Five things to know about Falcons after bye week

“Getting back to what we do best, it’s as simple as that,” wide receiver Drake London told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “Obviously, we have to clean up stuff. Just doing the little things right. Trying to perfect those (mistakes) so things like that don’t come up in games.”

The Falcons coaching staff under went their second self-scout of the season. They reviewed things after the Thursday night game against the Buccaneers and games 6 through 11 over the bye week.

“Still wasn’t able to improve the pass rush,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said.

In addition to improving the pass rush, the Falcons want to finish their offensive drives with touchdowns.

“How do you finalize and finish some of the drives that you missed out on because of penalties and self-inflicted wounds,” Morris said. “That’s the lack of control, lack of discipline that we talk about that you can clean up.”

Here are five things to know about the Falcons as they return from their bye week:

1. The offense self-scout: The offense sputtered against the Saints in the 20-17 loss on Nov. 10 and were held out of the end zone in a 38-6 loss to the Broncos on Nov. 17.

The offense had the ball four times with a chance to tie or take the lead against the Saints, but failed. They never got going after the first drive stalled because of penalties against the Broncos.

“It was just a lot of setbacks with penalties, things like that,” running back Bijan Robinson said. “When you’re in a drive, and you’re driving and you have these costly mistakes that make us go backward. We are always trying to play catch-up.”

The Falcons got down to the 1-yard line twice against the Broncos before penalties pushed them back.

“That never does you justice as an offense,” Robinson said. “That never helps you when it comes to game plans. What’s the call to keep us on track, because we are going out of the ordinary of what we are trying to do. Those are things that we have to get cleaned up.”

The Falcons believe their issues are fixable.

“We just have to look ourselves in the mirror and be like, this is where the discipline stays,” Robinson said. “We need to continue to harp on that.”

The Falcons have scored over 30 points three times this season. In the wins, the offense has averaged 30 points per game. In the losses, the offense has averaged 12.8 points.

“It’s those little things that continue to put us in the hole,” Robinson said. “We can’t let these things happened. We have to be locked in.”

2. Get Robinson going: Robinson’s streak of five consecutive games with at least 100 scrimmage yards, came to a halt against the Broncos. He was held to 35 yards rushing and 28 yards receiving.

“What me and the running backs (did was) watch every run, every pass protection rep, every pass rep,” Robinson said. “To see where we can improve on in terms of the whole game on offense.”

Robinson believes that he can get back on track.

“I think for us, seeing what we did wrong is the most important thing,” Robinson said. “I feel that if we just continue to stay discipline and knowing the things we can get better at are what should be the most important thing. That’s where the improvement comes.”

3. More play-action for Cousins: The self-scout also revealed that the Falcons need to use more play-action passing.

“That’s something that we want to increase,” Morris said. “Something we want to do better. … Something we want to make more a part of our game. Not to steal our plans, but that is definitely something that’s valid that we haven’t run as much of our play-action. It’s really something that (quarterback) Kirk (Cousins) does really well.”

The Falcons will likely have to run less plays from the Pistol formation to fit in more true play-action passes.

“That’s definitely something that we can add to our arsenal to make it better for us just across the board,” Morris said.

4. Defensive issues: The Falcons’ defense has slipped into the bottom 10 in the league in most key categories.

“Come back rejuvenated and ready to roll,” linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “The second half the season is …. not (second) half spot it, but you can often view the bye as that moment where the season kind of separates.”

Morris said the defense was “out-physicaled” and “out-efforted” by the Broncos.

“It’s obviously not something that you want to be on your resume, but at the end of the day the film is the film,” Elliss said. “There were definitely plays out there where you see examples of them playing with a ‘got-to-have-it mentality’ and with everything they’ve got. There were moments where we weren’t. At the end of the day, that just what it (was).”

The defense will need improvements across the board.

“Doing your job,” Elliss said. “Knowing where you’re supposed to be. Doing it right. Doing well. Doing it hard. Doing it fast and doing it with passion.”

5. Injury report: The Falcons are hoping to get some players back after the bye week.

“Definitely healthier than we were weeks prior,” Morris said. “It’s definitely a plus and you’ll definitely be able to get some of the guys back. ... It was nice to get guys some rest and relaxation and be able to reload and reset.”

Linebacker Troy Andersen (left knee), cornerback Mike Hughes (neck), cornerback Dee Alford (hamstring), cornerback Antonio Hamilton Sr. (pectoral), linebacker J.D. Bertrand (concussion) and tight end Charlie Woener (concussion) all didn’t play against the Broncos.

Bertrand has cleared concussion protocol.

Also, wide receiver Darnell Mooney (Achilles) played against Denver, but needed some rest.

Safety DeMarcco Hellams (ankle) is a candidate to return from injured reserve and defensive tackle Ruke Ohorhoro (ankle) has another game to miss before he could return from short-term injured reserve.