Atlanta Falcons Win, But Red Zone Struggles Remain a Major Concern

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – Raheem Morris will be the first to tell you that he is not afraid to address the elephant in the room. He gets it from his college football coach, Joe Gardi.

“When we were in college, [Gardi] hit us with brutal honesty,” the Atlanta Falcons head coach said. “He used it with a method of a smile on his face, and it was never something that was demeaning or degrading, but it was always going to be honest. It was always going to be his version of the truth, and it was up to us to go out there and prove him wrong.”

After Sunday’s 22-6 win in Minnesota, spirits were high at Flowery Branch. This team had avoided the statistical pitfall of an 0-2 start to their 2025 NFL season, but there is still plenty of room for that brutal honesty. After two weeks of football, one thing has become clear.

The red zone offense has not been good enough.

The Falcons made five trips inside the Vikings’ 20-yard line on Sunday, but came away with just one touchdown – and it was pretty clear that it was a score that the defense was perfectly fine with giving up, given the clock situation late in the game.

Despite flashing an elite rushing attack in the win, Morris acknowledged the “theme of the night” was their inability to close out drives. On Monday, he attributed it more to execution and high-level play from their opponent than anything else.

“We had the drop, or we had a bad play, a broken play,” Morris said. “They were playing a two-high coverage, and we had to make – run around and make a couple plays in different situations. So, they did a nice job. Want to give Minnesota credit for some of their red zone defense, but we can execute better.”

On the first four trips inside the Vikings’ 20, the Falcons ran nine plays for 13 yards and kicked four field goals. Struggling to get plays called ended their first opportunity, a Bijan Robinson drop killed their second opportunity, and their next two ended in just three plays.

With 326 yards of offense and prime field position off turnovers, Atlanta could have buried Minnesota early. Instead, they kept the door open. Their shortcomings near the goal line left points off the board and could have cost them this game. 12 points from four trips inside the 20 were enough to win on Sunday, but it will not be enough as the season goes on.

It would be one thing if this were an isolated incident, but the struggles were also a concern down the stretch in 2024. The Falcons finished in the bottom half of the league in red zone touchdowns, 15th in EPA/play, and 20th in team scoring percentage (TD only) on the season.

In Week 1, these issues also flared up. Aside from the two plays where Michael Penix Jr put on his Superman cape to will his team forward for a first down and a touchdown, the Falcons ran 9 plays that picked up just 2 yards. Penix’s heroics accounted for the only touchdown the Falcons have scored in the red zone against a team actively trying to stop them, and it took them seven plays from inside the five-yard line to make it happen.

Sunday was a continuation of those issues, and this Falcons offense was fortunate that its defense was as dominant as it was in the win.

“We didn’t do a great job in the red zone last night, for sure,” Morris said. “Fortunately enough for us, our defense held their team to almost the same poor play in the red zone, and it was able to work out for us.”

It worked out on Sunday, but these shortcomings - whether it's Zac Robinson or just execution - will need to be addressed in the weeks to come if the Falcons want to keep winning games.

Brutal honesty may not be comfortable, but it’s necessary. And right now, the Falcons’ truth is clear: if they can’t finish drives, their defense may not always be able to save them.