balls are underthrown. He’s not leading receivers with his passes on crossing routes. In fact, they’re often just a bit behind his target. He’s made some bad decisions and forced balls into double or even triple coverage. Against New Orleans, his completion percentage was 60% and his passer rating was 68.5. No, he’s not Desmond Ridder / Taylor Heinicke, but he also has yet to be a quantum improvement over them.
Main Image: © Brett Davis-Imagn Images
