September 26, 2025 • 28 mins
The crew recaps a tough week in wake of Atlanta's 30-0 loss at Carolina last Sunday. From the fanbase sentiment to changes the Falcons are making, they cover everything you need to know heading into Sunday's massive matchup with the Washington Commanders. To bring the positive vibes back, they finish off by giving the defense their flowers for an incredible first 3 games and what they'll need to do to contain either one of Washington's mobile quarterbacks.
0:00 - Intro
0:52 - Listening to the fanbase
7:25 - Coaching staff moves
11:30 - Zac Robinson moving to the field
17:25 - Atlanta's defensive success
22:45 - Containing Washington's QBs
27:21 - Outro
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Trust me, I love you. Get all of that. You
got all that? Yeah? Whoo, yeah, you got all that.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
They were still scoring twenty nineteen seventy seven. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Happy Friday Falcons fans, Welcome back to the Friday five.
I'm your host Will mcfadd and I am joined as
always by Tory mclaney and Tarren Walk. We are going
to go over the five things that you need to
know about the Atlanta Falcons heading into this weekend's matchup
against the Washington Commanders. The Falcons one and two coming
off of, you know, a loss that a lot of
(00:34):
people spent a lot of time talking about this week,
so they have a chance to get right back on
the horse and head into the bye week on a
positive note. But kind of before we really dig into
the state of the Falcons and things like that, I
kind of want to just know where the fans heads
are at. We do a mail bag twice a week
(00:55):
on Atlanta Falcons dot com. Tory, you kind of got
the first crack at the mail this week. What were
you met with when you went to go look at
the questions? The fans were asking.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
A lot of anger about where the offense is, which
I think is you know, valid when you in the
last eight quarters of play you've scored one touchdown in
the argument could be made that once you got you know,
inside the ten the vikings based on what the game was,
let you score that touchdown. So ultimately, I think that
(01:26):
there was a lot of like, the fans sentiment is
really disappointed in the offensive production at this point in time,
and that's where they've landed all week long. And I
don't think that anything that anybody said in a press
conference was going to change that sentiment. I don't think
(01:46):
anything that any anyone has shown on film reviews or
anything was going to change that sentiment. The only thing
that's going to change that sentiment is if this offense,
this Falcons offense, goes out against the Washington commanders and
is and does what they say they've wanted to be.
And until they do that, like the fan sentiment is
(02:09):
going to remain until you start scoring touchdowns, until you
are more consistent within your operation. There's nothing really I
can say to kind of discount or discredit what the
fans are saying. That that's I understand, and I think
it's incredibly fair and incredibly valid. When you go through
a game that you lose thirty to zero to an
(02:32):
NFC South opponent and move to zero and two in
divisional play. And that's again the Falcons are how to
prove it to me point with this fan base, and
that's where they currently set.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And Taring, you've done a great job covering all of
the press conferences throughout the week, talking to the players,
the coaches, and sharing that news on your Twitter account
at Taryn Walk. So what have you been met with
and what's the fan sentiment then in kind.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Of your replies, the people are active on the Twitter.
I don't know that the vibe has changed from Sunday
to now. This is Thursday when we're recording it, and
I don't think it's going to change unless there's a
completely different outcome this Sunday. So it's a little bit
of a scary place right now. Scroll in the feed.
I will say yesterday going off of what toy and
(03:22):
yesterday as in Wednesday, going off of what Tory was
saying about not knowing where the offense is. Garrett Chapman
from SI asked Zach Robinson about the external view that
this offense is predictable, and to that, Robinson said, we
don't feel that way. I feel like sometimes when you
have these types of games as coaches, you say, Okay,
(03:43):
do we need to pull back to simplify. Maybe we're
trying to do too much from a schematic standpoint, that's
always what we're looking inward as coaches, like, Okay, maybe
we put too much on the play, We were trying
to scheme too much, and we need to simplify it.
So I would actually kind of counter to say, in
these moments, you typically try to get simpler.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Gotcha, Yeah, I mean so it sounds like, again as
coaches are supposed to do, they're digging in to figure
out what didn't work right. And a lot of times
you'll hear that coaches and players will say, yeah, it's
outside noise, it's things like that. But at a time
like this, I kind of think when you are looking
for how do we get back on track, you got
(04:21):
to kind of be aware of what is being said. Tori.
You know, have you gotten the sense this week and
talking to the coaches and players like have they they
heard that, have they heard those criticisms, and how do
they feel what's been their response to kind of the anger.
I think that the fan base has it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I think they kind of have the same reaction as
what I just had, where it's like, it's all fair.
When you lose thirty to nothing against an NFC South
opponent that hadn't had a win yet, it's fair criticism.
And I think Raheem Morris kind of said it best
when he was like, you know, when you play as
bad as the Falcons played this past Sunday, it's warranted,
Like you have all of these stones that are being
(04:58):
thrown and there's no doubt he said, we were quote
clearly predictable last week that we could not do anything
so rightful stone throwers throw away. I have no arguments,
no fights, no nothing against that. And I think honestly,
like when you lose like that, that's the only approach
there is, Like you can't there's nothing to say to
(05:20):
change what that performance was. Again. All you can do
is the next time out be better. And I go
back to what Bajon Robinson said, and I said that
in my film study this past week about like what
the game was against the Carolina Panthers. I was like,
I've watched the film, I've gone through every play. I
can tell you all there is to know about like
(05:41):
what we saw, but really what I say doesn't matter.
What Bajon Robinson said in the locker room after that game,
where he's like, this is a make or break week
for us and for the Falcons. We need to be
able to look back at this week and say that's
the week that changed everything for the better. And that's
what Bajon said in the locker room after that game.
And it's something that like I've kind of clung to
(06:03):
this week. It's like nothing really matters. What you say
doesn't matter, Like what you put out on film doesn't matter.
Like go out and perform well against the Washington commanders
and get.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Back on track.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Something that came to mind this like literally today when
Jesse Bates was talking to the media. Is a week
ago we were asking him like, how do you get
the younger guys to turn the page from a big win?
M today we're asking him how do you get the
younger guys to turn the page from a big loss.
