1. The no-spin zone: Happy New Year!
Falcons coach Raheem Morris went over his timeout decision-making in detail on Monday. You can find the full answer here.
Here’s the summary.
-Before halftime, he wanted to end the half with the ball and score. They got a field goal and left just two seconds left on the clock. Seems like you could have used one of the three timeouts (perhaps earlier in the drive) and taken at least two shots to Drake London and not just the one, which was overthrown.
-On the last drive, he didn’t want to take a timeout after the big catch on the first play because he didn’t want Commanders coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt to send in a “designer” blitz package. He wanted to jump on the ball — hurry up — and get another play off. That hurry up took 17 seconds. So, they could have had their “designer” matchup plays ready after the timeout and perhaps got in to better field goal range for Riley Patterson.
Morris said he had a message for the fans.
“That’s who I always talk to, man, because those things are always critiqued,” Morris said. “We sit around every week and critique football from the couch. I love doing it myself as well. So, to be able to go back and evaluate yourself and be able to take those things on your shoulders, man, it’s like Achilles, man. They’ll never know your name unless you’re scared to put yourself out there.”
Morris said he’s confident in the team’s game-management process.
“A lot,” Morris said. “I watched us win a game in 12 seconds versus Tampa. I watched us be able to win a bunch of games in two minutes, go down and score at the last minute. I watched us (against Washington) march down the field, score in the fourth and be able to finish a bunch of those games.”
Morris owned that the operation failed against the Commanders and may have cost them the division title and a trip to the playoffs.
“Sometimes you’re going to have failure, but the guys who fear failure never have success, and I’m not going to be considered that guy,” Morris said. “When it doesn’t go right, I’m not going to run away from it or point the blame at anybody else. I’m going to take it head-on. I’ve got big shoulders. I’m going to take it on my shoulders, and I’ll take that today — fair criticism, rightful criticism. I apologize to our fans for not being able to get it done, but I promise you we’ll get it done soon.”
2. Daniels is a beast: Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was dazzling.
He accounted for 354 yards and three touchdowns. Just wait until he figures out what he’s doing. The Falcons knew the RPOs were coming and couldn’t stop them.
So, once we heard from Morris on “Timeout Gate” I wanted to know how Daniels got loose for 127 yards rushing.
“So, in the first half, we were able to bottle him up pretty good, other than that outside zone run that they ran,” Morris said. “We kind of fit it wrong, and I think he got a chunk there for about 30 or so yards, but you felt good about everything else when it came to that.”
With the Commanders needing to rally from a 17-7 halftime deficit, Daniels took over the game in the second half.
“And then in the second half, we did such a really good job of being able to rush with vision and violence, and the guys did a great job on that,” Morris said. “We lost a chute one time with a young player in Ruke (Orhorhoro) and got him out the box to get him some yards, and then a couple of those plays, he checked Superman and made some people miss.
“I think we had five sacks. I bet we missed about three sacks on him. He was able to get away from people. He was able to create some angles that a lot of people can’t create on people. My hat’s off to him when it comes to a lot of that yardage.”
Daniels rushed 16 times and average 7.9 per carry.
“You can go back and reflect and look at a couple things where you can say you can fit some things better on those, but there were a couple things where Jayden turned Jayden,” Morris said. “I got nothing but respect for him in football. And those guys can have those type of days when they put their mind to it. We’ve seen (Baltimore quarterback) Lamar (Jackson) do it. Jayden’s got very similar traits when it comes to those things.”
3. Pass rush: Our sports editor Chris Vivlamore retired. We’re going to miss his support, but he left us one last note on the Falcons’ pass rush to share with the group.
Remember when the Falcons had only six sacks through eight games or 10 sacks through 11 games?
There is now some reason for optimism.
The Falcons had five sacks against the Commanders on Sunday night. Not an easy task against Daniels. It marked the fifth consecutive game with at least three sacks for the Falcons, something they haven’t done in a single season since 1997. They have totaled 21 sacks over that stretch of five games.
They had five against the Chargers and Commanders, four against the Vikings and Raiders and three against the Giants. The five-game streak is the longest active streak in the NFL of three or more sacks in each game.
