The Falcons run defense continues to
slide in the league rankings. After giving up 162 yards to New England, the Falcons dropped from 11th in the league to 16th. They are now giving up 112 yards a game.
Over the past three games, all losses, the Falcons have given up 117, 138 and 162 yards to drop from ninth in the rankings to 16th.
That forces the offense to try to play keep up. The problem for fantasy owners, however, is their inability to do that.
Do we need to accept that this offense has returned to its pre-2016 form?
According to ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure, the Falcons truly believe they can turn everything around quickly.
Quarterback
Matt Ryan keeps saying they're "close' when asked about the offensive struggles. The emphasis this week has been improvement on third down and in the red zone, where the Falcons went 2-for-9 and 1-for-3, respectively, in last week's loss to the Patriots.
Head coach
Dan Quinn and the players express firm belief in offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Now it's about executing.
Maybe the Falcons won't be the same team that averaged 33.8 points per game last season, but they should never be shut out for more than 91 minutes.
As McClure put it, "Too much firepower."
According to the Sports Xchange, the Falcons have to lean on wide receiver
Julio Jones to help drag the offense out of its slump.
He could be due for a big game.
Meanwhile,
Tevin Coleman led all running backs with 2.54 yards per route run and averaged 13.3 routes run per game, according to Profootballfocus.com. Through four games this year, Coleman averaged the same 13.3 routes run per game and increased his efficiency to 3.00 yards per route run.
In the past two games, however, Coleman has run just 16 total routes, and seen only two targets for four yards.
Coleman was
removed from the injury report on Friday after dealing with a sore knee earlier in the week.
One last note here. ... Tight end
Austin Hooper, who was targeted just once against New England will go up against Jets safety Jamal Adams, the sixth pick overall in the draft out of LSU.
With
Mohamed Sanu out, the Falcons tried to feature Hooper against the Miami and he was having a strong game until a late-game drop. He has to attack the ball better. The much-heralded Adams is off to a strong rookie season. He has 35 tackles, two sacks and three pass breakups.
From a fantasy perspective, Hooper remains too hit and miss to rely on as a season-long starter and he's matchup-dependent in DFS. The Jets are giving up an average of 14 fantasy points per game this season, 10th-worst in the league.