Obviously one comes with a happier connotation than the other,
but it's still the same vibe in a sense that
(06:35):
you can't be thinking about Carolina when Washington is in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, I think That was a fascinating question that was
asked because it did get me to think that things
like the approaches are different, but like the pull to
kind of stay in the past is very present in
both ways. But that's what's so interesting. It's like, on
the one hand, I want to fast forward just through
this week because nothing anybody is gonna say matters, because
(07:00):
after a loss like that, it's about what you do
and about especially what you do the next time out.
And yet what they're doing on the field and in
the facility is going to directly play into what you
do out there on the field on Sunday. So on
the one hand, this week is extremely important. On the
other hand, this week is kind of like Sunday to Sunday,
like there's that's what matters, what you do. However, there
(07:20):
was an action the Falcons took this week, a couple
of actions in fact, that should hopefully play into the
result being a positive one on Sunday, Terran, do you
want to walk us through the decision to kind of
move on from wide receivers coach I Killer.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah. So it came out on Monday night that the Falcons.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Released wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard and passing game coordinator.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
T J.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Yates is going to resume those responsibilities moving forward. Yates
has been with the Falcons since twenty twenty one, and
he was the wide receivers coach from twenty twenty two
to twenty twenty three before he became quarterbacks coach last
year and then earned another promotion this year. So that
is a big Week three change.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah. So TJ. Yates has experienced working with with Drake
London for his first two seasons, But I think the
move is a little bit bigger than just getting TJ.
Yates back working with those guys, you know, Tory. Why
do you think ultimately the Falcons felt that this was
a move they had to make at this time.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
All I can kind of say is what Rahee Morris
has told us about the move, and that's that it
was quote unquote performance based, And I think that he
was asked a couple of questions about it on Wednesday,
the first time they were able to speak to him
after the move was announced on Monday evening, and he
kind of the part of the quote that he said
(08:37):
that I kind of hung on to is that he
was kind of asked about the context of the fact
that Drake London, Darnel, and Mooney Ray Ray McLeod had
career years statistically last season and now you're three games
into this season and they don't have the production that
I think many are wanting them to have at this
(08:57):
point in time. And also the fact that the stat
is what it is, that no wide receiver or tight
end for the Atlanta Falcons has caught a touchdown pass
three games into the twenty twenty five season. Like that
in and of itself, like that stat alone is just
so like jarring, especially for this offense that has the
amount of first round draft picks that this group does.
Great point, So, I think what Rahiem said was that
(09:23):
he wanted to be able to go into that room
and present to those guys the right way to get
things done. That they have high expectations, they have high
goals that they want to reach. You just talked about
going last year to the point of like they had
career years.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You almost had two guys with thousand yards. Yeah, right,
Darnell was eight yard shy of breaking into that, and
they were one of four teams with two receivers in
the top twenty five of receiving yards, So like this
was a group to put up numbers last year.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah, and the quote is is right now we have
whiteouts without touchdowns. Right now, we have whiteouts that are
craving the ball. And it's not just Mike Pinnix. It's
not just them. There's no blame going around. But obviously
when you make moves like that, it feels like it
you have to make moves like that. But he said
that he had to make this directional decision for the
group because you need to have the environment, the coaching,
(10:17):
the details, everything right in order to get the offense
moving in the right direction. And the elephant is in
the room is like this decision is hopefully what they
believe is going to get things back on track. Now,
whether or not that happens is anyone's judgment. Is the
Falcons themselves have to go and prove that. I know
(10:38):
we're going to talk more about Zach Robinson moving from
the coaching box down to play call or call plays
on the field, But like all of this stuff, I'm
kind of like, Okay, you've made these changes. Do we
see that manifest on Sunday?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I don't know. I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I do think that's kind of and it was a
question in the mail bag, was you know a move
like this, how quickly are you going to see the
fruits of it? And I think part of the reason
the move is made is because of the success, Like
we saw what this group can look like when things
are going well. We saw that just last year, and
Michael Pennix was supposed to help take the roof off
of this offense, not have you know, the offensive, at
(11:17):
least the passing game kind of look the way that
it has been. So that move has been made, But
will we see the immediate impact of it on Sunday
or will it kind of takes some time and it
be after the bye week. Another move that we could
see immediate impacts from is the decision to pull Zach Robinson,
the offensive coordinator, down from the coaches booth where he
has been since he arrived here in Atlanta, to the
(11:38):
field with Michael Pennix. Junior Terran, you want to walk
us through kind of the details of that move.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Yeah, So the Falcons hired Zach Robinson last year and
from the start he said he was going to call
plays from the coaches booth.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Well, also on Monday, well, what's that Monday? Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Also on Monday, head coach Morris did say that Robinson
will now be calling plays from the sideline. The thought
is that will help Michael Pennox junior, especially as a
younger coordinator, and clean up these communication issues that they've
had sporadically, whether it was the crowd noise in Minnesota
or the headset issues in Carolina. And what's interesting is
Atlanta is the first time that Robinson has been in
(12:20):
the coaches booth. When he was with the Rams from
twenty nineteen to twenty twenty three, he was always on
the sideline and he's on the sideline when it comes
to practices, well sideline as in like right there next
to Michael during practice that it may be more familiar.
