Atlanta Falcons Are Going Back To The Basics

By Dusty Haralson | May 14, 2015

The old-school way of winning in football consists of a tough and hard-hitting style of play. This means a tough defensive front seven, and a pound-the-rock mentality, powered by a solid running game. It’s a physical brand of football, an art that has been lost due to the emergence of the west coast offense, spread option schemes, and the hurry-up.

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With the losses of defensive players John Abraham and Sean Weatherspoon, combined with the offensive line losses of Tyson Clabo and Todd McClure, plus the erosion and ultimate release of running back Michael Turner in the past three years, the Atlanta Falcons have really lost their edge in the NFC playoff picture. Those were key losses, and they provided a clear explanation for the train wrecks that were the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Of course, in today’s NFL, you need a great quarterback to have success throughout the season. And the Falcons have that in Matt Ryan. But, he hasn’t had a decent supporting cast for two years to take the Falcons above and beyond.

When Turner was having his 4 year run as a top-tier tail back, this opened up play action for Ryan and the rest of the offense. After Turner left, the Falcons tried to patch up the running game with Steven Jackson, who had a stellar career while he was a St. Louis Ram, but he never panned out.

This resulted in Ryan being second in the league in pass attempts for two years in a row (2013 and 2014). Ryan is good, but he shouldn’t be throwing 40 times a game.

We know Ryan and Julio Jones is a dynamic duo, but unfortunately, the rest of the league will catch on. And with Roddy White another year older, other teams will double team Jones more often.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that the Falcons lost the future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez? He was vital in the play action game, especially when he utilized the drag and out routes to his advantage. Gonzalez was a go-to man that Ryan doesn’t have anymore.

But in the 2015 offseason, the Falcons addressed these issues.

Atlanta signed Jacob Tamme, a veteran tight end, and they drafted running back Tevin Coleman and receiver Justin Hardy, in hopes of bringing life back into the play action game of the Falcons. They need to take some weight off the shoulders of Ryan, and put the ball in the hands of other playmakers.

Defensively, the Falcons problem has been in the trenches. The pass rush was God awful in 2013 and 2014, being at the bottom om the league in sacks, and when opponents rushed the ball, the Falcons’ defense couldn’t make tackles.

So, they drafted Vic Beasley and Adrian Clayborn to revamp the defensive line and stir up a pass rush, and they signed Brooks Reed to improve tackling in the open field. They also picked up cornerback Jalen Collins in the second round to improve the secondary.

This offseason, I believe Atlanta didn’t acquire up any transcendant players, but they added a tandem of playmakers on both sides of the ball, and that’s what they needed.

The Falcons needed tough, physical players to bring them back into contention. It’s time for the Falcons to get back to the basics of football: pounding the football and keeping the defense on their heels, play action passing, and tough defense.

With new head coach Dan Quinn and his attention to speed and toughness, hopefully the Falcons can turn things around when the 2015 season kicks off.

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