"Rivalry" Loss #2: The Offense

The first difference coach noted was that "we scored some points."

And yes, the biggest difference on the Falcon team is that they finally got some offensive productivity.  That's been sorely missing and the biggest issue in why the Falcons have been unable to win to date.  With a productive offense, everything on our remaining schedule looks different.

BG had 7 yards per play, by far their best offensive performance of the season.  They ran the ball effectively and passed it, were 6 of 14 on 3rd/4th down, scored TDs on all four red zone trips and made explosive plays.  It was a completely different team and gives us a chance to win.

The biggest difference is James Morgan.  He was highly touted when he came here, and he is making dramatic improvements each week.  He played an excellent game against Toledo.  With Morgan, Elijah Cunningham already here and then two highly touted young men on the verbal wire, the QB position is looking very solid.

Morgan completed 66% of his passes and had 13.4 yards per completion, which is very good.  There were five touchdown passes and he was sacked only twice.  He threw only 1 pick in 38 passes....fumbled once on a sack attempt where he probably got a little sidewise.  Having said that, this is the kind of game he is capable of producing.  He just can make big throws and has really improved.  He still made mistakes--one of which had Coach Jinks pounding on his shoulder pads on the sideline--but by and large he is much improved and still can get better.

BG also ran the ball well, with 4.9 yards per rush.  Coppet was great, 105 yards on 17 carries, with is 6.1 yards per.  Cleveland had over 5 yards per carry...62 yards on 11 carries.

And we saw what we saw last year...a team that puts the defense on its heels and lets them choose whether you move the ball running or passing...we got some pace going.  Our offense needs successful plays to work.  It was a completely different experience.

Scottie Miller had a great game, with 8 catches, 149 yards and 3 TDs.  Ronnie Moore only caught 3...I don't know if they were keying on him and creating space for other guys or what.  But, with Miller getting that kind of success, they might have to start keying on him and that could open up other things.  Redding had a couple nice plays and Deric Phoutavong got back into the mix with 2 4th quarter grabs.

BG gave up only 2 sacks and one pass rush fumble (which got out of bounds).

It was about execution...throws in the right place, balls caught, blocks made, running backs hitting the right holes...and if that continues the rest of the year has a completely different tint to it.