Maybe we will see the fruits of this change sooner
rather than later. But if you listen to the Falcons
(12:44):
audible podcast, plug U, Shock and Arch both talk about
their experience as quarterbacks and having their play caller on
the sideline and the benefits of it. It's really just
that personal communication that everyone has reference when talking about
this move, where you can see the quarterback's eyes, you
can see if he's confident, or nervous or not just
(13:04):
the quarterback, but the other players. Even Robinson used the
example of Hey, Lynstrom, Chris Lenstrom, how are you feeling
out there? Rather than having to go to Dwayne Ludford
and asking for a vibe check, it's just a direct
line of communication.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I also think that let's.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Go back to Sunday. It was very obvious and Raheem
Morris said this. Michael Penock said this Sunday was not
Michael Pennock's day.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Nope, that was.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Arguably, honestly not even arguably, that was the worst performance
that he has had as the Falcon starting quarterback. And
he seemed uncomfortable in the pocket, and he was not
hitting open receivers, something he talked about this week. I've
got to get the ball in the hands of guys
whin they're open. So these are all things that are
(13:47):
happening in the moment, and it never really felt like
he could get out of that, which is very common
amongst young quarterbacks and especially when things are snowballing to
the effect of what they were on Sunday. And I
think something that has come up as a theme over
the course of the last three days four days of
Our reporting is that Raheem Morris, Zach Robinson said that
(14:09):
they did not do enough as coaches and other players
around Michael Pennix did not do enough as his teammates
to help him out when he was struggling. And when
you have a quarterback that is only going into seventh start,
that's vitally important that you have some pick me ups.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Did they provide any examples of something they didn't do
or something they could do moving forward?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
So I think that Zach moving down to the sideline
is a very obvious. We did not have the things
in place to have the conversations that we needed to
have in the moment efficiently.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So even if they wanted to have some of those conversations,
was like, we can't.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Right, yeah, okay, And so I think that's one. And
then I also think receivers tight ends. There were some
drop balls. So even Jehan Robinson one of the runs
that he has where he kind of stuttersteps and it
probably would have been a ten plus yard gang turned
into maybe a two to three yard game. Like even
when Michael Pennix was not you know, was not actively
(15:06):
kind of missing guys on routes or making kind of
the wrong decision. There wasn't any help around him either,
So I think that also falls on receivers, it also
falls on running backs, offensive line. It was a whole
operational issue that even if Mike was high, others were low,
and then if others were high, Mike was low, and
it just never got in sync. And so all of
this is kind of the microcosm of I think the
(15:29):
move of Zach Robinson down to the field. And I
do think that Zach Robinson was the one that he
said that he went to Raheem Morris about potentially making
that move this week. He really thought it was a
time for a reset, reset, and he said that he
does believe that this is where he'll be for the
remainder of the season, seeing how barring how things change
(15:50):
or things go. But again, will this mean anything for
what the Falcons show production wise? Scoring points? Why is
on Sunday again, I don't know. I don't have the
answer to that. We could go out there and it
could look the exact same or it could look totally different.
I don't know. At this point in time, I don't
know what that's gonna be and how that's going to manifest.
(16:11):
But at least the Falcons have tried to do something.
They took what the thirty to nothing lost in Carolina was.
They've made changes, they've evolved some things. They've they've tried
to throw thing, you know, throw some darts at the
wall and see what sticks and what works. And this
is this is their plan right now moving forward. We'll
see if it works out.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
The week five bye is kind of a blessing and
occurs in a sense that we're talking about these two changes.
Are we going to see like return on investment? Not
return on investment?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
That's fair?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Like that's a fair that sinds a weird word, but
like no change, like something that is actually happening.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Effects exactly, Yeah, cause.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Cause and effect. There we go. So science, I.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Would say the week five bye is a blessing. At
this point, everybody was like, man, it's such an early bite.
Like if you're the Buffalo Bills Kansas City Chiefs that
you've been to the playoffs three, four or five years
in a row, Yeah, then you can start looking at
like where's the buye? Man, it would be great if
that was week eleven, right, But there's always been in
my mind of benefit, especially when you have a new element,
like a quarterback for the first time in there as starter,
(17:15):
like an early buy. Let's get under the hood. If
something kind of the way things have unfolded unfolds, you
need to make some changes, all right, Let's adapt to
a new normal. A new normal for the Falcons this
season seems to be a pretty good defense, and I
feel like we've lost a little bit of sight of
the defense performance. Now. It wasn't their best game this season.
That came in Week two against Minnesota when there were
lights out, and I want to remind everybody that. But
(17:37):
they weren't bad on Sunday either. So Teren, what has
been kind of the discussion about the defense this week
and kind of your thoughts on them.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
The team itself isn't going to give credit anywhere after
a loss like that, but when you look at it,
the defense held its own for what it was given.
I mean, the Panthers, you have to give them that
first touchdown it was a four yard rush from Bryce Young,
but then there were two field goals, a defensive touchdown,
and that one yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
(18:09):
The game's kind of out at that point, so the
defense locked in after that first touchdown. So like, yeah,
every unit has to be better. Every unit quote unquote
played poorly last Sunday. You can't say anything else after
a thirty to zero loss. But the defense was the
lesser of the evils. I mean overall, the Falcons ranked
second in the NFL right now with two hundred twenty
(18:31):
seven point three yards per game. At this point last season,
the defense was allowing three hundred and twenty six point
seven yards per game. That's basically one hundred yard difference,
give or take a penny or two.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Like it's a small sample size, but it's a good start.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Also, that is the second lowest yards per came average
allowed through three games of a season all time. The
last time that it was than that was nineteen seventy seven,
which everyone was talking about like grit Splitz era.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I was gonna say, that is the grid Splitz defense.
Are y'all aware of of just the importance of the
grid Splitz not just to me?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
But I am, yeah, I am not?
Speaker 1 (19:15):
All right? Well cool, I've got a couple of fun
facts for you. The gritz Splitz allowed one hundred and
ninety two points during the nineteen seventy seven season, which
is the fewest ever for a fourteen game season, so
that you didn't know that an Atlanta Falcons defense holds
a defensive record or fewest points allowed in a season.
But the grit splitz was that good. The most points
(19:36):
that they allowed in a single game that season was
twenty three. They pitched two shutouts. They also lost a
game three to nothing. Yeah that year to the Buffalo Bills,
which when that like, if I'm a defensive player, I
kind of like, we didn't even lose this game. No,
are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I'd be like, that's a win.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah one right, we ain't allowed a touchdown. We just
allowed a field goal, right, Yeah, I know it's nineteen
seventy seven, but they were. They were putting up points
back in that era too. You know, it's not wasn't
all just kicking.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
They were still scoring touchdowns in nineteen seventy seven. Yeah,
but just against the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
There you go. Nobody could stone wall. But because this
defense is already off to a great start, you know,
I know that we can discuss the matchup part of
this in a little bit, but this week there's not
a ton to like dig into defensively because of all
this stuff offensively, but I still feel like we shouldn't
lose sight of just the start that this group has had.
(20:27):
They are currently sixth in sacks per pass attempt. Ten
point four percent of the time there's pass temp, Falcons
are getting a sack, which is crazy. Just think about
how far we've come that we're saying that right now. Yeah,
they're eighth in the league in pressure rate at just
over forty percent, tenth in points allowed seventeen point three
and that's just by the defense. So I was able
to take out that pick six tenth and rushing yards
(20:50):
allowed per game, first in passing yards allowed per game,
so that a lot of talk about like the run defense,
is it gonna be able to hold up if you're
focusing a lot on this pass rush and the second
it turns out, Yeah, like you're able to sustain both
right there. And this is kind of my favorite so
far is their second in time of possession. Now, I
know that that has not resulted in wins yet, but
they have really, I think controlled every game they've been
(21:12):
in fairly nicely. It's just the ability to score points
right like they've moved the ball. Though.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I also think that they have gotten off the field
on third down exactly, like that was something that in
Carolina specifically. When people are like, oh, like the defense,
the defense, I'm like, but I believe they held Carolina
to like three of eleven they got off the field
and or had to settle for a field goal because
field position was what it was. Like, I'm okay with that,
(21:37):
Like I'm always about the Like, trust me, I love defense.
