Atlanta Falcons 13-31 San Francisco 49ers: 49ers dominate Falcons in the trenches

This picture tells you the story of the 2021 Atlanta Falcons. No quarterback has been hit more often then Matt Ryan this season and Sunday was no different. The Atlanta Falcons fell to a 31-13 defeat against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara on Sunday. The 49ers completely dominated both lines of scrimmages, as they pressured Matt Ryan on 16 of his 39 drop backs, whereas Jimmy Garoppolo was only pressured three times. It seriously hurts the Atlanta Falcons chances of making the playoffs. The game showed how talent deficient we are upfront and how Arthur Smith must improve his play calling. 

The Game

The only unit who performed well for the Falcons was their special teams and they gave them the perfect start, forcing a huge turnover from the opening kick off. The Falcons thought they had taken a 7-0 lead after Cordarelle Patterson seemingly broke the play, but after review it was deemed that he only got to the one yard line. Personally, I thought there wasn't enough evidence to overturn it. The Falcons decided to go for it on 4th and goal and failed to punch it in. This was the first instance in the game that I was critical of Arthur Smiths playcalling. Mike Davis is a powerback and a QB sneak is always a high percentage play in short yardage situations; Smith decided to do neither.

The first quarter was a low scoring affair with the teams tied at 3-3. San Francisco went on a text book Kyle Shanahan drive. Brandon Aiyuk caught a slant pass and showed his YAC ability taking it 36 yards. Jeff Wilson rushed for another first down, as the 49ers moved the Falcon defenders off the ball with ease. An 8 play 77 yard drive ended with a Kyle Juszczyk touchdown. The hole created by Trent Williams and George Kittle was so big, you could have driven a jumbo jet through it. Trent Williams obliterated Tyeler Davison to the floor and Kittle had no problem blocking out Deion Jones from the play. 



The Falcons response resulted in Russell Gage "mossing" Ambry Thomas for a 20 yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 10 points apiece. This drive was heavily assisted by two Arden Key third down penalties to keep the drive alive. The first, a neutral zone infraction penalty on 3rd and 5 that gave the Falcons a new set of downs. The second, a questionable roughing the passer call as he sacked Matt Ryan, which would of left Koo facing a 50+ yard field goal. Deebo Samuel scored a rushing touchdown for the 5th consecutive game to retake the lead for San Francisco. Samuel rushed an outside zone play to the left and went in untouched for the 10 yard score. 17-10 49ers. 

The Falcons had one unsuccessful shot play to Kyle Pitts before they decided to run out the clock to end the half. The game got out of hand in the third quarter. Matt Ryan was sacked on the opening play of the quarter by Sam Ebukam. Nick Bosa sacked Ryan two players later and forced Matt Ryan's 9th fumble of the season. The 49ers rushed five creating one on one matchups across the line. Arthur Smiths inability to help his porous offensive line out with a back or tightend, particularly on third down was a schoolboy error.


Two RPO plays that were thrown and completed to Kittle and Samuel respectively got the 49ers to the Falcons 5 yard line. The 49ers mauled the Falcons again, resulting in an easy touchdown run for Jeff Wilson Jr. Jeff Wilson Snr could have walked this one in, the gap was that big. This made the score, 24-10 49ers. 


Arthur Smith finally gave Kaleb McGary assistance with Mike Davis and it helped create the biggest pass play of the day for the Falcons (shown above). Matt Ryan had time to attack a vulnerable San Francisco secondary and complete a deep shot to Olamide Zaccheaus for 49 yards. The Falcons missed a sure-fire touchdown on 3rd and goal because Jalen Mayfield whiffed badly on a block attempt against Arden Key. The Falcons had to settle for a Koo field goal to cut the deficit to 24-13.

