A look at all eight sacks Falcons allowed against Saints
After showing improvement prior to the bye week, the Falcons' offense allowed the most sacks of the season in their loss to the Saints. Both coaches and players have said that the responsibility for the eight sacks falls across the board, which includes the offensive line, wide receivers and quarterback Matt Ryan.
Jason Butt of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution provided a thorough breakdown of each of the Saints' eight sacks and how they unfolded. For those of you who subscribe to The Athletic, Tori McElhaney ran her own audit of Atlanta’s performance on offense against New Orleans and where things went awry.
"First of all, eight sacks is horrendous by us," offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said when asked for his own review of the game. "We just can't do that. Most people are going to look at that and think it was all on the O-line. It really wasn't. There were some coverage sacks in there for sure, where we just couldn't get anybody open and Matt had nowhere to go. There were a couple of times where we did have somebody open and Matt couldn't find them, couldn't see them. And then we had some where they just had pressure."
Falcons' pass protection woes re-emerge on eight-sack day
Jason and Tori weren't the only two to write about the high number of sacks allowed by Atlanta, which makes sense given that it was the defining theme of Sunday's game. ESPN’s Mike Triplett also provided some context for how the offensive line was playing and where things now stand after their performance against the Saints.
"Nevertheless, eight sacks is disturbing enough that the Falcons need to make sure this was just a blip on the radar," Triplett writes. "Unfortunately, now that they have fallen to 3-7, the focus will only increase on long-term evaluations of team needs. And they'll need to decide where the offensive line fits into that. Atlanta has invested a lot in this offensive line in recent years -- including drafting both right guard Chris Lindstrom and right tackle Kaleb McGary in the first round in 2019. And the pass protection had shown improvement this year, allowing just 19 sacks in the first nine games.
But now Ryan is suddenly on pace to be sacked 43 times this year after he was sacked a career-high 48 times in 2019."
What we learned from Week 11's Sunday games
The Falcons were building momentum with three wins in four games under interim head coach Raheem Morris, but that came to an end on Sunday with a 24-9 loss to the Saints.
It was a game in which Matt Ryan was sacked eight times and the defense, after holding strong in the first half, gave up two second-half touchdowns that proved to be the difference. The Falcons had their worst offensive performance of the season against New Orleans, which was a standout point for NFL.com writer Kevin Patra in his recap of the game.
"Life without a healthy Julio Jones is difficult," Patra writes. "The star receiver was in and out of the game Sunday while dealing with a hamstring injury. Jones played only 21 snaps, per Next Gen Stats, just five in the second half. Missing Julio was part of the reason the Falcons offense struggled. Without the field-tilting receiver, New Orleans was able to toss coverage at Calvin Ridley and make Ryan hold the ball longer. Unable to score a TD or hold down Hill, there wasn't much good for Atlanta to take from Sunday's game, particularly in the second half. Losing to a backup QB in his first NFL start at the position is a tough one to swallow for a division rival."
Falcons' hope for late-season surge buried by Saints
Without Julio Jones in the lineup, the Falcons had difficulty moving the ball against an aggressive Saints defense. They managed just 248 yards, their fewest of the season, and couldn't find the end zone in an important division game. Following a 3-1 start under Morris, there had been some slight hope building that the Falcons could make something of the 2020 season after all. In a piece for ESPN, Nick Wagoner asserts that any chance of that happening has been put to rest.
"On Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, that hope was buried under an avalanche of sacks as the Falcons surrendered 21 unanswered points on the way to a 24-9 loss," Wagoner writes. "The defeat drops the Falcons to 3-7 on the season and for all intents and purposes puts any pie-in-the-sky dreams of a postseason run under interim coach Raheem Morris to rest."
5 things we learned from Falcons' 24-9 loss to Saints
Every game in the NFL provides some lessons about the two teams on the field. Sunday's loss to the Saints was an important reminder for the Falcons about the importance of getting open downfield and providing Matt Ryan with time to find those receivers. The Saints' eight sacks on Sunday were the most Atlanta allowed against an opposing team since the last time it played New Orleans, when the Falcons allowed nine sacks on Thanksgiving Day in 2019. D. Orlando Ledbetter mentioned the pass protection in his five things piece for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"We didn't play well," left tackle Jake Matthews said after the game. "That's completely out there. We have to regroup and watch the film. We felt like we had a solid plan going in. Obviously, we didn't execute. The numbers speak for themselves."
NFL Week 11 grades
With the type of performance they had on Sunday, the Falcons weren't exactly in line to receive high marks. In John Breech's post-weekend grades piece for CBSSports.com, they didn't. Breech gave the Falcons a "D" for their loss against the Saints, who were given an "A-" in their win.
"Coming off a bye, the Falcons had an extra week to prepare for this game, but apparently they didn't take advantage of that," Breech writes. "With Drew Brees out, Taysom Hill gave the Falcons defense fits as he rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Offensively, although the Falcons moved the ball well in the first half, they couldn't punch the ball in the end zone. In the second half, Matt Ryan and the offense went ice cold as the Falcons weren't able to cross into Saints territory a single time until there was under six minutes left in the game. Ryan got sacked eight times and rarely had time to throw, and that showed, as he threw two interceptions while completing just 51.4% of his passes."
More headlines for Falcons fans
- AtlantaFalcons.com: Tabeek’s NFL Power Rankings
- AtlantaFalcons.com: Updated NFL Draft order: Where Falcons fall
- AtlantaFalcons.com: Julio’s status for Sunday up in air
- AtlantaFalcons.com: Tabeek: Loss stirs up forgettable flashbacks
- NBCSports.com: FMIA Week 11
- PFF.com: Saints-Falcons ReFocused
- AJC.com: Falcons move into top 10 for draft
- AJC.com: ‘We didn’t execute. The number speak for themselves’
- AJC.com: Falcons receivers struggle with Jones injured
