FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Falcons return to action in Week 13 looking to snap a two-game losing streak after dropping back-to-back games for the first time this season in Weeks 10 and 11. Atlanta utilized its bye week to get healthy and do some self-scouting to find ways to get back on track and improve as the stretch run for a postseason berth heats up.

It might seem obvious to say that Atlanta's key to success down the stretch will be its ability to finish drives with touchdowns, but that's what the team's recent struggles boil down to.

This season, Atlanta is 6-0 when scoring at least 20 points and 0-5 when scoring fewer than 20 points. That does include Atlanta's Week 4 win over New Orleans in which the Falcons did not score an offensive touchdown, but the point remains as Atlanta's inability to finish drives with touchdowns has played a significant role in its current two-game slide.

Scoring a touchdown on any one of the three drives that ended with missed field goals, including one in the red zone against the Saints in Week 10, would have likely changed the outcome of that game. The Falcons' failure to score a touchdown in Denver in Week 11 not only put more pressure on the defense to get stops but also put the offense into a negative game script that relied heavily on dropback passing. Playing much of the second half as a one-dimensional offense was not a recipe for success for Atlanta.

Over the first nine weeks of the season, the Falcons were one of the better teams in the league in converting drives into points, ranking 10th in points per drive (2.33) and ninth in per drive touchdown percentage (25%). In its last two games, Atlanta averaged just 1.1 points per drive and scored touchdowns on just 9.5% of drives, ranking third worst in the NFL in both metrics.

Underscoring the importance of ending drives with touchdowns is the fact that the Falcons have 113 offensive drives this season, the fourth fewest in the NFL. Despite having a low number of possessions and struggling to score touchdowns over the last two games, Atlanta still ranks 12th in both points per drive (2.10) and touchdown percentage (22.1%). It's not time to hit the panic button, but it's clear the offense needs to find a way to score touchdowns to get back on track.

Again, it's not exactly the most advanced statistical analysis to say a team needs to score touchdowns to win. In Atlanta's case though, the difference in success is clear. The Falcons are a better overall team when scoring more points. In wins, or games when they've scored more than 20 points, the Falcons have averaged 2.84 points per drive and scored touchdowns on 29.5% of drives. In those games, Atlanta is also converting 55% of its red zone possessions into touchdowns. In losses, those numbers fall to 1.23 points per drive, 13.5% of drives end in touchdowns and red zone efficiency drops to 50%.

Unsurprisingly, the Falcons also average more plays per drive (6.13 to 5.88), a higher down-set conversion rate (77.4% to 69.1%) and fewer three-and-outs (9.8% to 17.3%) in wins versus losses.

There are clear differences in the numbers when comparing wins to losses, which again, it's not surprising to say the offense has played better in wins than it has in losses, but the key difference is points. With the exception of losses to Seattle and Denver, Atlanta's other three losses have come by one score or less.

For Atlanta, this is what it means to play complementary football. The defense has played well enough to win when the offense is scoring. When the offense struggles to score it puts more pressure on the defense and makes each offensive possession more critical.

Scoring, particularly scoring touchdowns, also allows the offense to stay within its game script, as mentioned above. It allows for more opportunities in the run game for Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, it enables Zac Robinson to call more play-action passes and helps keep the opposing defense honest, giving the offensive line an edge when it comes to keeping Kirk Cousins clean in the pocket.

Keeping Cousins clean will be important in the offense's quest to score more touchdowns.

When not pressured, Cousins has completed 71.1% of his passes for 1,843 yards with 14 touchdowns with just one interception, according to Next Gen Stats. He has generated 0.28 EPA per dropback, a 51.7% success rate and a +2.7% CPOE. Additionally, Cousins' passer rating of 111.3 ranks fourth in the NFL and he has thrown the sixth-most touchdowns of any quarterback when not pressured.

Perhaps the biggest point of emphasis for Atlanta when it comes to scoring more touchdowns is eliminating penalties.

"You're moving the ball, moving the ball, moving the ball," Raheem Morris said. "As soon as you get into plus territory, that's when we've had self-inflicted wounds that's kind of stopped drives. Forcing you to kick field goals. ... Once we get in the plus territory and this kind of happened the last couple of weeks, and that was just something we wanted to shine some light on in order not to kill ourselves and stop some drives."

Morris is spot on. According to Tru Media, Atlanta has lost 21.4 expected points added on offensive penalties. That's three touchdowns; and while there are too many variables to say 21 points would have flipped the outcome of three of Atlanta's five losses, it's hard to ignore the impact penalties have had on the Falcons' offensive production.

When it comes to scoring, the offense has been able to overcome a lot of the penalties they've committed, coming away with points on 44.1% of drives when an offensive penalty is committed. To Morris' point, however, Atlanta has scored a touchdown on 26.6% of drives without a penalty and just 11.8% of drives with a penalty. Atlanta's red zone efficiency also drops from 65.2% on drives without a penalty to 22.2% on drives with a penalty.

The Falcons have been able to score on nearly half of their drives after committing a penalty, but the significant drop in touchdown percentage and red-zone efficiency due to penalties has been a critical factor in their success.

It's a simple enough fix. Score more touchdowns. Fortunately for Atlanta, a blueprint exists because the Falcons have been able to do it. The ability to do it consistently will tell the story of Atlanta's stretch run.

Stringing drives together

All eyes are on how this team is going to finish out the regular season and push for the playoffs. Right now, Atlanta still sits at the top of the NFC South, but the race for the division is not over. With six games left in the season, the Falcons own a one-game lead over the reigning division champions in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It's no secret that Atlanta is striving for improvement in all three phases. Atlanta's offense has seen success so far this season in driving down the field, but the unit has to score touchdowns to put themselves in a better position to win, as we have previously discussed. It'll be exceptionally crucial to score against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, who have limited their opponents to 15.9 points per game, the 13th-best mark in the league entering Week 13.

Despite the bye, Atlanta still ranks eighth in total yards per game, averaging 361.5, and fifth in passing yards per game with 243.6. A lot of that can be attributed to the unit's success on early downs.

Atlanta leads the league in three-and-out drives, only going three-and-out on 13 of its 113 total offensive drives this season, according to STATS, LLC.

Early downs have been their sweet spot. The Falcons lead the league in percentage of plays (56.6%) gaining four-or-more yards on first down. They've seen success in both the run and the pass on first down. On rushes gaining four-or-more yards on first down, Atlanta sits second in the league, seeing success on 54.9% of these plays, behind Kansas City. The Falcons have notched 131 pass plays on first down and 58.8% of those plays have gained at least four yards, the fifth-best mark in the NFL.

Though Atlanta has seen success on early downs, the unit — when put in these situations — has had success on their ability to convert on fourth downs, too. The Falcons' 73.7 conversion rate on fourth down ranks fifth in the league, converting 14 times on 19 attempts this season. Atlanta has also scored five times on fourth down, the most in the NFL, according to STATS, LLC.

While Atlanta has seen success in driving down the field, the offense still needs to continue that final push to find the endzone and put more points on the board. With a physical AFC team coming to Mercedes-Benz Stadium this Sunday, Atlanta's continued success on moving the chains will be crucial.

A total team effort, however, is needed on Sunday from all three phases.