Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants: Full Report Card Grades for Atlanta
The Atlanta Falcons just lost to the New York Giants in an embarrassing fashion. After the team looked like the team that could beat anyone for the first 40 minutes of the game, they went back to looking like the 2011 team that just couldn't finish teams out.
The Giants were the better team on the field for just 20 minutes of Sunday's game, but that's all they needed. Atlanta needs to get its defense together fast before this year looks more like 2013 than 2011. If it does look like 2013 again, the Falcons could be looking for new coaches this offseason.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Matt Ryan did a great job avoiding pressure throughout the game versus the Giants. Through 46 dropbacks, the Falcons quarterback was hit eight times, but Ryan was able to get the ball out quick enough to just get sacked once all game. The fact that Matt Ryan has been sacked six times all year is more about him than the line.
Ryan's passing ability was on display in New York today as well, as he went 29-of-45 (64.4 percent) for 316 yards, one touchdown and one interception that was thrown on a play that only happened due to defensive holding. The Falcons quarterback just couldn't get the ball to the right guys when third down came around.
Grade: B
Running Backs and Fullbacks
2 of 10
Patrick DiMarco looked good as a blocker, but he was forgotten as a receiver despite his efforts last week. Antone Smith, however, was given the same role as a running back, and that's a complete and utter shame. The Falcons need to give Smith more touches every week.
They need to give Steven Jackson fewer touches, too. On his 15th touch, he tends to start losing the gas he has throughout the game. Atlanta needs to start limiting him to just 15 to 16 touches per game. During the game versus New York, he averaged 5.0 yards per touch on the first 15 touches but just 0.75 yards per touch on his final four.
Jacquizz Rodgers and Devonta Freeman are the third and fourth running backs in the offense at this point, and that feels a bit wrong at times too. The Falcons need to make sure they get their speed backs as many touches as possible while they start the backup players along the offensive line.
Grade: B
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Julio Jones looks like the receiver to frame an entire offense around. The Falcons have been able to do that with Jones, and even with the pair of dropped passes, Jones still hauled in 11 catches for 105 yards. The two drops were on 40-plus-yard passes that could have changed the game completely.
Devin Hester and Roddy White bring the grade down a bit, but they were only targeted a combined eight times all game. Levine Toilolo was only targeted twice, and both passes were off-target. None of them had an exceptional game, but they did have a solid enough game to not be a hindrance.
As blockers, the entire group of receivers did a great job sealing the edge to allow the running backs to get big gains when they needed them. On the touchdown run by Steven Jackson in the first quarter, White and Toilolo both had key seal blocks that won and allowed a clear lane for the aging tailback.
Grade: B
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Offensive Linemen
4 of 10
For the first half of the game, the offensive line performed admirably. They allowed just three hits on Matt Ryan and didn't let him get sacked once. They also completely stonewalled Jason Pierre-Paul from even coming close to Ryan.
The second half was a different story. Ryan got hit five times, including one sack. The loss of Justin Blalock was easy to see when the Falcons dropped back to pass more often than run in the second half. Harland Gunn wasn't ready to play guard, but Peter Konz was less ready to play center.
The run game wasn't much better, but at least Konz looked competent there. Gunn was able to push around Giants defensive tackles early but couldn't continue to do well with that for the rest of the game. Getting Blalock back next week should provide a huge boost if it happens.
Grade: C
Defensive Linemen and Edge Players
5 of 10
As the picture shows, the Falcons defensive linemen struggled to get any pressure on Eli Manning all day. Even on Osi Umenyiora's sack, the Falcons still didn't get any real pressure. They just won in that matchup because of great coverage.
Against the run, the line wasn't much better. People love to blame linebackers for poor run defense, but good run defense starts up front with the defensive linemen and edge players. The defensive tackles got pushed around like crazy by the mediocrity known as New York's interior offensive linemen.
For all of the talk of getting tougher, stronger and bigger, the Falcons just look clunky, misguided and out of position. Atlanta needs to get its act together on the defensive line and with their edge players. It's not all on that group, but improvement here would improve the defense tremendously.
