 What's up everybody and welcome to another edition of the Falcons final whistle podcast We are coming to you from AT&T stadium after the Falcons lost a lopsided one I think everyone knows that 43 to 3 to the Dallas Cowboys. This was not a good result not one that the Falcons were looking for to Continue the positive momentum after beating the Saints in New Orleans that didn't happen This is a setback that they're gonna have to rebound from very quickly as they move on to a Thursday night game Against the New England Patriots Tori McElene your biggest takeaway from this specific game I mean, it's hard to take one thing away from a game where the Falcons lost 43 to 3 right I Think for me. It was just kind of the I Wanted this to be a competitive game I really really did and I thought that after the they beat the Saints last weekend that it would have been and so Kind of coming out and seeing what happened in that second quarter Was really discouraging and it was really tough to watch. I think down through the last two quarters of the games specifically So I guess this is my biggest takeaways. That wasn't a fun one to watch Yeah, it definitely wasn't and that voice you heard was Tori McEleney. I'm Scott bear I didn't do the intros off the top silly me. I think you mentioned my name. I'm I mentioned yours But nobody else. So now we're gonna backtrack a little bit I'm Scott bear and Chris Ram coming up next. What are your thoughts after this? Result that was disappointing for the Falcons and their fans I think like Tori said, it's hard to take away one thing But maybe just the nature of the NFL, you know that the Cowboys were last week We're down 30 to nothing in the fourth quarter with six minutes to go and this week They beat a team 43 to 3 So, you know, I think it just my biggest takeaway is just the nature of the NFL how things can change so quickly Yeah, and and we're going to break this game down and identify things that went wrong in What Arthur Smith called the second quarter avalanche we're gonna go over some stats that really tell the story and We're gonna look forward to how the Falcons have to rebound quickly heading into that Thursday night game against New England at Mercedes-Benz stadium where they haven't won a regular season a game yet This season and then we're gonna try to look forward and see how the Falcons can as as as foyer put it stay in the hunt They're in the hunt now They want to play meaningful games in December how they can do those things But before we get to all that a big thank you to our sponsor Microsoft Windows 11 the official operating system of the NFL And the Atlanta Falcons the all-new Windows 11 is here to bring you closer to what you love Like the Falcons final whistle podcast learn about all the awesome new features of Windows 11 at windows.com We're starting off the first of four quarters spending five minutes talking about where This Falcons Cowboys game went wrong for the dirty birds and it went wrong in the first half Things kind of got out of control. Chris Ram you you wrote about this For Atlanta Falcons calm. Where do you think this this game got out of hand? Yeah, well, I think the second quarter like like Arthur Smith mentioned was kind of like the obvious point where things got out of hand But I thought that the momentum really changed after that fourth down like it seemed like after they went for it on that fourth down things just Went negative after that after that point, but most importantly, I thought the obviously being up You know 28 to 3 is significant But then to have a pump blocked and then for them to score off the block punt and then to go for a two-point conversion when they're up What was it? They're up 31 it was 30 it was 34 to 3 when they were going for 2 and it got it to 36 to 3 Yeah, so that at that point for me is when I thought that It just killed it just kills you internally I think it as a as a player as a as even as if you're a fan watching the game I think that that two-point conversion for me watching that I was just like oh man, this is Comebacks have happened big comebacks have happened before but that seemed to me like just like a nail in the coffin Yeah, I feel like it was a gut punch like it was one of those things that you know It wasn't that they put this huge gigantic drive together to go down and score it was one play and immediately It goes from being a 28 to 3 lead to now 36 to 3 Which is it feel it feels different. I think for me though the the moment that really Kind of took this game to a different level in that second quarter because that was you know Arthur Smith was right. It was that second quarter that really did it to him Atlanta so Dallas had just scored it is it was just the start of the second quarter Dallas scored and it was 14 to 3 Atlanta goes out has a 3 and out and then Dallas goes out and in 1 2 3 4 5 plays has a touchdown and It was a touchdown where it was on the back of Dak Prescott Giving it to I can't remember who it was, but it was a 23 yard Play on fourth and three like that that fourth down conversion in the second quarter And then a play later Ezekiel Elliott runs in in for from two yards out And it's a touchdown to make it 21 to 3 that was I think the moment for me that It really kind of was like, okay, this is this is not going to be good Here's the weird part and I know we're talking about the second quarter avalanche as Arthur Smith put it but in the first quarter the Falcons are taking yards in chunks like Through their first two series towards the end of their first two series I looked at the team stats and they were averaging like 14 yards a play. Yeah, I mean they were moving the ball down field They were running well. They were space for everybody to move It didn't seem like Kyle Pitts was ever gonna not be I know I was about to say Matt Ryan hit Cal pits with ease multiple times, right and and I think avalanche the word that Arthur Smith use