I think defense wins championships. I know that this is
a quarterback pass heavy like era that we're living in,
but I love defense. I love watching good defenses get
after it. And I think that what I have seen
from this defense and what Jeff Ulbrich has done and
what these new pieces have done, I think it's it's
(21:58):
just been very refreshing that the move and decisions that
were made in the off season are panning out for
this unit specifically, and now you need the offense and
special teams pick it up. And to the point of,
like I know everybody is. I know I tweeted about
like the stats that Taran was giving this week, and
everybody's like, finally, when the Falcons have like a solid defense,
their offense can't score.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
And it's like I get it.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I understand that that point of view, but it's just
it is kind of true to a certain extent, Like
the defense is doing what they need to do to
keep games in check, and I like watching them play.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
But you need all three phases. But that's kind of
what gives me a little bit of optimism that they
can figure out this offensive piece because they figured out
the defensive piece, right, Like, that was the last challenge
ahead of them, So now you've got to get the
next one. But there's a challenge ahead of Atlanta's defense
this weekends. Aran They've got a couple of mobile quarterbacks.
We don't know necessarily, we don't know. You want to
fill us in on the situation that they face with
(22:55):
Washington's offense.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
So Jayden Daniels is the starting quarterback, but he is
dealing with a knee and and did not play in
Week three. A familiar face to the Falcons, Marcus Mariota,
stepped in Daniels's absence.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
What did he do?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
He threw for two hundred one yards and added forty
on the ground. He threw for forty three yard touchdown
and ran for a two yard touchdown. The Commanders beat
the Raiders forty one to twenty four, almost said twenty three.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
But Daniels was back at practice this week for the
first time since his injury, albeit he was in a
limited capacity, So it's still up in the air. Everyone
on the Falcons side said, we're going to prepare for both.
You expect him to say that. Dan Quinn during his
press conference earlier this week said, we'll continue to rely
on the medical team to fully clear Jade and Daniels.
(23:41):
But what I can say is he is doing everything
you can possibly can to get there. The guy's an
ultimate competitor, you know that. I know that he is
absolutely digging. So I don't know who's gonna play.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
So then, Tori, how how are the Falcons going about?
Kind of it's not a new problem in the u
NFL right over the course of the season usually you'll
face this. So how are they going about preparing for
both guys?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well, the good news is for the Falcons is that
both guys' skill sets are kind of working off of
one another and they kind of do the same thing.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Like Jane Daniels to Peyton Manning.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Right exactly.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
I mean, yeah, like Marcus Mariota and Jayden Daniels, like
there are obvious differences between their games, like especially because
we know we covered Marcus, you know, for a year
here in Atlanta, and so you know, both guys are
very willing to move out of the pocket if things
break down, and not even when things break down. There
are some RPO stuff that they do that they have
design runs specifically for the quarterback to get out in space.
(24:35):
And I think that is where as I'm thinking about
how this defense plays this commander's team, there is a
small part of me that thinks that we could see
a more conservative approach by Jeff Olbrick and this defense
to account for how Jade and Daniels and Marcus Mariota
can pick up yards on the ground, whether it be
(24:58):
on a scramble or an actual design run.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And you think like a defensive spy a little bit.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, I do think.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Player to specifically be looking at the quarterback eyes on
the court.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Yes, And so I mean that, and I also kind
of mean maybe seeing even less full out blitz opportunities,
Like I don't think the highest they are blitzing.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, they are crazy.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
They are blitzing at a very high level, and they're
they're seeing a lot of like productivity from those blitzes,
and so I think that we may not. And this
is just I haven't talked to Jeff Ulbrick, like I
don't know what he's planning to do against Sunday. Actually, yeah,
I'm actually spying. I'm the one. But I do think
that there could be a level of more like less blitzes,
(25:44):
more conservative, keep everything in front, make sure that you
have your lane, your spot, your assignment, and make sure
the edges are kind of covered. I don't think that
is a bad thing, and I also don't think it's
gonna be indicative of what we see from this kind
of moving forward down the road. But I think when
you know the threat level of either Jayden Daniels or
(26:07):
Marcus Mariota getting out of the pocket, there needs to
be adjustments may and I think those could be some
slight tweak So we may not see the sack numbers
that you saw against JJ McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings
in Week two. But I think that's okay if it
means that you're not giving up a ten fifteen yard
explosive from one of these quarterbacks, whoever they may be.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And I think kind of the state of Atlanta's offense
right now. Obviously coming off a game where you scored
no points, like I could see the defensive game plan
being a little bit more. Hey, we got to keep
this low scoring, so we may not take as many
risks because we can't afford if something goes against us,
at least right now, because we may not know what
we're getting on the other side of the ball. The
(26:49):
hope is one day that, Yeah, you're putting a lot
of pressure on opposing offenses, which puts you in the
position to then kind of attack and be on your
front foot. But the Commanders have the best yards per
carry UH in the league right now. Obviously with a
dual threat quarterback that's going to be a little bit higher,
but they're also second in the league with two point
one yards before contact on designed run. So that's taking
(27:12):
out scrambles, that's taking out any of the broken down plays.
So this is an offensive line that can move the
line of scrimmage. Atlanta's defense is going to have to
be ready, But that is all we've got for you, guys.
On today's episode of The Friday Five, the Falcons will
be you're looking at me like you got something.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Else, got it more? Rate, you got more as if
it wasn't great, No, I don't have any more. But
don't say like all you've got all right?
Speaker 1 (27:37):
No that you get all of that? You got all that? Whoo,
yeah you got all that? Is that better for you to?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
But it was a little loud.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
That's what I'm talking about now. I'm uncomfortable down your speaker.