The 49ers countered with a 4th consecutive touchdown drive. I said in my preview that Kyle Shanahan's offense was one of the most QB friendly in the NFL and it showed today. The 49ers rushed for 162 yards and 3 scores. 62% of Jimmy Garoppolo's yards came after the catch. He threw his only touchdown pass of the day to Jauan Jennings on 3rd and goal from the Atlanta 4. Four different 49ers scored a touchdown. The game would remain 31-13 as the Falcons could only muster two punts and two turnover on downs in response. 

Falcons MVP

Russell Gage: Gage has stepped up in recent weeks as the Falcons number 1 receiver. Gage earned a 78.4 PFF rating. He caught 8 of his 11 targets for 91 yards and a score. Five of his receptions were contested which show he battled hard to haul in the passes. Gage is the only current wide receiver on the roster who should be guaranteed a spot with the Falcons next season.

Falcons Positives

Special Teams: Younghoe Koo continues to be a top five kicker in the league. Our kick off coverage unit managed to force a fumble to begin the game. Thomas Morstead had a solid game averaging 49.5 yards off two punts. Avery Williams had a nice 23 yard punt return. Williams also average 26.3 yards on kick off returns. We only allowed 4 yards per punt return. A very impressive effort from Marquice Williams group. 

Falcons Negatives

Arthur Smith: Arthur Smith is a first year head coach who deserves time and patience from our fanbase but he must call a better game then he did vs. San Francisco. Kaleb McGary vs Nick Bosa was an obvious mismatch in the 49ers favour, yet Smith failed to assist McGary with a tightend or running back chipping the elite edge rusher. The Falcons opening possession of the second half ended in a strip sack as McGary face Bosa one on one and he was beaten with ease. On every short yardage situation, the Falcons line up in a goal line formation but they refuse to run a quarterback sneak. A quarterback sneak is 84% effective on 3rd or 4th and one. If you don't want to sneak it. Why not spread the defence off? Crowding the line of scrimmage is an obsession NFL coaches have always had that I have never understood. Spread the defence out so there are more open running lanes if you do want to rush the ball in short yardage.


It wasn't just me who found Smiths decision to pitch the ball on 4th and less then a yard bizarre. 



Jalen Mayfield: Mayfield might be the worst player I've ever seen play for the Atlanta Falcons. Usually a player this bad loses their place in the starting line up. Mayfield however keeps getting put out their week in week out. He has allowed 10 sacks this season. That's nearly one per game! The decision to draft him in the third round was questionable at the time and he has turned out to be a disaster. Arthur Smith and his coaching staff haven't been able to get any sort of improvement from him.


The Falcons would have scored a touchdown here if Mayfield could have impeded Arden Key even slightly. Instead he doesn't even lay a finger on him. On plays like this, the Falcons would have gotten similar production from a hologram.

There were so many negatives for the Falcons that I could go on. It is essential that we add plenty of new starting defensive linemen next year because we only had three pressures all game. 

We are worse then our record

The Atlanta Falcons currently have the worst DVOA ever for a six win team at -34.4%. We have a -126 point differential. A worse points difference then the 2-10-1 Detroit Lions whom we face this coming weekend. The Falcons are much closer to the worst teams in the NFL then they are playoff calibre teams.

Taken from Statmuse.com

What Arthur Smith had to say

When asked about his redzone play calling. Smith had this to say "We consider everything". "We go in there and game plan, you're always looking for an advantage. Obviously, it comes down to execution and the defense has a say as well. We'll continue to look at everything." When asked about another Falcons failure in on a later drive "the guy upfront made a play, moved us back … Clearly, we didn't do a good enough job executing, though." "We got to go out and execute and play better upfront".

Box Score 

Atlanta Falcons

Passing: Matt Ryan 19/32 for 236 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, 92.7 passer rating.
Rushing: Mike Davis 6 carries for 21 yards. 
Receiving: Russell Gage 8 receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown.

San Francisco 49ers 

Passing: Jimmy Garoppolo 18/23 for 235 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, 123.7 passer rating.
Rushing: Jeff Wilson Jr. 21 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown. 
Receiving: George Kittle 6 receptions for 93 yards.

Highlights


The highlights of the game are available on youtube here

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