Sunday’s 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers may just have been rock bottom for the Atlanta Falcons.
The team had 332 yards of total offense, but it barely averaged five yards per play and second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was benched in the second half in favor of $180 million backup Kirk Cousins.
The results were bad regardless of who was under center, as Penix Jr. threw two interceptions and averaged just 4.8 yards per pass, and Cousins had just 29 yards passing on seven attempts, and he averaged an even worse 4.1 yards per pass.
The running game was the only part of Atlanta’s offense that found any form of success, as Bijan Robinson (72 yards) and Nathan Carter (46 yards) combined for 118 yards on 20 carries.
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Drake London was the only Falcons receiver to hit the 50-yard plateau, Darnell Mooney and Tyler Allgeier combined for three drops, and four pass-catchers caught 50% or fewer of their targets in a mistake-filled game that offensive coordinator Zac Robinson would like to forget.
With fans demanding answers following an embarrassing offensive showing, the Falcons shook things up on Monday, firing one offensive assistant, and making a big change with another.
“The #Falcons have fired receivers coach Ike Hilliard and passing game coordinator T.J. Yates will assume those duties,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport stated on Monday night.
In addition to Hilliard’s firing, the Falcons also announced they were moving Robinson from the coaches booth to the sideline for their Week 4 matchup against the Washington Commanders.
“We’ll move Zac down to the field to be able to get a little cleaner communication for him, to be able to get it to (Penix Jr.) if something does happen along those lines, to be able to be more visual and see the quarterback and to be able to do some of those different things to have him have a clear line of communication with Mike, to be able to help him out a little bit more,” head coach Raheem Morris said, via the team’s website.
“We definitely hold some responsibility in those things, and we’ll go out and do those things. We’ll correct those things this week, we’ll correct them throughout the process. It’s how we practice. It’s how we do walk-throughs. It’s how we do everything else. So, we’ll get Zac closer.”
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