The Atlanta Falcons got down big early in their matchup last week with the Cincinnati Bengals. And even though the Falcons got back in the game before halftime, they just couldn’t come back from a 21-0 deficit.
One major reason the Falcons couldn’t come back is because they were still running the ball heavily in the fourth quarter. Now, why were the Falcons running the ball so much down multiple scores you might ask? Jon Chuckery gave that reason Tuesday night on The Jon Chuckery Show.
“The head coach does not trust his quarterback to go out there and be able to pass it effectively,” Jon put it into simple terms. Now, Jon doesn’t completely blame the almost non-existent passing game for the loss to the Bengals.
“This is the reality of what happened on Sunday," Jon said. "With all of the injuries and everything that they have, I don’t care if they threw it five times or 50 times in that game. They weren’t going to out-slug it with the Bengals on Sunday.”
However, Jon knows for the Falcons to continue to win games this season what happened on Sunday can’t continue.
“That’s the part that I’m nervous about is being run-first run-heavy, but being almost incompetent in our passing game," Jon says. “You can’t afford to be completely and utterly one dimensional in the NFL, even when you do it well. You have to be able to get out of your comfort zone a little bit.”
If you take away Marcus Mariota’s 75 yard touchdown pass to Damiere Byrd in Mariota would’ve finished 7-for-12 for 50 yards in the passing game, and he would’ve only had one passing attempt that went 15 yards in the air. Those passing numbers aren’t going to lead any team to any wins no matter how well you run the ball.
Arthur Smith isn’t going to say he doesn’t feel comfortable passing the ball over 20 times a game with Mariota, but he doesn’t have to because his actions are showing you. The Falcons run the ball at a higher percentage than any other team in the NFL. The Falcons were down 35-17 in the fourth quarter to the Bengals and were running the ball like they were up by 18. So, what does that tell you?
The Falcons don’t have to become some air-raid offense. The Falcons can still be a smash-mouth, run first, control-the-clock type of team.
“You do have to be competent in the pass game at some point,” Jon said. The 75 yard touchdown pass to Byrd was hopefully a sign of things to come, but for the record Eli Apple got benched after that play because of how bad he blew his assignment on that play. Hopefully that sparks the passing game some for Mariota and the Falcons, because if they want to be a team that continues to prove the NFL experts wrong, they will have to open up the passing game before the season is said and done.
