Morris Eyes Growth On Both Sides of Ball for Falcons After Bye Week

The Atlanta Falcons have the chance to see if the offense can get closer to finding its identity, and see how the defense can be more dominant

The bye week perfect time for the Falcons to where they stand | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons currently have a 2-2 record as they head into their early Week 5 bye. Last year, the Falcons entered the bye with 10 sacks in 11 games. My comparison, they finished the season with 21 sacks in six games, an impressive turnaround. Head coach Raheem Morris was asked about his goals post bye week this season, and he has one for each side of the ball.

“So, like for us, it’s like finishing, you know, like you want to go find ways to finish some of those sacks. I think we had like 15 pressures yesterday [Sunday]. They had two sacks, you know … You want to find ways to capitalize more of those opportunities, because if you do those things, you know, you can be really effective.” Morris said in Monday’s presser.

The Falcons are certainly generating pressure, and they do have 10 sacks in four games, which is in the upper half of the league. However, they are struggling to finish sacks, which is something they’ll look to improve following the bye week. 

In Week 1, late in the fourth quarter, linebacker Kaden Elliss had Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield dead to rights on a sack on third and long, and he missed. Mayfield would end up going down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown. Atlanta will hope to capitalize on such plays in their remaining 13 games.

On the offensive side of the ball, Morris wants to see more of what we saw in Week 4, against the Washington Commanders.

“On offense, it will be about continuing to let our identity come out. I think our identity came out in a major way yesterday [Sunday], when it came to running the football, and then being able to get some of those throws off and play action pass. He [Michael Penix Jr.] was 76% passing and doing some of those things. Some really good things. We got the long ball going, so to speak, yesterday. I think that was another part of it. So really just increasing those things and doing some of those different things that way.” Morris said. 

The Falcons' offense struggled in the first three weeks of the season. Atlanta had scored just 42 points through its first three contests (14 points per game), had yet to get the deep all going, had scored just one redzone touchdown, and no wide receiver or tight end had caught a touchdown pass.

All of that changed in Week 4, when Atlanta put up a season-high 34 points and scored four touchdowns in the red zone. Penix was slinging the ball all over the field and completed 76.9% of his passes for 313 yards. 

Kyle Pitts and Drake London combined for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined for 232 total yards and two touchdowns. The offense was clicking on every cylinder, and Atlanta did not lose its run-first identity. The Falcons had 33 rush attempts as opposed to 26 pass attempts. That’s the identity Morris was talking about. An offense that flows through Bijan Robinson, with a quarterback who can sling it deep to keep opposing defenses honest. 

The Falcons delivered when they said they would use their Week 3 shutout as a wake-up call. We will see in Week 6 if they deliver on finishing sacks and continuing to play on the offensive side of the ball. The Falcons face a tough matchup against the undefeated Buffalo Bills next week on Monday Night Football. 

If the Falcons can finish sacks and put up points, they can emerge as a legitimate threat and make a serious postseason push this season.