It's getting crazy in here, man. That is the energy
start of the show with. But we're ending it with
the show and I hope everybody takes that energy into
their weekend and has an amazing one and is ready
for hopefully an amazing game on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Go Dogs, Go god.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
A Crimson tied turning Crimson right now, so we should
probably wraptle all right. Thank you guys so much. This
is great. Share it if you like it, and we
will see you guys after the game on Sunday for
final whistle. Until then, take care
Trust me, I love you. Get all of that. You
got all that? Yeah? Whoo, yeah, you got all that.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
They were still scoring twenty nineteen seventy seven. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Happy Friday Falcons fans, Welcome back to the Friday five.
I'm your host Will mcfadd and I am joined as
always by Tory mclaney and Tarren Walk. We are going
to go over the five things that you need to
know about the Atlanta Falcons heading into this weekend's matchup
against the Washington Commanders. The Falcons one and two coming
off of, you know, a loss that a lot of
(00:34):
people spent a lot of time talking about this week,
so they have a chance to get right back on
the horse and head into the bye week on a
positive note. But kind of before we really dig into
the state of the Falcons and things like that, I
kind of want to just know where the fans heads
are at. We do a mail bag twice a week
(00:55):
on Atlanta Falcons dot com. Tory, you kind of got
the first crack at the mail this week. What were
you met with when you went to go look at
the questions? The fans were asking.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
A lot of anger about where the offense is, which
I think is you know, valid when you in the
last eight quarters of play you've scored one touchdown in
the argument could be made that once you got you know,
inside the ten the vikings based on what the game was,
let you score that touchdown. So ultimately, I think that
(01:26):
there was a lot of like, the fans sentiment is
really disappointed in the offensive production at this point in time,
and that's where they've landed all week long. And I
don't think that anything that anybody said in a press
conference was going to change that sentiment. I don't think
(01:46):
anything that any anyone has shown on film reviews or
anything was going to change that sentiment. The only thing
that's going to change that sentiment is if this offense,
this Falcons offense, goes out against the Washington commanders and
is and does what they say they've wanted to be.
And until they do that, like the fan sentiment is
(02:09):
going to remain until you start scoring touchdowns, until you
are more consistent within your operation. There's nothing really I
can say to kind of discount or discredit what the
fans are saying. That that's I understand, and I think
it's incredibly fair and incredibly valid. When you go through
a game that you lose thirty to zero to an
(02:32):
NFC South opponent and move to zero and two in
divisional play. And that's again the Falcons are how to
prove it to me point with this fan base, and
that's where they currently set.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And Taring, you've done a great job covering all of
the press conferences throughout the week, talking to the players,
the coaches, and sharing that news on your Twitter account
at Taryn Walk. So what have you been met with
and what's the fan sentiment then in kind.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Of your replies, the people are active on the Twitter.
I don't know that the vibe has changed from Sunday
to now. This is Thursday when we're recording it, and
I don't think it's going to change unless there's a
completely different outcome this Sunday. So it's a little bit
of a scary place right now. Scroll in the feed.
I will say yesterday going off of what toy and
(03:22):
yesterday as in Wednesday, going off of what Tory was
saying about not knowing where the offense is. Garrett Chapman
from SI asked Zach Robinson about the external view that
this offense is predictable, and to that, Robinson said, we
don't feel that way. I feel like sometimes when you
have these types of games as coaches, you say, Okay,
(03:43):
do we need to pull back to simplify. Maybe we're
trying to do too much from a schematic standpoint, that's
always what we're looking inward as coaches, like, Okay, maybe
we put too much on the play, We were trying
to scheme too much, and we need to simplify it.
So I would actually kind of counter to say, in
these moments, you typically try to get simpler.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Gotcha, Yeah, I mean so it sounds like, again as
coaches are supposed to do, they're digging in to figure
out what didn't work right. And a lot of times
you'll hear that coaches and players will say, yeah, it's
outside noise, it's things like that. But at a time
like this, I kind of think when you are looking
for how do we get back on track, you got
(04:21):
to kind of be aware of what is being said. Tori.
You know, have you gotten the sense this week and
talking to the coaches and players like have they they
heard that, have they heard those criticisms, and how do
they feel what's been their response to kind of the anger.
I think that the fan base has it.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I think they kind of have the same reaction as
what I just had, where it's like, it's all fair.
When you lose thirty to nothing against an NFC South
opponent that hadn't had a win yet, it's fair criticism.
And I think Raheem Morris kind of said it best
when he was like, you know, when you play as
bad as the Falcons played this past Sunday, it's warranted,
Like you have all of these stones that are being
(04:58):
thrown and there's no doubt he said, we were quote
clearly predictable last week that we could not do anything
so rightful stone throwers throw away. I have no arguments,
no fights, no nothing against that. And I think honestly,
like when you lose like that, that's the only approach
there is, Like you can't there's nothing to say to
(05:20):
change what that performance was. Again. All you can do
is the next time out be better. And I go
back to what Bajon Robinson said, and I said that
in my film study this past week about like what
the game was against the Carolina Panthers. I was like,
I've watched the film, I've gone through every play. I
can tell you all there is to know about like
(05:41):
what we saw, but really what I say doesn't matter.
What Bajon Robinson said in the locker room after that game,
where he's like, this is a make or break week
for us and for the Falcons. We need to be
able to look back at this week and say that's
the week that changed everything for the better. And that's
what Bajon said in the locker room after that game.
And it's something that like I've kind of clung to
(06:03):
this week. It's like nothing really matters. What you say
doesn't matter, Like what you put out on film doesn't matter.
Like go out and perform well against the Washington commanders
and get.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Back on track.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Something that came to mind this like literally today when
Jesse Bates was talking to the media. Is a week
ago we were asking him like, how do you get
the younger guys to turn the page from a big win?
M today we're asking him how do you get the
younger guys to turn the page from a big loss.
Obviously one comes with a happier connotation than the other,
but it's still the same vibe in a sense that
(06:35):
you can't be thinking about Carolina when Washington is in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, I think That was a fascinating question that was
asked because it did get me to think that things
like the approaches are different, but like the pull to
kind of stay in the past is very present in
both ways. But that's what's so interesting. It's like, on
the one hand, I want to fast forward just through
this week because nothing anybody is gonna say matters, because
(07:00):
after a loss like that, it's about what you do
and about especially what you do the next time out.
