Cleveland Browns vs. Atlanta Falcons: Full Report Card Grades for Atlanta
The Atlanta Falcons lost another heartbreaker. This time it was to the Cleveland Browns, as Billy Cundiff kicked it through the uprights right as time expired. Atlanta needs to let go of Mike Smith after this season was a failure because of his horrible coaching decisions yet again.
Their next two weeks don't get easier as they face the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field and the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals at home. Atlanta is likely going to be 4-9 after those two games, and if Smith isn't fired by the end of the season, I would be shocked.
Quarterbacks
1 of 10
Matt Ryan was inconsistent and inefficient in the first half. He wound up throwing for two touchdowns on excellent throws, but his interception was the worst throw he made on the day. He also had multiple dropped interceptions in the first half.
During the second half, Ryan got the offense going in the fourth quarter to come back and take the lead with his efficient throws. Outside of one bad throw into double coverage in the second half, he was nearly perfect. He was getting hit quite often throughout the game, and the Browns had a ton of pressure.
Atlanta just needs to protect him moving forward. Ryan hadn't been hit like this since the Ravens game, and luckily, he was able to get some clean pockets toward the end. He did wind up getting a couple of runs that went for positive yardage on scrambles, but his best ball was played with time to throw.
Grade: B
Running Backs and Fullbacks
2 of 10
Steven Jackson showed how his vision has completely deteriorated into nothingness at this point in his career. He continually runs into the back of his offensive linemen and has no idea which hole he's supposed to hit. It's time for Jackson to be nothing more than a goal-line or short-yardage back.
Devonta Freeman, on the other hand, provides more than Jackson does as a primary back. Atlanta only used him on sweeps, and by the time the third and fourth sweeps were called, the line wasn't able to block out the Browns defense.
Jacquizz Rodgers is more of a third-down back, and he looked good, but Atlanta needs to get him the ball a bit more on swing routes. The biggest issue with the running backs all day was the complete lack of a running back screen with a gain. As a whole, the backs were subpar.
Grade: D
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
Roddy White and Julio Jones will always get their yards, catches and touchdowns when they are healthy. Sadly, Jones wasn't healthy all week, as he was battling the flu, and the lack of timing showed up early in the first half. They finished with a combined 164 yards on 14 catches for a touchdown.
Devin Hester even looked solid as a receiver with the only two targets that went incomplete his way being bad throws by Matt Ryan. Harry Douglas even had some clutch third-down receptions. And outside of a penalty on White, the receivers blocked effectively.
Levine Toilolo was only targeted three times. On two of the passes, he had catchable balls, and he wound up catching both passes for 17 yards. However, Atlanta does need some improvement from its tight end position for the rest of the year, or it will have to draft one in the offseason.
Grade: B
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Offensive Linemen
4 of 10
Matt Ryan was getting pressured on almost every play. He was sacked three times and hit six, and he took some violent shots on plays where the protection calls didn't recognize blitzes. The protection did hold up for a couple of drives, and Ryan wound up making the defense pay because of it.
However, Atlanta needs to improve its line play. The only way to do it is to get as many reps as possible as a unit, because the issues come from a lack of chemistry more than a lack of winning battles one-on-one. Hopefully, the Falcons can clean up those issues throughout the rest of the year.
As run-blockers, the line was putrid. Atlanta gained just 2.7 yards per rush. The longest runs being just six or seven yards at a clip doesn't help either. Atlanta needs to sort out its running game before it's too late. At this point, it's looking like it just might be too late.
Grade: D
Defensive Linemen and Edge Players
5 of 10
Holding the point of attack wasn't accomplished by the Falcons in today's game. The defensive tackles were allowing the Falcons to run all over them, the ends were unable to set the edge, and the outside linebackers and other edge players were unable to make tackles on outside runs.
Ra'Shede Hageman had a solid game, but outside of him, there were very few bright spots up front. There were too many missed tackles in the backfield. Too many times were guys blocked out for clear lanes for the rushing attack. Atlanta allowed 5.6 yards per carry for its worst game of the season.
Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West were able to set the tone and force the Falcons to not have a shot at pass rushing and blitzing effectively. Atlanta's inability to create any sort of pass rush left the defense unable to stop Brian Hoyer from having time to throw for over 300 yards.
Grade: D
Linebackers
6 of 10
In coverage, the Falcons linebackers did a good job. The combination of Gary Barnidge, Jim Dray, Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell only had three catches for 32 yards on five targets. When tight ends and running backs are only targeted five times on 40 passes, that's good coverage.
Unfortunately, against the run, the linebackers got washed out way too often. They were unable to slow down the rushing attack, as they got swallowed by offensive linemen on pull blocks. They allowed over 160 yards on 29 carries and looked like amateurs out there with missed tackles galore.
The pass rush was the only real bright spot out there for the linebackers, and even then, it wasn't amazing. They did have some good hits and pressures against Brian Hoyer, but they were unable to capitalize with any sacks for their troubles.
Grade: D
Secondary
7 of 10
Atlanta played a lot of umbrella concepts with its secondary to limit the big play, and that pretty much failed for the most part. Atlanta allowed too many third downs to be completed because of soft zones and too many big plays because of the same zones.
It did limit Josh Gordon to a long of just 24 yards, but it was unable to stop Andrew Hawkins from getting his long catch to 40 yards due to poor tackling and angles. Atlanta's safety play was solid for the most part, though, and Desmond Trufant did a great job containing whomever he was covering.
The Falcons did wind up with three interceptions on the day, too. Picks in deep halves like what Dezmen Southward played on his interception or the underneath zone where Kemal Ishmael got his interception were excellent. But the best one of the day was Trufant's interception on the overthrown end-zone pass where he magically stayed in bounds.
Grade: B
Special Teams
8 of 10
Devin Hester was on and off as a returner. He had a great return on the field-goal miss for 75 yards and almost had a touchdown had there been another block for Joel Bitonio. He also had a solid kick-return average through the game. But he did have two kicks he shouldn't have returned in the first place that didn't make it back past the 20.
Matt Bosher was definitely excellent in his punts. Of his four punts, two were downed inside the 20, one went out of bounds at the 29-yard line, and the final one wound up getting touched back. All three of his kickoffs were touchbacks as well.
Matt Bryant is a great person off the field who has deserved every success he has on the field. This week was just another game for the Kickatron 9000, too—perfect on both his extra points and the long 54-yard field goal in the clutch. Bryant is a man among boys, and hopefully, he comes back in 2015.
Grade: B
Coaching
9 of 10
Garbage. That's the only word to describe the coaching effort today. The only time the offense had any sort of production was when Atlanta went with the no-huddle against the Browns defense. The defensive scheme reverted to three defensive tackles trying to get pressure on third downs.
Dirk Koetter doesn't understand how to get the offense to manufacture touches for Julio Jones. The overall dropping of wide receiver screens was just stupid. They were ineffective, but it was because they were all coming out of the exact same formation. He needs to get the ball in Jones' hands more.
On defense, Mike Nolan might as well be asking to be fired. His defense hasn't been more vanilla than this in years. And he can't completely blame it on the lack of a premier pass-rusher. Add in the horrible time management by Mike Smith, and this grade feels 100 percent too high.
Grade: F
Overall Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Groups | Grades |
| Quarterbacks | B |
| Running Backs and Fullbacks | D |
| Wide Receivers and Tight Ends | B |
| Offensive Linemen | D |
| Defensive Linemen and Edge Players | D |
| Linebackers | D |
| Secondary | B |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | F |
| Overall Grades | D |
Atlanta has done this in its last two losses. It gets up with just minutes left. It manages the clock poorly at the end. Then it just loses it on the final defensive drive to get beaten. Atlanta played horribly today and still had a shot to win.
It doesn't even make sense how the Falcons had a shot outside of the fact that they were playing against an equally inept Brian Hoyer. If the Falcons had coaching that was competent and could let these guys play roles that they win in, the Falcons would have a team that's closer to 7-4 than 4-7.
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.
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