Grade: C
Linebackers
6 of 10
Prince Shembo and Paul Worrilow were the only linebackers to play during the Falcons' battle with the Giants. Both players had their ups and their downs. However, there were a lot of plays that would have been helped had the Falcons had a dynamic pass-rusher to help the defense out.
In pass coverage, both players had just a few targets head their way, as they held the combination of Larry Donnell and Adrien Robinson to just one catch for five yards combined. Even the running backs coming out of the backfield had just four catches for 35 yards combined.
As run defenders, they did a good job of cleaning up mistakes made by the linemen in front of them for minimal gains, but they still allowed a touchdown and a long 16-yard gain due to missed tackles. To be fair, they allowed just 3.6 yards per carry on the 34 carries that the Giants had during the game.
Grade: C
Secondary
7 of 10
Despite allowing a touchdown to Rueben Randle and getting trucked by Andre Williams, Desmond Trufant had a pretty good day out there. He allowed just two catches throughout the day and was flagged just once for holding on a play.
Dwight Lowery and Kemal Ishmael also had solid games as they racked up tackles, knocked away passes and showed good run defense throughout the game. Dezmen Southward also had a good day making sure that his coverage wasn't the reason for the loss.
However, Josh Wilson and Robert Alford were terrible on the whole. They both knocked away two passes each, but they also both allowed quite a few passes in their zones. Odell Beckham Jr. had a great day because Alford couldn't shake the idea of Beckham burning him out of his mind.
Grade: C
Special Teams
8 of 10
Matt Bryant was the same player he has been all year. He's just pure money. He kicked both of the field goals he attempted through with ease and did the same with his extra points. The coaching staff should have allowed him to attempt the long field-goal attempt on the Falcons' first drive that they passed up.
Matt Bosher had a 32.6-yard average on his punts. However, three of them landed inside of the 20-yard line. The Falcons gave the Giants an average field position to start with at their own 18-yard line in the first half. However, the second half gave them the ball back at their own 38 on average.
Atlanta's returning game had similar results. In the first half, the Falcons started out with the ball at their own 37 on average. But in the second half, they were only able to have it at their own 19 for their average starting field position. This game was very inconsistent.
Grade: B
Coaching
9 of 10
At 3rd-and-goal from the Atlanta 3, Mike Smith and Mike Nolan sent Tyson Jackson, Paul Soliai and Jonathan Babineaux as the only pass-rushers. The other eight players on the field dropped into coverage. This would have looked good, but the Giants max protected.
The eight Falcons couldn't cover the four Giants for longer than the six seconds it took to get pressure on Eli Manning. This kind of coaching decision plagued the day. Atlanta has talent on both sides of the ball, but there's not really a reason for the Falcons to keep Smith or Nolan past 2014 if they can't right the ship on defense.
Dirk Koetter had a good offensive game plan for most of the game, but taking out Antone Smith after the huge touchdown play in the third quarter was the worst decision of the game. Atlanta needs to figure out what works and what doesn't before it's too late.
Grade: F
Overall Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Group | Grade |
| Quarterbacks | B |
| Running Backs | B |
| Wide Receivers and Tight Ends | B |
| Offensive Linemen | C |
| Defensive Linemen and Edge Players | C |
| Linebackers | C |
| Secondary | C |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | F |
| Overall | D |
The Falcons played well for the first 40 minutes of the game. But after that they didn't do well at all. Twenty unanswered points because of a lack of adjustments at halftime by the coaching staff is unforgivable. The Falcons need to figure out how to fix their issues, and fast.
Arthur Blank didn't look very happy during the fourth quarter, and no one can blame him for feeling that way. Atlanta has the talent on offense to be the best offense in the NFL. And Sunday showed that they have the defensive talent to at least put out an average defense that can bend, but not break.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats (subscription required), ESPN.com, CFBStats or NFL.com. All combine and pro day info is courtesy of NFLDraftScout.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac and Rotoworld.
Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, college football, the NFL and the NFL draft. He also runs DraftFalcons.com.
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