After a disappointing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon which saw Joe Burrow and company jump out to a 21-0 lead after the start of the second quarter and control the field in route to a 35-17 victory, Steak and Sandra brought the issue to "The Steakhouse" on Monday and voiced their confusion regarding the lack of production from the Falcons' two most recent, high-profile first-round draft picks.
With Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota only attempting 13 passes during the game on Sunday, completing eight for a total of 124 yards and one touchdown – which was a 75-yard bomb to Damiere Byrd just before halftime – Steak and Sandra wondered at what point do the Falcons actually start making the push to get Kyle Pitts and Drake London involved with the offense.
Through the first seven weeks of the season, the Falcons rank fourth in the league in rushing with 156.9 yards per game with an average of 4.8 yards per rush and third in the NFL in total attempts. When it comes to the passing game, the team is second to last in the NFL with an average of 151.7 yards per game.
Sandra let her frustration with the lack of targets be known.
“Kyle Pitts being targeted five times, he had three catches. Drake London targeted ONE time, he had one catch for nine yards," Sandra said. "If you want to do the math, that’s four catches for 18 yards.” After Steak made the point that the team only attempted 13 passes in total and, realistically, almost half of the targets were to Pitts, Sandra kicked it up a notch.
“That’s even more pathetic,” she stated bluntly. “That you’ve got two first-round draft picks playing offensively, a wide receiver that you took eighth overall and a tight end that is a “unicorn,” yeah he’s a “unicorn” alright,” probably referencing the fact that, in the team’s offensive scheme, Pitts really doesn’t exist. She also added that Pitts was an “awfully expensive draft pick to be a decoy.”
Steak's opinion seemed to coincide with Sandra’s point.
“Your team’s equity is in those two guys," Steak said. "You only get top-10 picks a few times, hopefully. If those are your most valuable players and you don’t have an offense that highlights them AT ALL… You only threw it 13 times.”
Given the system that head coach Arthur Smith is going with, Steak wondered why the draft picks weren’t focused on other areas of the offense given that the priority has primarily been the run game. Even with Cordarrelle Patterson on Injured Reserve due to a knee injury, fifth-round RB Tyler Allgeier and undrafted free agent Caleb Huntley have been given the majority of the workload in the offense.
There is a silver lining to all this. With the struggles of the other teams in the division, the Falcons (3-4) have managed to tread water after a 3-3 start to the season and are in good positon to take over the division lead if they can pull out a win on the road vs the Panthers (2-5) this weekend as the reeling Buccaneers (3-4) are on the road against the always dangerous Baltimore Ravens (4-3).
