(Here’s our weekly nine items at 9 a.m. Wednesday on the Atlanta Falcons, otherwise known as the Cover 9@9 blog!)
1. The no-spin zone. Cordarrelle Patterson, who amassed 142 yards in the 17-14 win over the Giants, has been the team’s most dynamic offensive weapon through three games.
He rushed seven times for 20 yards, caught six passes for 82 yards and had 40 yards on two kickoff returns.
“He’s making an impact, and it’s fun to work with guys like that,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “Allows you to be creative. He can handle it.”
Patterson’s 28-yard reception got the game-winning drive started against the Giants in the fourth quarter.
“We named him our player of the game on offense,” Smith said. “He’s made a huge impact. He was a game captain this past week. Just really enjoyed getting to work with CP and to see where it goes from here.”
The Falcons’ offense is clearly a work in progress.
After three games, the offense is ranked in the bottom half of the league in all key categories.
The Falcons are 29th in points per game (16), 27th in total yards per game (301.3), 28th in rushing yard per game (82.7) and 25th in passing yards per game (218.7) and they are 25th in third-down conversion (33.3%)
Patterson, a four-time Pro Bowl selection and All-Pro as a returner, was back in 2013 as a wide receiver coming out of Tennessee by the Vikings. He caught a career-high 52 passes for 453 yards for the Vikings in 2016.
Patterson had a career-high 64 carries last season with the Bears. With 21 carries through three games, he’s on pace for 112 carries in 2021.
“I like to think that I know how his minds works and what he can handle,” said Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone, who worked with Patterson in Chicago. “This is a football player. He loves football. It’s not just certain aspects of it. He loves everything that comes with it.”
Ragone believe the Falcons can put more on Patterson’s plate.
“Again, whatever we feel makes us a better football team, a better offense we are going to use all of our different pieces the right way,” Ragone said. “Get those guys in position, and CP is no different.”
2. Coach of the Week: Alexander High School’s Olten Downs, Greenville High’s Tyler Winn and Warner Robins High’s Marquis Westbrook are the Week 5 nominees for Falcons Coach of the Week, presented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They have been nominated for their exemplary leadership on-and-off the gridiron. Click here to vote.
3. Series history: This will be the 26th meeting against Washington. Washington leads the series 14-10-1, but the Falcons have won the past six matchups.
The Falcons defeated Washington 38-14 in the last meeting Nov. 4. 2018, at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan passed for 350 yards and tossed four touchdown passes in the victory.
4. Washington’s pass rush. The Washington Football team was shredded by Buffalo 43-21 on Sunday. They would be 0-3, but for a late penalty that allowed a re-kick of a missed field-goal attempt in a 30-29 win over the Giants. The Falcons are coming off a win over the Giants.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said after the loss to Bills. “The truth of the matter is that we got beat. My expectations were for us to play better than we did, to be honest.”
The defensive line of four first-round picks is led by defensive end Chase Young, who was the second player taken overall in the 2020 draft. Washington also has defensive end Montez Sweat (Stephenson High), defensive tackles DaRon Payne and Jonathan Allen.
Young had 7.5 sacks last season and was named the NFC’s defensive rookie of the year. He has zero sacks through three games. Allen has three sacks, Sweat has two sacks and Payne, who’s been disruptive, also has no sacks.
Washington did not sack Buffalo’s Josh Allen, but had six hits on his 43 dropbacks. Washington did have 20 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus, but Allen managed to complete 74% of his passes.
Against the Bills, Young was on average 5.3 yards away from the quarterback per snap, according to Next Gen Stats, which is higher than the NFL average of 4.52 yards.
Rivera has pointed out that Young and Sweat, who had nine sacks and 20 quarterback hits last season, are receiving more double teams and chip blocks this season.
“They got a really good front, everybody knows Chase Young, Payne is in there and those guys are tough and Sweat,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “They can make life hard for you.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter/AJC
5. Heinicke is in charge: Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who once passed for 730 yards in a game at Old Dominion, has completed 59 of 89 passes (69.4%) for 670 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He has a passer rating of 97.7.
Running back Antonio Gibson, who played at Eagles Landing High, is Washington’s leading rusher. He has 45 carries for 190 yards. Washington also has wide receiver Terry McLaurin and former Falcon J.D. McKissic.
“Right now, we’re not where we are supposed to be, far from it,” Gibson said after the Bills game. “But it’s a long season. Long season. We just got to go to work next week and fix the things we need to fix.”
Washington fell behind 21-0 against Buffalo.
“I feel like we need to come out stronger,” Gibson said. “I don’t feel like there is a game where we had the lead starting off. I feel like if we come out stronger, that changes up their play-calling and how they play. … If we start out stronger, we can do way better than what we are doing now.”
