FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — If you've followed along with my coverage since the beginning, you know what this story series is. If you're new to this piece, here's a breakdown.
I am old school in that I have to write everything down in my notebook on game day. Every single play and its outcome are listed in the pages. But, I also write little notes to myself or questions to ask about later. Sometimes they are the musings of a mad woman and make no sense upon first look, but other times they are important sentiments that I feel the need to go back to later.
Seven or eight years ago, I began publishing these little notes written in the margins of my notebook and analyzing what I thought in-game vs. what the tape on Monday actually tells me. It's an exercise that has been almost therapeutic in a way, basically so I am not constantly gaslighting myself into thinking I am crazy. No, there are actual stats or moments that back up what I originally saw from the press box on game day.
The pages dedicated to the Falcons' Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers are filled with notes and statements and questions I had throughout. However, as I think back to the loss, there was only one note that I felt truly depicted what I felt like I was seeing.
It was what I wrote as the third quarter came to an end and the Falcons were down 15-10 following yet another Steelers' field goal:
"They can't get out of their own way."
Looking back, I actually starred some of the key moments in which I felt this notion the strongest.
So, for today's writing exercise, we're going through those moments, one by one. Don't worry, I am only doing the second half offensive performance for the Falcons, so we're looking back at a total of five plays and seeing what we can learn from each.
PLAY 1
The situation: After the defense began the second half by forcing a three-and-out by Pittsburgh's offense, the Falcons took over with solid field position right around midfield. The first four plays of that drive were handoffs to Bijan Robinson. The first three were runs out of pistol with Robinson accumulating 9 yards on the first three plays. On 4th-and-1, Cousins went under center with Robinson in motion running to the left for the end-around. He picked up 10 yards and the first down.
With a fresh set of downs, the Falcons went back to pistol formation, this time subbing in Tyler Allgeier in Robinson's spot behind Cousins.
The execution: Cousins picked up his leg, indicating the motion of Ross Dwelley from the left side of the protection to the right. As Dwelley began moving, though, Cousins almost seemed to hold up his left hand to stop Dwelley. Not seeing Cousins' indication to stop, Dwelley passed behind Drew Dalman at center right as Dalman snapped the ball to Cousins. The snap hit off Dwelley and rolled away, allowing TJ Watt to fall on the ball. The Steelers took over at their own 38-yard line.
The problem: The timing was off. Cousins sent Dwelley in motion while calling for the snap. Cousins took responsibility for the miscue after the game saying, "it's something that you have to bat 1.000, and you can't have a mistake (like that)."
The outcome: Despite the defense keeping the Steelers' offense from earning a second first down on their following drive, Chris Boswell was able to nail a 56-yard field goal to take the 12-10 lead at the 7:45 mark of the third quarter.
PLAY 2
The situation: In a strange turn of events in the Falcons' second drive of the second half, two illegal hands to the face calls offset major plays for both the Falcons and Steelers. The first came on third down when a 17-yard catch from Kyle Pitts was called back because of a Jake Matthews penalty. On the next play, TJ Watt beat Kaleb McGary off the edge and sacked Cousins for a loss of 10 yards. The play was negated after yet another hands to the face call, only this time going against Steelers cornerback Donte Jackson.
After a 2-yard pickup by Robinson on the next play, the Falcons lined up in pistol and put Drake London in motion from left to right.
The execution: Cousins was sacked for a loss of 9 yards. He looked to have Robinson flaring out to the Steelers' sideline but didn't have enough time in the pocket to get the ball out.
The problem: Chris Lindstrom turned to help McGary with Steelers defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk. When that happened, Montravius Adams slipped by Dalman towards Lindstrom's side. Simultaneously, Matthew Bergeron overextended himself and lost a one-on-one rep against Cam Heyward, who was a half-step behind Adams on the sack pursuit.
The outcome: Now looking at a 3rd-and-17 situation, Cousins hit Charlie Woerner for a 4-yard gain before the Falcons were forced to punt. On their next drive, Chris Boswell made his fifth field goal on the day, a 40-yarder that stretched the Steelers' lead to 15-10 at the end of the third quarter.
PLAY 3
The situation: Taking over on their own 30-yard line, the Falcons began their next drive at the end of the third quarter. First off, I want to say that the holding call credited to McGary on second down that wiped away a first down was not a good call. I have watched the play five times. That's not a hold.
