Guerry Clegg: Dan Quinn has Falcons heading in right direction
It's hard to imagine how the Dan Quinn regime with the Atlanta Falcons could have started any better.
Obviously, the record couldn't be any better -- four wins, zero losses going into today's game against the Washington Redskins.
But it's more than just the perfect record. Much more.
It's how they are playing. That is, beyond Julio Jones making a case for MVP.
A resurgent running game.
Pass protection for Matt Ryan.
Sound fundamental defense.
None of those Falcon trademark self-inflicted mistakes -- like a defensive tackle jumping off-sides on third-and-4, or a personal foul penalty to nullify a sack that would have made it third-and-28.
The last time they played
like this was 2012, when they were one touchdown away from going to the Super Bowl.
Granted, it's still early to make travel plans to Santa Clara. Even if they go 16-0, there's still the matter of getting past the Green Bay Packers in the NFC. And there's so much football left to be played.
Still, other than the Packers, who else is there in the NFC that's clearly better than the Falcons? The schedule set up nicely for the Falcons to play Green Bay at home.
A win over the Redskins today would give them a clean sweep of the NFC East. Their own division, the NFC South, is already down to a two-team race -- the Falcons and the Carolina Panthers.
This year, the Falcons play the AFC South, which has only one quality team, the Indianapolis Colts. The Falcons play them at home Nov. 22.
The next week, the Falcons play the Minnesota Vikings -- the second-best team from the NFC North, if only by default -- at home.
They don't have to play Seattle, Arizona or St. Louis from the NFC West, at least not until the playoffs.
The convenient schedule is only part of the Falcons' hope. The fact is they are a good team playing good football because they have significantly improved their two greatest short comings -- a poor offensive line and a poor defense.
Over the previous two seasons, they neither could run the ball effectively nor give Ryan enough time to throw the ball downfield to Jones, Roddy White and Harry Douglas. That was especially troublesome when the defense could not stop the run or pressure quarterbacks.
That has changed so far. They are running the ball effectively again. Or maybe efficiently is a better word. They run low in the NFL in yards per carry at 3.7. Only six teams have a worse per carry average. But they run it just well enough. Their per-carry average is tied with the New England Patriots, the defending Super Bowl champs. The Falcons have nine rushing touchdowns, best in the NFL. Devonta Freeman has 16 first downs on the ground, tied for sixth best in the league.
The running game is just good enough to keep defenses honest. That gives Ryan time to get the ball down field to Jones or Leonard Hankerson, who has surpassed White as the No. 2 receiver.
As a result, the Falcons rank fifth in the NFL in total offense with 403.2 yards per game.
The defense has improved. Mind you, let's not kid ourselves. They are nowhere near the Seattle Seahawks defensively. Only six teams have allowed more yards than the Falcons' average of 390.5. They've allowed 305 yards per game passing, third-worst in the league. And this is despite the fact that they've faced only one top-15 quarterback, Eli Manning. They still have to face Drew Brees and Cam Newton twice each, Andrew Luck and Teddy Bridgewater.
But at least the defense is giving Ryan and the offense a chance. They are allowing 23.2 points per game. The Patriots are right behind them at 23.3 points per game.
"I can't speak for the past," Quinn said. "What I can speak to is it's an entirely new scheme, a new way to feature guys. For us, I think we've got a long way to go in terms of playing the style and the attitude that we can. The tackling is going to be right there for us. You can see from this unit already is how tight these guys are and how hard they want to play for one another. That definitely jumps off the tape to me. Our tackling and our takeaways, for me, those are at the front of our conversations every week. It will always be a point of emphasis for us. We've got a long ways in terms of getting to where we want to get to. But you can feel the toughness and the energy coming from the group for sure."
-- Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com
This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Dan Quinn has Falcons heading in right direction ."