The Atlanta Falcons started the 2022 season in a way they know: despite a decent performance and a high lead, they ended up empty-handed. Coach Arthur Smith reacted with anger and not with much confidence and seemed to overlook the essential.
When a team has an established identity for years, if not decades, it’s not as easy as a new manager to change it. Tankers and braking distances and the like. But if you’ve had a year and two offseason and three-quarters of the roster are already your boys, and you and your coaching staff have made big preseason announcements about a tough new culture and an end to inadequacies, then this is season two. even a referendum on your leadership skills.
Arthur Smith did not look good in the category on Sunday following the Falcons’ tough 26-27 defeat to the Saints. He told reporters in attendance that they can continue writing obituaries like in May and that the team should be ranked 45th (out of 32?), But they certainly won’t give up. Clap your hands on the podium desk, get out, no more questions.
Saints vs. Falcons: the normal fourth quarter
The claim was justified because Smith – as he did several times in his rookie season – did not show the necessary aggression in the fourth quarter with a necessary lead in today’s NFL in order to survive. An intentional game delay (with the following punt) to 50 with an 8-point lead with 7:12 minutes left was relatively harmless.
Doing the same thing to the Saints-42 with 2 points and walking just one meter with 54 seconds on the clock was quite hair-raising. About 9 percent of winning odds went here, according to Ben Baldwin’s 4th Down Calculator.
On a defensive level, requests for too weak coverage could also be heard on Sunday. Noisy TruMedia however, the fourth quarter was more aggressive than the first half with a blitz rate of 35.7%. Individual mistakes like Casey Heyward’s Jarvis Landry coverage were more likely to be the causes here.