And yet what they're doing on the field and in
the facility is going to directly play into what you
do out there on the field on Sunday. So on
the one hand, this week is extremely important. On the
other hand, this week is kind of like Sunday to Sunday,
like there's that's what matters, what you do. However, there
(07:20):
was an action the Falcons took this week, a couple
of actions in fact, that should hopefully play into the
result being a positive one on Sunday, Terran, do you
want to walk us through the decision to kind of
move on from wide receivers coach I Killer.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah. So it came out on Monday night that the Falcons.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Released wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard and passing game coordinator.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
T J.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Yates is going to resume those responsibilities moving forward. Yates
has been with the Falcons since twenty twenty one, and
he was the wide receivers coach from twenty twenty two
to twenty twenty three before he became quarterbacks coach last
year and then earned another promotion this year. So that
is a big Week three change.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yeah. So TJ. Yates has experienced working with with Drake
London for his first two seasons, But I think the
move is a little bit bigger than just getting TJ.
Yates back working with those guys, you know, Tory. Why
do you think ultimately the Falcons felt that this was
a move they had to make at this time.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
All I can kind of say is what Rahee Morris
has told us about the move, and that's that it
was quote unquote performance based, And I think that he
was asked a couple of questions about it on Wednesday,
the first time they were able to speak to him
after the move was announced on Monday evening, and he
kind of the part of the quote that he said
(08:37):
that I kind of hung on to is that he
was kind of asked about the context of the fact
that Drake London, Darnel, and Mooney Ray Ray McLeod had
career years statistically last season and now you're three games
into this season and they don't have the production that
I think many are wanting them to have at this
(08:57):
point in time. And also the fact that the stat
is what it is, that no wide receiver or tight
end for the Atlanta Falcons has caught a touchdown pass
three games into the twenty twenty five season. Like that
in and of itself, like that stat alone is just
so like jarring, especially for this offense that has the
amount of first round draft picks that this group does.
Great point, So, I think what Rahiem said was that
(09:23):
he wanted to be able to go into that room
and present to those guys the right way to get
things done. That they have high expectations, they have high
goals that they want to reach. You just talked about
going last year to the point of like they had
career years.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
You almost had two guys with thousand yards. Yeah, right,
Darnell was eight yard shy of breaking into that, and
they were one of four teams with two receivers in
the top twenty five of receiving yards, So like this
was a group to put up numbers last year.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah, and the quote is is right now we have
whiteouts without touchdowns. Right now, we have whiteouts that are
craving the ball. And it's not just Mike Pinnix. It's
not just them. There's no blame going around. But obviously
when you make moves like that, it feels like it
you have to make moves like that. But he said
that he had to make this directional decision for the
group because you need to have the environment, the coaching,
(10:17):
the details, everything right in order to get the offense
moving in the right direction. And the elephant is in
the room is like this decision is hopefully what they
believe is going to get things back on track. Now,
whether or not that happens is anyone's judgment. Is the
Falcons themselves have to go and prove that. I know
(10:38):
we're going to talk more about Zach Robinson moving from
the coaching box down to play call or call plays
on the field, But like all of this stuff, I'm
kind of like, Okay, you've made these changes. Do we
see that manifest on Sunday?
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I don't know. I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I do think that's kind of and it was a
question in the mail bag, was you know a move
like this, how quickly are you going to see the
fruits of it? And I think part of the reason
the move is made is because of the success, Like
we saw what this group can look like when things
are going well. We saw that just last year, and
Michael Pennix was supposed to help take the roof off
of this offense, not have you know, the offensive, at
(11:17):
least the passing game kind of look the way that
it has been. So that move has been made, But
will we see the immediate impact of it on Sunday
or will it kind of takes some time and it
be after the bye week. Another move that we could
see immediate impacts from is the decision to pull Zach Robinson,
the offensive coordinator, down from the coaches booth where he
has been since he arrived here in Atlanta, to the
(11:38):
field with Michael Pennix. Junior Terran, you want to walk
us through kind of the details of that move.
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Yeah, So the Falcons hired Zach Robinson last year and
from the start he said he was going to call
plays from the coaches booth.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Well, also on Monday, well, what's that Monday? Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Also on Monday, head coach Morris did say that Robinson
will now be calling plays from the sideline. The thought
is that will help Michael Pennox junior, especially as a
younger coordinator, and clean up these communication issues that they've
had sporadically, whether it was the crowd noise in Minnesota
or the headset issues in Carolina. And what's interesting is
Atlanta is the first time that Robinson has been in
(12:20):
the coaches booth. When he was with the Rams from
twenty nineteen to twenty twenty three, he was always on
the sideline and he's on the sideline when it comes
to practices, well sideline as in like right there next
to Michael during practice that it may be more familiar.
Maybe we will see the fruits of this change sooner
rather than later. But if you listen to the Falcons
(12:44):
audible podcast, plug U, Shock and Arch both talk about
their experience as quarterbacks and having their play caller on
the sideline and the benefits of it. It's really just
that personal communication that everyone has reference when talking about
this move, where you can see the quarterback's eyes, you
can see if he's confident, or nervous or not just
(13:04):
the quarterback, but the other players. Even Robinson used the
example of Hey, Lynstrom, Chris Lenstrom, how are you feeling
out there? Rather than having to go to Dwayne Ludford
and asking for a vibe check, it's just a direct
line of communication.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I also think that let's.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Go back to Sunday. It was very obvious and Raheem
Morris said this. Michael Penock said this Sunday was not
Michael Pennock's day.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Nope, that was.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Arguably, honestly not even arguably, that was the worst performance
that he has had as the Falcon starting quarterback. And
he seemed uncomfortable in the pocket, and he was not
hitting open receivers, something he talked about this week. I've
got to get the ball in the hands of guys
whin they're open. So these are all things that are
(13:47):
happening in the moment, and it never really felt like
he could get out of that, which is very common
amongst young quarterbacks and especially when things are snowballing to
the effect of what they were on Sunday. And I
think something that has come up as a theme over
the course of the last three days four days of
Our reporting is that Raheem Morris, Zach Robinson said that
(14:09):
they did not do enough as coaches and other players
around Michael Pennix did not do enough as his teammates
to help him out when he was struggling. And when
you have a quarterback that is only going into seventh start,
that's vitally important that you have some pick me ups.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Did they provide any examples of something they didn't do
or something they could do moving forward?
