The Atlanta Falcons’ wild card matchup against the New York Giants at Met Life Stadium Sunday lasted, painfully and unfortunately for Falcons fans, well over three hours. (Playoff games always take forever thanks to the magic of television advertising). But for the Falcons, the 24-2 loss was actually a short story.
A short story as in the Falcons failure to convert first downs on third and fourth down and short, ended their season, and keeps the Atlanta triumvirate of head coach Mike Smith, general manager Thomas Dimitroff and quarterback Matt Ryan winless in the postseason despite playoff appearances in three of the last four years.
Even more disheartening is that after the loss, future Hall of Famer tight end Tony Gonzalez is still without a drip of postseason satisfaction despite 15 years in the league, 12 Pro Bowl selections and multiple fruitless postseason appearances.
The Falcons lost the game because the offense couldn’t convert when Smith felt they had to –using his usual verbiage– execute. Whether or not Atlanta needed to convert on some of the situations before New York took a commanding 24-2 lead in the fourth quarter, is a question for sports talk radio, the “water cooler” and the message boards.
There is no debate, though, that the lack of execution in the tight spots on the later downs eventually deflated a team that has won 43 games in the last four seasons.
When the Falcons needed to get less than three yards on third and fourth downs combined, they converted just one time when it mattered.
The Falcons didn’t lose because the Giants’ vaunted, momentum-charged defensive line got to Ryan. They didn’t lose because of the brilliance of Giant quarterback Eli Manning, who continued to produce on the heels of his best regular season.
The Falcons lost because they chose to make a statement, to dictate tempo, to establish superiority along the line of scrimmage when they had the football, and they failed.
So what happens now? The Falcons don’t need to blow anything up. They just have to fix the … offensive line. When the Falcons want (or need) to gain about as much ground needed to build a kiddie pool, they have got to be able to get it.
Don’t blame Smith’s decisions, NFL players want a coach that says, “I trust you, just do your job.” Don’t blame Ryan, he had a career year behind this offensive line (4,177 yards 29 touchdowns with only 12 interceptions in the regular season). Don’t blame the alleged wearing down of running back Michael Turner (1,340 yards rushing). Ryan and Turner did their job. No other quarterback/ running back tandem passed for over 4,000 yards and rushed for over 1,110 yards.
This team needs the offensive line to establish attitude. It’s just not there. The story has been consistent all year. Once the defense knows whether the Falcons will run or pass, it’s game over. New York stopped Atlanta on the ground in short yardage situations early, then, the Giants cruised to victory.
The Falcons’ season, like one, two, three or four offensive possessions on Sunday, came to an abrupt halt. In 2012, Dimitroff and Smith have got some work to do.
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