But alas, the call was what it was. So, it set up 2nd-and-15 on the next play. This time running out of shotgun, Cousins motioned Pitts to the left and the ball was snapped.
The execution: Watt blew by McGary on the right side of the protection. The offense looked to be setting up a screen to Robinson to the left. However, Cousins was forced to throw the ball at Robinson's feet for the incompletion to avoid the sack. Because of the nature of the play, each receiver had his back to Cousins and there appeared to be no other outlet.
The problem: Watt. The Falcons knew Watt was going to be a problem, but he ended up wrecking the game for the Falcons. In this specific moment, when Pitts motioned away from the right side of the protection, it left McGary on an island with Watt. Because of where Watt lined up at the play's start — completely to the right hash with the ball being snapped off the left — it gave Watt an angle in his pursuit that McGary couldn't get far enough back to get in the way of enough to stop him.
The outcome: Throwing into double coverage on the next play, Cousins' third-and-long pass was incomplete, leaving the Falcons punting again. Though the defense would come up with a 4th-and-1 stop at the end of the Steelers' next drive, the clock ran down to the 7-minute mark before the Falcons' offense got the ball back.
PLAY 4
The situation: Though they were taking over on their own 6-yard line, the Falcons still had plenty of time on the clock to go down and score while only down 15-10 in the fourth quarter.
The execution: After a 3-yard pick up by Robinson out of pistol on first down, the Falcons protection looked good on second down, allowing Cousins to hit Robinson for a 9-yard gain and first down conversion. There was a flag thrown from the line judge, though, as the play got started.
The problem: Alignment. Prior to the snap, Pitts was alongside McGary on the right side of the protection, helping to create another barrier between Cousins and Watt. The Falcons — because of Pitts' alignment — were called for illegal formation and it negated the first down. Instead, they were back on their own 5-yard line for 2nd-and-11.
The illegal formation penalty has been a hot topic early in the 2024 season. In fact, ESPN reported that there were three illegal formation penalties in seven plays on the first drive of the season. Furthermore, an NFL spokesperson was quoted in the same article saying: "There has been a point of emphasis on all line of scrimmage violations."
The outcome: Cousins' second down pass was tipped by Alex Highsmith as he recognized the Falcons were running a screen pass to the left with Ray-Ray McCloud. Though Cousins did hit Pitts for an 8-yard gain on third down, it wasn't enough to move the chains. The Falcons punted, giving the ball back to the Steelers. However, the Falcons defense would force another three-and-out fairly quickly with Matthew Judon and Grady Jarrett combining for a third-down sack of Justin Fields.
Despite their last offensive drive yielding no results, the Falcons still had life. They were down 15-10 but they got the ball back on their own 40-yard line and had 3:20 on the clock to score the go-ahead touchdown.
PLAY 5
The situation: With solid blocking down the left side, particularly by London at the second level, Robinson was able to find a hole after the first-down handoff from Cousins to pick up 13 yards. Now past midfield and with plenty of the time on the clock, the Falcons went no-huddle into shotgun with Robinson to Cousins' right.
The execution: The pocket collapsed on Cousins, especially when Lindstrom stepped to the right to help McGary with Watt. At the same time, Dalman was pushed back into Cousins by Larry Ogunjobi. As Cousins stepped up to throw, Ogunjobi shoved Dalman into his lap. Without the ability to properly follow through, Cousins' pass was short of his intended target of McCloud down the Falcons' sideline. The play might have been there had Cousins not been hit while he threw, but alas, we'll never know. Donte Jackson was there to intercept the pass, putting an abrupt end to the drive.
The problem: Asked about this specific play postgame, Cousins said he knew when the ball left his hand that he didn't "get anything on the ball."
"I'll go back and watch it and be critical and say, 'Hey, you know, maybe you eat it, or you progress or you dirt it.' Whatever you have to do to avoid the critical error of the interception," Cousins explained.
The outcome: We all know what happened, Pittsburgh won the game.
In the end, these five specific plays compounded to the result of a loss. If they don't happen at all, do the Falcons win? If they happen at different times, can the Falcons hold onto a lead? We don't know, and we'll never know. All we can do is look at the tape, analyze the problems and make sure they don't happen again. You can't keep mistakes from happening, but you can make them less critical, and looking back, these five plays were critical.