Speaker 3 (14:33):
So I think that Zach moving down to the sideline
is a very obvious. We did not have the things
in place to have the conversations that we needed to
have in the moment efficiently.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So even if they wanted to have some of those conversations,
was like, we can't.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
Right, yeah, okay, And so I think that's one. And
then I also think receivers tight ends. There were some
drop balls. So even Jehan Robinson one of the runs
that he has where he kind of stuttersteps and it
probably would have been a ten plus yard gang turned
into maybe a two to three yard game. Like even
when Michael Pennix was not you know, was not actively
(15:06):
kind of missing guys on routes or making kind of
the wrong decision. There wasn't any help around him either,
So I think that also falls on receivers, it also
falls on running backs, offensive line. It was a whole
operational issue that even if Mike was high, others were low,
and then if others were high, Mike was low, and
it just never got in sync. And so all of
this is kind of the microcosm of I think the
(15:29):
move of Zach Robinson down to the field. And I
do think that Zach Robinson was the one that he
said that he went to Raheem Morris about potentially making
that move this week. He really thought it was a
time for a reset, reset, and he said that he
does believe that this is where he'll be for the
remainder of the season, seeing how barring how things change
(15:50):
or things go. But again, will this mean anything for
what the Falcons show production wise? Scoring points? Why is
on Sunday again, I don't know. I don't have the
answer to that. We could go out there and it
could look the exact same or it could look totally different.
I don't know. At this point in time, I don't
know what that's gonna be and how that's going to manifest.
(16:11):
But at least the Falcons have tried to do something.
They took what the thirty to nothing lost in Carolina was.
They've made changes, they've evolved some things. They've they've tried
to throw thing, you know, throw some darts at the
wall and see what sticks and what works. And this
is this is their plan right now moving forward. We'll
see if it works out.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
The week five bye is kind of a blessing and
occurs in a sense that we're talking about these two changes.
Are we going to see like return on investment? Not
return on investment?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
That's fair?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Like that's a fair that sinds a weird word, but
like no change, like something that is actually happening.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Effects exactly, Yeah, cause.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Cause and effect. There we go. So science, I.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Would say the week five bye is a blessing. At
this point, everybody was like, man, it's such an early bite.
Like if you're the Buffalo Bills Kansas City Chiefs that
you've been to the playoffs three, four or five years
in a row, Yeah, then you can start looking at
like where's the buye? Man, it would be great if
that was week eleven, right, But there's always been in
my mind of benefit, especially when you have a new element,
like a quarterback for the first time in there as starter,
(17:15):
like an early buy. Let's get under the hood. If
something kind of the way things have unfolded unfolds, you
need to make some changes, all right, Let's adapt to
a new normal. A new normal for the Falcons this
season seems to be a pretty good defense, and I
feel like we've lost a little bit of sight of
the defense performance. Now. It wasn't their best game this season.
That came in Week two against Minnesota when there were
lights out, and I want to remind everybody that. But
(17:37):
they weren't bad on Sunday either. So Teren, what has
been kind of the discussion about the defense this week
and kind of your thoughts on them.
Speaker 4 (17:48):
The team itself isn't going to give credit anywhere after
a loss like that, but when you look at it,
the defense held its own for what it was given.
I mean, the Panthers, you have to give them that
first touchdown it was a four yard rush from Bryce Young,
but then there were two field goals, a defensive touchdown,
and that one yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
(18:09):
The game's kind of out at that point, so the
defense locked in after that first touchdown. So like, yeah,
every unit has to be better. Every unit quote unquote
played poorly last Sunday. You can't say anything else after
a thirty to zero loss. But the defense was the
lesser of the evils. I mean overall, the Falcons ranked
second in the NFL right now with two hundred twenty
(18:31):
seven point three yards per game. At this point last season,
the defense was allowing three hundred and twenty six point
seven yards per game. That's basically one hundred yard difference,
give or take a penny or two.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Like it's a small sample size, but it's a good start.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Also, that is the second lowest yards per came average
allowed through three games of a season all time. The
last time that it was than that was nineteen seventy seven,
which everyone was talking about like grit Splitz era.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I was gonna say, that is the grid Splitz defense.
Are y'all aware of of just the importance of the
grid Splitz not just to me?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
But I am, yeah, I am not?
Speaker 1 (19:15):
All right? Well cool, I've got a couple of fun
facts for you. The gritz Splitz allowed one hundred and
ninety two points during the nineteen seventy seven season, which
is the fewest ever for a fourteen game season, so
that you didn't know that an Atlanta Falcons defense holds
a defensive record or fewest points allowed in a season.
But the grit splitz was that good. The most points
(19:36):
that they allowed in a single game that season was
twenty three. They pitched two shutouts. They also lost a
game three to nothing. Yeah that year to the Buffalo Bills,
which when that like, if I'm a defensive player, I
kind of like, we didn't even lose this game. No,
are you kidding?
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I'd be like, that's a win.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Yeah one right, we ain't allowed a touchdown. We just
allowed a field goal, right, Yeah, I know it's nineteen
seventy seven, but they were. They were putting up points
back in that era too. You know, it's not wasn't
all just kicking.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
They were still scoring touchdowns in nineteen seventy seven. Yeah,
but just against the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
There you go. Nobody could stone wall. But because this
defense is already off to a great start, you know,
I know that we can discuss the matchup part of
this in a little bit, but this week there's not
a ton to like dig into defensively because of all
this stuff offensively, but I still feel like we shouldn't
lose sight of just the start that this group has had.
(20:27):
They are currently sixth in sacks per pass attempt. Ten
point four percent of the time there's pass temp, Falcons
are getting a sack, which is crazy. Just think about
how far we've come that we're saying that right now. Yeah,
they're eighth in the league in pressure rate at just
over forty percent, tenth in points allowed seventeen point three
and that's just by the defense. So I was able
to take out that pick six tenth and rushing yards
(20:50):
allowed per game, first in passing yards allowed per game,
so that a lot of talk about like the run defense,
is it gonna be able to hold up if you're
focusing a lot on this pass rush and the second
it turns out, Yeah, like you're able to sustain both
right there. And this is kind of my favorite so
far is their second in time of possession. Now, I
know that that has not resulted in wins yet, but
they have really, I think controlled every game they've been
(21:12):
in fairly nicely. It's just the ability to score points
right like they've moved the ball. Though.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
I also think that they have gotten off the field
on third down exactly, like that was something that in
Carolina specifically. When people are like, oh, like the defense,
the defense, I'm like, but I believe they held Carolina
to like three of eleven they got off the field
and or had to settle for a field goal because
field position was what it was. Like, I'm okay with that,
(21:37):
Like I'm always about the Like, trust me, I love defense.