Sure, the 31 sacks on the season are still tied for the second fewest in the NFL this season. The Patriots have only 28 sacks and the Jaguars, Panthers and Titans also have 31.
On the flip side, the Falcons have allowed 31 sacks this season, good for the 10th fewest in the league.
Thanks and farewell, Chris.
4. How did Michael Penix Jr. grade? Our friends over at the Pro Football Network gave Penix a 69.3, D-plus grade vs. the Commanders. He had a 74.1, C grade vs. the Giants.
He was the 23rd ranked quarterback in Week 17.
Daniels was given a 76.2, C-grade. (They are pretty tough graders.)
5. Robinson corner: Falcons running back Bijan Robinson now has four games with multiple rushing TDs this season, tied for the most in a season in Falcons history with Michael Turner (2008), Gerald Riggs (1984) and Eddie Ray (1973).
The Falcons rushed for 126 yards against the Commanders, which was the team’s fifth consecutive game with at least 115 rushing yards, the ninth longest streak in franchise history.
6. Bryce Young update: Quarterback Bryce Young, who was benched after two games, is set to face the Falcons for the first time this season. Andy Dalton was the starter when the Falcons thrashed the Panthers 38-20 on Oct. 13 at Bank of America Stadium.
After Dalton was injured in a car accident, Young returned to the starting lineup against Denver on Oct. 25. He has posted a 3-6 record, with victories over the Saints and Giants and a 36-30 win over the Cardinals on Dec. 22, which killed Arizona’s playoff hopes.
Young, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, spent five games on the bench. Since returning to the lineup, he’s improved his decision-making and is not holding on to the ball too long.
7. Series history: This will be the 60th meeting between the teams. The Falcons led the series 37-22. The last time a team swept the season series was in 2019, when the Falcons won both matchups.
8. Where to watch, listen, livestream Panthers at Falcons: What you should know about Sunday’s game between the Falcons (8-8) and Panthers (4-12), which is set for 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
TV: CBS. Play-by-play: Ian Eagle. Analyst: Charles Davis. Reporter: Evan Washburn.
Local radio: 92.9 The Game. Play-by-play: Wes Durham. Analyst: Dave Archer. Executive producer: Beau Morgan. Engineer: Jake Cook. Pregame/Postgame show – Hosts: Chris Goforth and Mike Johnson. Dylan Matthews and Orin Romain (studio producers). Dylan Matthews (network studio producer) and Chris Thomas (local studio producer).
Satellite radio: SiriusXM NFL Radio. Falcons channels 225 and 801. Panthers 380 and 804.
Livestream: Fans in the Atlanta market can stream the game on the Atlanta Falcons app. NFL app (subscription required). Out of the country: GamePass International. There are several other subscription services.
9. Depth chart: Here’s a look at the Falcons’ official 53-man depth chart heading into Sunday’s game:
OFFENSE
QB: Michael Penix Jr., Kirk Cousins
RB: Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Carlos Washington Jr.
WR: Drake London, Chris Blair
WR: Darnell Mooney, Casey Washington
SWR: Ray-Ray McCloud, KhaDarel Hodge
TE: Kyle Pitts
TE: Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley
LT: Jake Matthews, Brandon Parker
LG: Matthew Bergeron, Elijah Wilkinson
C: Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton
RT: Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton
DEFENSE
ROLB: Lorenzo Carter, DeAngelo Malone, Demone Harris
DE: Grady Jarrett, Zach Harrison
NT: Eddie Goldman, Kentavious Street, Ruke Orhorhoro
DE: David Onyemata, Brandon Dorlus
LOLB: Matthew Judon, Arnold Ebiketie
ILB: Kaden Elliss, JD Bertrand
ILB: Nate Landman, Josh Woods
LCB: A.J. Terrell, Kevin King, Natrone Brooks
RCB: Mike Hughes, Clark Phillips III
NCB: Dee Alford
SS: Justin Simmons, Richie Grant
FS: Jessie Bates III
Special teams
K: Riley Patterson
P: Bradley Pinion
LS: Liam McCullough
KR: Avery Williams, Ray-Ray McCloud
PR: Avery Williams, Mike Hughes
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