Detroit Lions vs. Atlanta Falcons: Full Report Card Grades for Atlanta
Only a Mike Smith-coached Atlanta Falcons team could have lost in such a heartbreaking way to the Detroit Lions. It's headache-inducing to watch the fourth-quarter collapses the Falcons have been having over the past five weeks.
Atlanta needs to make a change. This whole "finding a new way to lose every week" thing is not working for anyone. It's about time for the Falcons to make that change and hope things turn around.
Quarterbacks
1 of 10
Outside of the one bad decision to throw across his body into an empty area, Matt Ryan had a very good game. The one throw led to a field goal for the Lions and brought them within reach of potentially scoring a touchdown.
Ryan's first half was excellent as the Falcons' offensive line gave him time he needed to throw. When it did that, he was 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
He looked efficient and able to make any throw when he had time.
The second half was a different Ryan. It wasn't the same guy because he was getting hit more often. He was sacked on two of his dropbacks and only went 6-of-10 (60.0 percent) for 68 yards and the interception. Atlanta needed him to hit one more pass in the last second, but Julio Jones dropped it.
Grade: B
Running Backs and Fullbacks
2 of 10
Devonta Freeman scored the first touchdown of his career, while Antone Smith went down with a neck injury during the game.
The Falcons needed to get a little more out of Steven Jackson late in the game than the minus-two yards, no gain and minus-one yard that he posted on his last three carries.
There comes a point when a team needs to cut its losses, and at this point, the Falcons need to cut their losses with Jackson. There isn't going to be any winning season with him on the roster, as he seems cursed to never reach the playoffs.
Freeman and Jacquizz Rodgers need to be the primary backs from here on out. They are both averaging four yards per carry on the season to Jackson's 3.6.
Atlanta needs to move on and stop playing favorites with the guys on the team.
Grade: B
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Outside of one Julio Jones drop, the wide receivers played a good game. They were able to get open and make plays on the ball. They also held onto it in key situations outside of that end-of-game situation, allowing the Falcons to move the ball and sustain drives.
Jones and Roddy White did most of the heavy lifting, but Harry Douglas was a welcome intermediate threat.
Atlanta needs to get Devin Hester more involved again. With all four guys healthy, the Falcons should be dominant on offense.
Levine Toilolo was also solid when he was targeted. He was able to catch both of his targets and turn them into 10-plus-yard gains. He was unable to get open in the second half, though. He's progressing but still isn't the answer at tight end.
Grade: B
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Offensive Linemen
4 of 10
The first half of the game was great for the offensive line. It only let Matt Ryan get hit twice, and he was able to get the ball out both times before he got slammed.
The second half was much different. Ryan was sacked twice and fumbled on both hits.
Furthermore, Atlanta allowed too many tackles for loss. This Lions team does a lot of things that the Falcons can't protect well against, but they looked competent in the first half of the game. Ryan getting hit three times in the second half really hurt.
When it comes to running the ball, Atlanta's line was a big old pile of fail. It looked competent in the first half, but the second half is why the team's average yards per carry dropped down to 3.0 on the day.
Grade: C
Defensive Linemen and Edge Players
5 of 10
Atlanta hit Matt Stafford just once all game. It rarely played Jonathan Massaquoi, and it showed when it played this game. The Falcons needed a better pass rush to hold the Lions at bay and were unable to get after Stafford when it mattered most.
They did deflect a ton of balls throughout the game and were even able to force Stafford into some bad passing angles and throws.
However, the inability to get to Stafford on the huge touchdown pass to Golden Tate is almost as unforgivable as the coverage on the play.
The defense did play effectively against designed running plays, allowing just 2.6 yards per carry. However, it was unable to stop the screen passes from averaging around 10 yards. Atlanta needs to fix the flat coverages for its defense, and quickly.
Grade: C
Linebackers
6 of 10
Paul Worrilow was out of position on a couple of crucial coverage plays late in the game and missed a couple of tackles as well. However, he was able to force a fumble and get a pressure off a blitz during the early part of the game.
Joplo Bartu was burned quite often on the screens outside and looked like he didn't deserve to be on the field on Sunday.
He's a good player for a special teams guy and reserve linebacker, but at this point, Bartu has no business playing the bulk of the downs.
Prince Shembo missed a couple of tackles as well, but he showed more power when he was on the field taking on blocks than Bartu did. Atlanta's defense should look much better with Shembo healthy and playing over Bartu.
Grade: C
Secondary
7 of 10
Atlanta was out there playing well in the secondary all game. It had just one pass interference called against it and hadn't allowed more than about 150 yards through the air.
Then Detroit realized that it was playing against Atlanta and threw it deep to Golden Tate for a touchdown.
Kemal Ishmael wasn't able to maintain his depth on the coverage and got destroyed deep, but the Falcons as a whole did play a solid game in coverage. They were able to force tight windows when attempts went to tight ends and wide receivers.
Robert Alford also got an interception on a ball when Corey Fuller slipped during his route. Atlanta needs its secondary to start playing deep balls better, though. It allows way too many big plays, and even with the lack of a pass rush, something needs to be done there.
Grade: C
Special Teams
8 of 10
Devin Hester had a solid day with his three returns. However, the two kickoff returns might have been better had he just downed the ball. The big punt return helps him out quite a bit, though.
The Falcons need to find more ways to work him into the offense again.
Matt Bosher had a great day kicking the ball off the tee. He forced touchbacks on every kickoff. As a punter, he forced fair catches on every punt. Outside of the one punt that was mis-kicked, Bosher was a bright spot.
Matt Bryant was never given a shot to kick the ball on a field-goal attempt. However, he was able to kick all three of his extra points through easily. With how this unit consistently gives good performances, one has to wonder if Keith Armstrong has a shot at being the interim coach should Mike Smith be fired.
Grade: B
Coaching
9 of 10
During the first half, there wasn't much to complain about. Quick passes were letting Matt Ryan get settled and the defense was playing an intelligible scheme.
The only real issues came with not enough Jonathan Massaquoi on the field during that half.
That decision came back to bite the Falcons. When Massaquoi wasn't on the field, there was absolutely zero pass rush to be seen. On top of that, horrible clock management at the end of the game might have just sealed Mike Smith's fate.
It has taken 24 games for him to go from the best coach the franchise has ever had to the most flammable one. It's time for Atlanta to move on from Smith and bring someone in who won't let the team choke in these games.
Grade: D
Overall Grade
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterbacks | B |
| Running Backs and Fullbacks | B |
| Wide Receivers and Tight Ends | B |
| Offensive Linemen | C |
| Defensive Linemen and Edge Players | C |
| Linebackers | C |
| Secondary | C |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | D |
| Overall Grade | D |
The Falcons had a shot at winning the game on Sunday, but poor coaching completely ruined any chance of that outcome.
Atlanta has a team that's too good to be 2-6 right now. Even with all of the injuries along the offensive line, the Falcons have been in winnable situations for six games going into the fourth quarter.
Fourth-quarter failures are due to bad head coaching. A midseason coaching change is the Hail Mary this Falcons team needs to go from the garbage record it has to a respectable one by season's end. If Mike Smith continues to coach this team, the Falcons are staring at 2-14.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), ESPN.com, cfbstats.com 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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