I think defense wins championships. I know that this is
a quarterback pass heavy like era that we're living in,
but I love defense. I love watching good defenses get
after it. And I think that what I have seen
from this defense and what Jeff Ulbrich has done and
what these new pieces have done, I think it's it's
(21:58):
just been very refreshing that the move and decisions that
were made in the off season are panning out for
this unit specifically, and now you need the offense and
special teams pick it up. And to the point of,
like I know everybody is. I know I tweeted about
like the stats that Taran was giving this week, and
everybody's like, finally, when the Falcons have like a solid defense,
their offense can't score.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
And it's like I get it.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
I understand that that point of view, but it's just
it is kind of true to a certain extent, Like
the defense is doing what they need to do to
keep games in check, and I like watching them play.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
But you need all three phases. But that's kind of
what gives me a little bit of optimism that they
can figure out this offensive piece because they figured out
the defensive piece, right, Like, that was the last challenge
ahead of them, So now you've got to get the
next one. But there's a challenge ahead of Atlanta's defense
this weekends. Aran They've got a couple of mobile quarterbacks.
We don't know necessarily, we don't know. You want to
fill us in on the situation that they face with
(22:55):
Washington's offense.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
So Jayden Daniels is the starting quarterback, but he is
dealing with a knee and and did not play in
Week three. A familiar face to the Falcons, Marcus Mariota,
stepped in Daniels's absence.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
What did he do?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
He threw for two hundred one yards and added forty
on the ground. He threw for forty three yard touchdown
and ran for a two yard touchdown. The Commanders beat
the Raiders forty one to twenty four, almost said twenty three.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
But Daniels was back at practice this week for the
first time since his injury, albeit he was in a
limited capacity, So it's still up in the air. Everyone
on the Falcons side said, we're going to prepare for both.
You expect him to say that. Dan Quinn during his
press conference earlier this week said, we'll continue to rely
on the medical team to fully clear Jade and Daniels.
(23:41):
But what I can say is he is doing everything
you can possibly can to get there. The guy's an
ultimate competitor, you know that. I know that he is
absolutely digging. So I don't know who's gonna play.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
So then, Tori, how how are the Falcons going about?
Kind of it's not a new problem in the u
NFL right over the course of the season usually you'll
face this. So how are they going about preparing for
both guys?
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Well, the good news is for the Falcons is that
both guys' skill sets are kind of working off of
one another and they kind of do the same thing.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Like Jane Daniels to Peyton Manning.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Right exactly.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
I mean, yeah, like Marcus Mariota and Jayden Daniels, like
there are obvious differences between their games, like especially because
we know we covered Marcus, you know, for a year
here in Atlanta, and so you know, both guys are
very willing to move out of the pocket if things
break down, and not even when things break down. There
are some RPO stuff that they do that they have
design runs specifically for the quarterback to get out in space.
(24:35):
And I think that is where as I'm thinking about
how this defense plays this commander's team, there is a
small part of me that thinks that we could see
a more conservative approach by Jeff Olbrick and this defense
to account for how Jade and Daniels and Marcus Mariota
can pick up yards on the ground, whether it be
(24:58):
on a scramble or an actual design run.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And you think like a defensive spy a little bit.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, I do think.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Player to specifically be looking at the quarterback eyes on
the court.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Yes, And so I mean that, and I also kind
of mean maybe seeing even less full out blitz opportunities,
Like I don't think the highest they are blitzing.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Yeah, they are crazy.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
They are blitzing at a very high level, and they're
they're seeing a lot of like productivity from those blitzes,
and so I think that we may not. And this
is just I haven't talked to Jeff Ulbrick, like I
don't know what he's planning to do against Sunday. Actually, yeah,
I'm actually spying. I'm the one. But I do think
that there could be a level of more like less blitzes,
(25:44):
more conservative, keep everything in front, make sure that you
have your lane, your spot, your assignment, and make sure
the edges are kind of covered. I don't think that
is a bad thing, and I also don't think it's
gonna be indicative of what we see from this kind
of moving forward down the road. But I think when
you know the threat level of either Jayden Daniels or
(26:07):
Marcus Mariota getting out of the pocket, there needs to
be adjustments may and I think those could be some
slight tweak So we may not see the sack numbers
that you saw against JJ McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings
in Week two. But I think that's okay if it
means that you're not giving up a ten fifteen yard
explosive from one of these quarterbacks, whoever they may be.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And I think kind of the state of Atlanta's offense
right now. Obviously coming off a game where you scored
no points, like I could see the defensive game plan
being a little bit more. Hey, we got to keep
this low scoring, so we may not take as many
risks because we can't afford if something goes against us,
at least right now, because we may not know what
we're getting on the other side of the ball. The
(26:49):
hope is one day that, Yeah, you're putting a lot
of pressure on opposing offenses, which puts you in the
position to then kind of attack and be on your
front foot. But the Commanders have the best yards per
carry UH in the league right now. Obviously with a
dual threat quarterback that's going to be a little bit higher,
but they're also second in the league with two point
one yards before contact on designed run. So that's taking
(27:12):
out scrambles, that's taking out any of the broken down plays.
So this is an offensive line that can move the
line of scrimmage. Atlanta's defense is going to have to
be ready, But that is all we've got for you, guys.
On today's episode of The Friday Five, the Falcons will
be you're looking at me like you got something.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Else, got it more? Rate, you got more as if
it wasn't great, No, I don't have any more. But
don't say like all you've got all right?
Speaker 1 (27:37):
No that you get all of that? You got all that? Whoo,
yeah you got all that? Is that better for you to?
Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (27:44):
But it was a little loud.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
That's what I'm talking about now. I'm uncomfortable down your speaker.
It's getting crazy in here, man. That is the energy
start of the show with. But we're ending it with
the show and I hope everybody takes that energy into
their weekend and has an amazing one and is ready
for hopefully an amazing game on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Go Dogs, Go god.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
A Crimson tied turning Crimson right now, so we should
probably wraptle all right. Thank you guys so much. This
is great. Share it if you like it, and we
will see you guys after the game on Sunday for
final whistle. Until then, take care
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