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PorkSkins · 11-04-2018, 11:20 PM

I haven't read any posts (other than the two above mine) in this thread, but there were several things that went wrong today.

First of all, we simply looked to have been outschemed/outcoached by the Falcons. I'm not sold on Gruden nor Manusky, and games like today just continues to shift the needle to the wrong side.

Atlanta only threw two passes that exceeded more than 20 yards in the air. One was the INT by Dunbar and the other was, in my opinion, an uncatchable ball to Julio Jones where Norman panicked and got a pass interference. They made a living on us with screens, and short and intermediate routes. I knew right after their second possession that was gonna be their course throughout the game.

IMO, it looked like Manusky didn't adjust. The Falcons' offense dictated the game and Manusky didn't have a clue. I thought Manusky should've tightened up the coverage, whether it be in man or zone. Our blitzes, whenever we decide to send extra pressure, also seem to lack imagination. He played scared, if you ask me.

We also need better play from our OLBs. We gotta get more out of Kerrigan and Smith. Our ILBs were exposed as well in the passing game. The ILBs and safeties also did a poor job when the Falcons ran the ball today. They were attacking us on the edge and on draw plays. Neither position filled well today in the run game.

Alex Smith actually played decently today. He was besieged with a few drops as well. Important drops by the way. The one by Vernon Davis resulted in an INT (who was interferred with on the play, but I'll touch on that a bit later). Smith just isn't a QB who'll elevate the play of his team. I don't have anything against Smith, but our front office fouled things up with Cousins when they didn't sign him to a long-term deal after the '15 or '16 seasons.

I'll end this post by saying today's officiating stunk like skunks on a farm. It started on our second play of the game. Questionable holding call on Lavao, and it went downhill from there with the penalties and injuries. The holding call before the half, which took away our deep catch by Doctson and out of FG range, was also questionable.

The Falcons were running pick plays, and they finally got called for two late in the game, but the damage was basically done by that point. The TD pass to Ridley, right before halftime, was a pick play. Sanu engaged with, if I'm correct, Danny Johnson with the ball in the air. I noticed it live, and blurted out "That's a pick play," and awaited for the "flag" icon to light up on the TV. But to no avail. A handful of other calls or non-calls that typically benefited the Falcons didn't help matters, as we were already shooting ourselves in the foot per the gameplan (particularly, defensively) and injuries to our O-line piling up.

We've been handled in all of our losses, and two of those losses were rather in ugly fashion. We have to find a better way to be competitve in our losses. Sell out a bit more on defense if need be. Of course, find a way to be more imaginative, but we can't allow teams to waltz up and down the field on us. Eight weeks in it doesn't seem like we can keep up in that type of scenario. So, we need to find a way to be more aggressive and take our chances. Particularly, when there's a certain pattern of the game taking place.

The one positive is we've shown we can bounce back after laying a dud. Hopefully, we can do the same versus another solid offensive team in the Bucs next week.

11-04-2018, 11:20 PM	#33
PorkSkins Playmaker Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: South Carolina Posts: 3,977	Re: Postgame Falcons I haven't read any posts (other than the two above mine) in this thread, but there were several things that went wrong today. First of all, we simply looked to have been outschemed/outcoached by the Falcons. I'm not sold on Gruden nor Manusky, and games like today just continues to shift the needle to the wrong side. Atlanta only threw two passes that exceeded more than 20 yards in the air. One was the INT by Dunbar and the other was, in my opinion, an uncatchable ball to Julio Jones where Norman panicked and got a pass interference. They made a living on us with screens, and short and intermediate routes. I knew right after their second possession that was gonna be their course throughout the game. IMO, it looked like Manusky didn't adjust. The Falcons' offense dictated the game and Manusky didn't have a clue. I thought Manusky should've tightened up the coverage, whether it be in man or zone. Our blitzes, whenever we decide to send extra pressure, also seem to lack imagination. He played scared, if you ask me. We also need better play from our OLBs. We gotta get more out of Kerrigan and Smith. Our ILBs were exposed as well in the passing game. The ILBs and safeties also did a poor job when the Falcons ran the ball today. They were attacking us on the edge and on draw plays. Neither position filled well today in the run game. Alex Smith actually played decently today. He was besieged with a few drops as well. Important drops by the way. The one by Vernon Davis resulted in an INT (who was interferred with on the play, but I'll touch on that a bit later). Smith just isn't a QB who'll elevate the play of his team. I don't have anything against Smith, but our front office fouled things up with Cousins when they didn't sign him to a long-term deal after the '15 or '16 seasons. I'll end this post by saying today's officiating stunk like skunks on a farm. It started on our second play of the game. Questionable holding call on Lavao, and it went downhill from there with the penalties and injuries. The holding call before the half, which took away our deep catch by Doctson and out of FG range, was also questionable. The Falcons were running pick plays, and they finally got called for two late in the game, but the damage was basically done by that point. The TD pass to Ridley, right before halftime, was a pick play. Sanu engaged with, if I'm correct, Danny Johnson with the ball in the air. I noticed it live, and blurted out "That's a pick play," and awaited for the "flag" icon to light up on the TV. But to no avail. A handful of other calls or non-calls that typically benefited the Falcons didn't help matters, as we were already shooting ourselves in the foot per the gameplan (particularly, defensively) and injuries to our O-line piling up. We've been handled in all of our losses, and two of those losses were rather in ugly fashion. We have to find a better way to be competitve in our losses. Sell out a bit more on defense if need be. Of course, find a way to be more imaginative, but we can't allow teams to waltz up and down the field on us. Eight weeks in it doesn't seem like we can keep up in that type of scenario. So, we need to find a way to be more aggressive and take our chances. Particularly, when there's a certain pattern of the game taking place. The one positive is we've shown we can bounce back after laying a dud. Hopefully, we can do the same versus another solid offensive team in the Bucs next week.