Atlanta Falcons: A Tale of Two Coordinators Begins with a Surprise

It is hard to describe the anticipation I had watching the Atlanta Falcons unveil their new schemes on offense and defense against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

However, my historical reference for both Dirk Koetter and Mike Nolan was turned upside down by the end of the game.

For me, seeing Dirk Koetter call a beautiful game was like getting up early Christmas morning and running into the living room to see my candy apple-red Schwinn bicycle with its banana seat and sissy bar. Talk about historical reference, but you get the idea. I was ecstatic to watch Koetter poke and prod for weakness using his full array of weapons at hand.

Matt Ryan was only sacked once and hurried seven times. For a good, quick rundown of the game, check out this link. This protection allowed Ryan to use his considerable ability to slice and dice the Kansas City Chiefs.

My original thought was that Dirk Koetter was going to need time to develop the full use of talent at his disposal. This was surprise No. 1.

In contrast, I thought Mike Nolan was going to unleash a defensive scheme that was akin to the masterful Dick LeBeau, with aggressive blitzes coming from any and all directions.

Instead, the Nolan defensive scheme was more like being on a blind date and slowly trying to figure out if it was going to be good or painfully bad.

Nolan spent most of the first half trying to figure out what he had. Little of the attacking style was apparent for the first half. But there were nice adjustments made at halftime.

The pass rush improved over the course of the game. My surprise player was Stephen Nicholas, who recorded 12 tackles, one fumble recovery, one interception and two passes deflected. This scheme loves this player.

The secondary was not as shut down as I had hoped, which was partly because it was a new system and partly because there was no pass rush during the first half. It remains to be seen how the loss of Brent Grimes will affect the defense.

Kansas City was able to convert 11 of 16 third downs. Still a problem that must be addressed by Nolan.

All in all the surprises turned out making sense and making me optimistic for success this season. There's no telling how great the Falcons can be when the two new coordinators find their rhythm and call games with full confidence, as if second nature.