FLOWERY BRANCH — In his second NFL game calling plays, Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson dialed up a game-winning, last-minute touchdown drive.
After a meek first performance where the offense appeared predictable and was shut down in the second half in Week 1, Robinson helped the Falcons pull off a 22-21 victory over the Eagles on Monday.
The offense made major strides from Game 1 to Game 2.
“I thought so,” Robinson said. “The overall operation was the biggest thing going from the first game of the season. Obviously, no turnovers was big.”
The Falcons had three turnovers in the 18-10 loss to the Steelers. One came off a botched snap from center that hit the motion man. Can you say sloppy?
“The operation was a lot cleaner,” Robinson said, who came with coach Raheem Morris from the Los Angeles Rams. “You felt that just the flow of the game just felt overall better. I knew that was going to be the case, because these guys have done that all throughout OTAs. All throughout training camp.”
Robinson noted that the Falcons went through nearly 5,000 repetitions over the offseason.
“Anytime there was a lull of a day, the next day they always responded,” Robinson said. “So, we felt great about the response of those guys. They did a great job.”
So, he was confident when the offense got the ball back down 21-15 with 1:39 to play against the Eagles.
“It was obviously a big-time win and a clutch moment with those guys,” Robinson said. “It was fun to celebrate in the locker room.”
The Falcons got some help from the Eagles, who did not run the ball after forcing the Falcons to use all of their timeouts.
As the scenario was unfolding, Robinson was thinking ahead. Getting the plays ready for a potential game-winning drive.
“Yeah, we were anticipating obviously a little bit less time if we got the ball back there,” said Robinson, a former college quarterback at Oklahoma State who has just five years of NFL coaching experience. “When the pass was incomplete, we were already going through kind of our priority calls beforehand, just giving guys that were down on the field just a heads-up, ‘Hey, this might be coming, this might be coming.’ So, everybody was prepared.”
The Falcons dutifully worked their two-minute drill in OTAs and in training camp.
“We’ve installed those, and the guys executed really well,” Robinson said. “The protection by the offensive line was outstanding. I mean, (they don’t) get enough credit. Those guys did a great job. Kirk was clean. The overall precision of the routes, everything that encompassed that drive was really cool to see all 11 guys come together and get it done.”
The speedy, six-play drive covered 70 yards, and Cousins tossed a dart to Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left. London set up cornerback Darius Slay with a inside move, and then he broke open to the outside. Cousins delivered a nice soft pass.
Falcons coach Raheem Morris stressed situational football over the offseason. That paid off against the Eagles.
“So, we’ve had so many different two-minute drills, so many of those scenarios,” Robinson said. “We’ve repped our core plays. So, it didn’t feel too big for anybody. We’ve been through those a number of times, obviously not on that type of stage.”
Robinson gave the players credit for blocking out the rambunctious Philadelphia crowd, the descendants of the fans who booed Santa Claus.
“It just felt like a normal operation with everybody out there,” Robinson said. “Obviously, when you have a veteran quarterback who can operate like he does, that makes everything a lot easier.”
In the opener, the Falcons basically ran the ball out of the pistol formation and passed out of the shotgun. Against the Eagles, the Falcons opened the game with Cousins taking snaps under center and running the football. They let the Eagles know they had a more diversified attack.
“We knew it was going to be loud,” Robinson said. “So, that was the biggest thing is we wanted to make sure that the timing of all of our snap points were clean. … It was the first play of the Thursday practice. It came out clean. I was like, man, that might be the first play of the game now that I think about it.”
Robinson and the offense have plenty of things to work out, including their third-down efficiency (2-of-9, 22% against the Eagles), but working on things is much easier after a big drive to win a game.
“They knew that the level of play in Week 1 wasn’t up to standard,” Robinson said. “It started with me, and it was all of us collectively.”
Morris was pleased with the progress.
“Your whole goal when you talk about offense – when you talk about football in general – is just to get better at everything you do,” Morris said. “I love where we’re going and getting better at everything we do.”
Cousins also is pleased with the direction of the offense.
“I think that it’s something that is inherent to the more you’re together, you’re going to improve,” Cousins said. “You’re going to get better. I felt like that happened. We learned a lot about ourselves in Week 1. We were able to take that and apply it to Week 2.”
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