6. McKissic update: J.D. McKissic, after starring in training camp in 2016, was on the Falcons’ practice squad for most of the 2016 season. He was cut in December that year and signed with the Seahawks. He’s since carved out a nice career, playing in 54 games and making 12 starts.
“They’ve got speed at wideout, good athletic tight end in (Logan) Thomas. Gibson’s a problem. McKissic. – They have got a good football team,” Smith said. “So, we have our work cut out for us as we get on to that. We’re moving on to Washington.”
7. Betting lines: The Falcons (1-2) are set to host the Washington Football Team (1-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons were installed a 1-point home-favorite by BetOnline (Twitter: @betonline_ag) and the over/under for the game was set at 48.5 points.
Week 4 NFL Football Lines
Thursday, September 30
· Jacksonville at Cincinnati (-7½)
Over/Under 46½
Sunday, October 3
· Washington at Atlanta (-1)
Over/Under 48½
· Houston at Buffalo (-17)
Over/Under 47½
· Detroit at Chicago (-4)
Over/Under 44
· Carolina at Dallas (-5)
Over/Under 50
· Indianapolis at Miami (-2½)
Over/Under 43½
· Cleveland at Minnesota (-1)
Over/Under 51½
· New York Giants at New Orleans (-8)
Over/Under 44½
· Tennessee (-7½) at New York Jets
Over/Under 47
· Kansas City (-6) at Philadelphia
Over/Under 55
· Arizona at Los Angeles Rams (-6)
Over/Under 53
· Seattle at San Francisco (-3)
Over/Under 51½
· Baltimore at Denver (-1½)
Over/Under 45
· Pittsburgh at Green Bay (-7½)
Over/Under 46½
· Tampa Bay (-5½) at New England
Over/Under 49
Monday, October 4
· Las Vegas at Los Angeles Chargers (-3)
Over/Under 52½
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter/AJC
8. Injury report: The Falcons, who released their official depth chart for the Washington game, could get a boost from the return of cornerback Kendall Sheffield and left guard Josh Andrews, who are on short-term injured reserve.
“We’ll have to assess it,” Smith said. “You’re able to practice them. We’ll just have to see Wednesday, where they are at. Whether they are ready to practice. We’ll have to make a decision. ... We think they are close.”
Defensive tackle Marlon Davidson left the Giants’ game with an ankle injury and did not return.
Cornerback A.J. Terrell remains in the concussion protocol, and wide receiver Russell Gage missed the game Sunday with an ankle injury. T.J. Green started for Terrell and Olamide Zaccheaus took over for Gage against the Giants.
“There are still some steps that he’s got to go in the protocol,” Smith said of Terrell. “He’s got a chance (to return against Washington).”
Also, rookie Frank Darby (calf) has missed the past two games.
“We’ll talk (Tuesday) night to see where they are at and if they are getting close,” Smith said.
9. Depth chart: Here’s the Falcons’ official depth heading into the second home game of the season against the Washington Football Team on Sunday:
OFFENSE
WR - Calvin Ridley, Tajae Sharpe or Christian Blake
TE - Kyle Pitts, Lee Smith
LT - Jake Matthews, Jason Spriggs
LG - Jaylen Mayfield, Drew Dalman, Colby Gossett
C - Matt Hennessy, Drew Dalman
RG - Chris Lindstrom, Drew Dalman
RT - Kaleb McGary, Jason Spriggs
TE - Hayden Hurst, Keith Smith, Parker Hesse
WR - Russell Gage, Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby
RB - Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, Wayne Gallman
*FB -- Keith Smith, Cordarrelle Patterson (Added to reflect that they played the position in the opener.)
QB - Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen, Feleipe Franks
DEFENSE
DL - Grady Jarrett, Marlon Davidson
NT - Tyeler Davison, Ta’Quon Graham
DL - Jonathan Bullard, John Cominsky
OLB - Steven Means, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner or Brandon Copeland
ILB - Deion Jones, Mykal Walker
ILB - Foyesade Oluokun, Dorian Etheridge
OLB – Dante Fowler, Adetokunbo Ogundeji
LCB - A.J. Terrell, T.J. Green, Avery Williams or Darren Hall
FS - Erik Harris, Jaylinn Hawkins
SS - Duron Harmon, Richie Grant
RCB - Fabian Moreau, Isaiah Oliver, Kendall Sheffield
SPECIAL TEAMS
K - Younghoe Koo
P - Cameron Nizialek
LS - Josh Harris
H - Cameron Nizialek
PR - Avery Williams
KOR - Cordarrelle Patterson
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Falcons’ 2021 schedule features trip to London, January trip to Buffalo
Atlanta Falcons Schedule
Washington FT at Falcons, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.
New York Jets vs. Falcons in London, Oct. 10 at 9:30 a.m.
Bye Week
Falcons at Miami Dolphins, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.
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