The Falcons aren’t far removed from their dominating 2016 season on the ground. With Kyle Shanahan as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator in a season that culminated in the Super Bowl, the rushing attack accounted for 120.5 rushing yards per game (fourth in the NFL) and 4.58 yards per carry (fifth in the league).
Four years later, the Falcons rank 25th in rushing offense at 100.7 yards per game and 26th at 3.8 yards per carry. While in the bottom half, the rushing output actually is an improvement from last season’s 85.1 yards per game. One reason for that is there has been a greater commitment to the run game, with the Falcons ranking 13th in the NFL with a total of 327 carries.
But to put this into greater context, there are 12 teams that have totaled fewer carries but average more rushing yards per game. Those teams have rushed for an average of 37.1 yards more per game.
“We have to have a better run game just in general,” Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris said. “We haven’t been good enough, haven’t been up to the ticks and what we want to get done when it comes to running the football. When you want to run the football in this league, that’s how you control games. That’s how you control everything you’re trying to do. We have to get up to the screws. We have to get better.”
When it comes to big rushing plays, the Falcons, through 12 games, have only five carries for 20 yards or longer and 10 that have traveled at least 15 yards. While the volume has been there, the success rate hasn’t been consistent.
The Falcons have run for over 90 yards in seven of their 12 games this season. In those games, the Falcons are 4-3. When they’re unable to reach 90 yards, the Falcons are 0-5.
Running back Todd Gurley said much of the success, or lack thereof, in the running game has come down to execution.
“Just go out there and make plays, whether it’s the running back, O-line or receiver blocking for us,” he said. “It’s just trying to do all the little things to execute.”
Gurley, who has been dealing with a knee injury, is expecting to receive a full load Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. A week ago against the New Orleans Saints, he was limited to mostly third-down and red-zone work after not playing in the previous game, against the Las Vegas Raiders. For the season, Gurley has 626 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
Running backs coach Will Harriger said the offense has been working on being more efficient and explosive. Although the long runs haven’t materialized often, Harriger said they should eventually come as long as they remain committed.
“I think you just keep swinging in the run game in the NFL,” Harriger said. “You keep hammering away. It’s a lot of one-cut running, which I think is what we’ve done for the most part. That’s something we keep preaching and always finishing forward. We know efficiency leads to explosives.”
Said Falcons tight ends coach Ben Steele: “I think it goes without saying across the board, it comes down to every man -- offensive line, tight ends, receivers and running backs finding the seams and hitting the ball downfield. The old saying is we have to do our job and we got to play on the other side of the ball. We had some moments where we were doing really good in it. Consistency is always key.”
Not everything has been bad with the Falcons’ rushing attack. While they struggled to accrue yards in both games against the Saints -- the NFL’s second-ranked rushing defense, the Falcons put together a strong outing with 125 rushing yards against the Raiders.
For the Falcons, it’s been a case of hitting and missing throughout the season. While there have been improvements since 2019, it’s evident the run game hasn’t been as effective as the team would have liked.
Over the final four games, Morris hopes to see improvement in this area.
“We have to be more in the details,” Morris said. “We have to get the ball into our running backs’ hands, get him downhill, get him some space. They have to make things happen. There’s a bunch of things that have to happen with the run game that we haven’t be able to get done consistently. We’ve had flashes of brilliance, but we have inconsistent work there that we have to get done every day, better.”
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