There’s plenty of blame to go around after the Falcons’ 32-6 loss to the Eagles on Sunday afternoon. The offense went to sleep after Atlanta’s second drive and the defense failed to execute for pretty much the entire game.
Making things worse, the Falcons committed 12 penalties for 99 yards. This isn’t to say that the Eagles were more disciplined — because they weren’t with 14 penalties for 89 yards — but the timing of Atlanta’s infractions really hurt.
“It’s the stuff pre-snap, the false starts, the things you try to pride yourself on,” stated head coach Arthur Smith after the game. “You get down to the two-yard line and you have an illegal formation, I’ve got to clean that up. So, yeah, I do put that on me.”
The Falcons’ first drive stalled inside the five-yard line after a promising start, and the second drive ended at the nine-yard line after the offense initially went as far as the two-yard line. An illegal formation penalty pushed the team back five yards before a false start tacked on another five.
“Where I think I’m frustrated is I got to evaluate what I’m doing,” said Smith. “Whether it’s coaching, messaging about ‘lets get lined up’ and not when you’re on the two yard line, get an illegal formation. That’s the stuff that really concerns me.”
Even with the amount of penalties the Falcons had, you have to tip your hat to Smith for taking accountability and being clear about where things went wrong. It is also important to remember that a large number of starters didn’t play in the preseason, and it’s fair to question whether or not those extra snaps could have helped with the mental errors on Sunday.
