Falcons' stars not panicking about sputtering offense
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – There are certain buzz words that Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman prefer to avoid.
Don’t use “frustrated” or “frustrations,” and don’t use “last year” when talking to the Atlanta Falcons’ Pro Bowl tandem.
It’s hard to say which will shut you down quicker: Jones, the wide receiver, or Freeman, the running back.
But both say they find no relevancy in either word or phrase.
They say there’s no frustration. Not after falling 23-7 to the New England Patriots on Sunday night. Not after that loss represented the Falcons’ third consecutive defeat, and not after Atlanta’s offense went scoreless for more than 90 minutes dating back to last week’s 20-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
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Sure, the Falcons would have liked to have ended their losing streak by beating the Patriots. But their motivation didn’t come from the fact that New England rallied from 25 down and scored 31 unanswered points to take Super Bowl LI last February. For Jones and Freeman, the desire to win is rooted in just that: needing to win so they can accomplish their ultimate goal: winning a Super Bowl.
And while their offense sputters to the tune of 13.7 points a game on this three-game losing streak, they refuse to dwell on the fact that the same group of core players averaged 33 points a contest last season.
Why? Because that was last year, and last year doesn’t matter.
“No. No. Not at all,” Jones replied when questioned if he asks himself how his team produced so many points last season but now has struggled. “We’re not thinking about last year. I’m getting questions about last year because it keeps getting brought up, because of the Super Bowl, or ‘Y'all were scoring this and that.’ But that’s a whole different football team. That was 2016, this is 2017.
"We just have to keep working. We’ll get there."
Freeman echoed Jones’ sentiments.
“Every year is a new year. NFL, you’re either getting good or you’re getting better, or you’re not,” Freeman said. “You’ll never be OK all year long. You’ll get better or worse. A lot of teams in the NFL are getting better. So are we. We just need to figure out how to close. But those are small things we can fix.”
OK, so the Falcons need to do more than just close games. One of their pressing needs right now involves stringing together positive plays, and converting in third downs. In two of their last three losses, they have succeeded on 38% of their third downs, or worse. In each of their last two defeats, the Falcons have lost the time of possession battle.
Freeman and Jones seem like solutions to some of these problems. The multi-purpose running back can help ensure balance and quality time of possession. But offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian went away from Freeman in each of the last two weeks with his team falling behind.
Jones can help move the chains and restore effectiveness in the red zone.
But at times this season, he has seemed like a forgotten man. Unlike former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who made it a point of feeding Jones the ball and sometimes forced it to him, Sarkisian has opted for a more balanced approach.
Jones on Sunday did have one of his more active games of the season with nine catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. But problems elsewhere remain and kept the offense in check. Matt Ryan hasn’t looked like he did in his 2016 NFL MVP season, lacking the same precision and apparent comfort as he displayed under Shanahan.
Jones isn’t your typical diva wide receiver. He doesn’t go on tirades demanding the ball. He just continues to work for the next opportunity, remaining confident that eventually his quarterback will get him the ball.
“Nothing about this is frustrating,” Jones said. “It’s football. Any given Sunday. We just have to keep working. Keep working.”
No player or coach has managed to pinpoint the source of the regression. But Jones and Freeman said they refuse to compare last year’s approach to the way of today.
“I don’t look at this year like last year. Last year was a whole different team,” Jones said. “Gelling getting on same page. We’re not gelling, not connecting on third downs and the red zone. … We’re not concerned we have to stay positive in our building, keep working. We can’t get down on ourselves. We have to keep building.”
Jones and Freeman saying that they’re not frustrated, not concerned and not comparing to last year might sound like they’re burying their heads in the sand. But that’s not the case.
They have to take this approach to avoid losing focus and to avoid locker room fractures.
The Falcons don’t look like their Super Bowl contender form, but they certainly still have hope at 3-3. Six of the remaining 10 games are against fellow NFC South opponents.
“It’s easy to stay focused. You’ve got to understand, it’s a long season,” Freeman said. “It’s not college you lose two games and you’re out of the national championship. NFL – you always have a chance. We haven’t even had a divisional game yet. We’re still here. … I definitely think we’ll bounce back. Everybody will settle in and we’ll bounce back.”
Follow Mike Jones on Twitter @ByMikeJones.
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