The Falcons are coming off another incredibly frustrating loss. This time to the Buccaneers, who have taken sole possession of first place in the NFC South.
Atlanta came into the contest hobbled, missing a handful of key starters — Kaleb McGary, Drew Dalman, David Onyemata, Nate Landman, and Jeff Okudah. To rub salt in the wound, several other Falcons exited Sunday’s tilt, including Jake Matthews, Chris Lindstrom, and Kentavius Street.
A combination of missed opportunities, poor execution, and bad timing contributed to Atlanta’s loss. There was a lot of good, but as always, there was as much bad.
Desmond Ridder had his typical bunch of turnover-worthy plays, a couple of which came to fruition, but also provided the Falcons with a chance to win the game. The defense did its job for the most part, outside of the last drive in which the Buccaneers took the lead.
It’s been the only consistent theme of the season — inconsistencies.
If it’s not the offense blowing the game, it’s the defense. If it’s not the defense, it’s the special teams. If it’s neither of those, it’s the offense. Desmond Ridder hasn’t played one clean game this season, and the same could be said for every facet of the team, including the coaching staff.
Think back to the Cardinals and Vikings games, it was the defense’s inability to tackle that eventually cost the Falcons those two games. Against the Lions and Jaguars, the offense generated just 13 points in total.
Some days, the run game looks like it did last year when it was one of the most dominant units in the NFL. Others, it looks nonexistent. In some instances, Arthur Smith uses his three first-round picks to perfection while simply forgetting they exist in others. Some weeks, the defense looks like a top 10 unit and then looks like its usual pedestrian self in other weeks.
The special teams have failed at times, particularly the punt return team while the field goal unit has saved days. Then we saw the opposite on Sunday when Younghoe Koo uncharacteristically missed two field goals while Dee Alford consistently set up the offense with good field position.
It’s just been the only thing that Falcons fans can rely on this season — inconsistencies.
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Photographer: John Adams/Icon Sportswire
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