I'm gonna keep harping on on that park as I think it's it's it's apt here Yeah, because it's not like the Falcons were knocked down or weren't ready to play or came out flat or any of those types Of things that they were moving the ball early and I don't dismiss The fourth quarter go for it at all. I thought that was a sign from Arthur Smith That hey man field goals are not gonna win this game and guess what he wasn't wrong because the Cowboys put up 43 Right, so you were gonna need to generate steady offense And I think the steady offense was there and it's one of those things where maybe momentum from week to week Doesn't happen, but momentum in a game as as a Deron Harmon said that's real Yeah The momentum definitely slipped to a point that I think the Falcons kind of lost control of what they were doing And then by the time they got their hands on the joystick, you know, it it all kind of wasn't there for them in the same way I mean like we're talking about going to 36 to 3 or what have you in the first half Yeah, and there were points in the second quarter and I'm filibustering here There were points in the second quarter where I kept thinking if they can do this thing, right and then Get some chunk plays and score then I kept creating Situations in my mind so they could stem the tide because I just didn't believe it was gonna continue to go down this way and Ultimately it did and things I think for the first time since since week one really kind of got out of control So that's gonna wrap up quarter number one with me talking for about 90 consecutive seconds. Sorry about that y'all But we're gonna move on here and go over some go over some numbers that explain what happened and Numbers that maybe were uncharacteristic of how the Falcons have been playing in recent weeks We're starting quarter number two diving into the box score, which I Think sometimes stats can be deceiving as Tori as you wrote in your article for Atlanta Falcons comm sometimes They can really identify where areas went wrong I think that this is the the the a ladder case here as you broke it down Yeah, it's funny because what was it three weeks ago? I wrote a story on AJ Turrell and Grady Jarrett and I Like in the lead of that story I was talking about how stats don't matter for them because of the way that they're playing and they're doing things that don't show Up in a stat book and so you know You can't always like take stats for what they are and blah blah blah But then there's always another side to the coin and the other side to the coin was this game where it was a game where The statistics if you really look at the box score if you look at the statistical breakdown of this game and how lopsided it was it does paint a full picture of Why this score was 43 to 3 and I think for me I really just broke it down I mean if you look at it Dallas had 22 first downs Atlanta had 11 Dallas had 431 total yards Atlanta had 214 and then you get into the third downs Atlanta was one for 11 in third downs Dallas was three for three on fourth downs Atlanta was over to I mean at Dallas was perfect in the red zone The Falcons only got down to the red zone one time in their very first drive I mean these are all Like these are all things that when you look at this stat book. It's like well, that's there's there's your reason There's your reason for why the game was 43 to 3 There's your reason for why the Falcons are leaving Dallas feeling not so great about what just kind of transpired here I think it's really funny because I'm usually not a big like look at the stats and the stats tell the whole story, but For this game particularly it absolutely did Chris did ever Surprise you to see how the third and fourth down Situations played out that the Falcons have been pretty good in those Situations and they had some opportunities early in this game to get the Cowboys off the field and kind of weren't able to do it And that's really where things you know kind of went nuts Like we actually talked about that the fourth down that didn't work out for the Falcons Well, the Cowboys I think on the very next drive had a fourth down that they converted. How big were those moments in your eyes? Yeah, why I think the moment you just mentioned was huge because the Falcons didn't get a fourth down and then the next series the Cowboys went and did exactly what what the Falcons wanted to do another thing that just kills momentum But I think the most surprising thing about the Falcons struggling on leg downs was Be the way they started the game because they started the game Like you said getting chunks of yards Kyle Pitts was open every single play Cordero Patterson was Running getting chunks of yards and then all of a sudden it just stopped like it just everything just stopped like the avalanche thing was Just an avalanche So and that's what I was gonna say to one thing that stood out to me was Cordero Patterson Me guys lowest targets of the season as lowest carries of the season and he he had an ankle He got his ankle taped up and then he just kind of never got back into the game We saw like a lot of Wayne Dahman and maybe maybe that was to you know protect him for Thursday Maybe but usually when the Falcons play well CP plays well as he has done every game But yeah, he only had targets and you know for carry so Yes, right and I know that Arthur Smith talked about it after the game And he was talking about how like the reason you saw Josh Rosen and Wayne Gaulman and all those guys was because you know They got to a point and they're looking at it in Kind of probably the third fourth quarter where they're like we don't have any more possessions Like we don't have the possessions to get this thing where we want it and I think like that's granted We didn't see CP like hardly at all after halftime if at all after halftime So maybe I think there's some something to be asked about like that this coming week and But going back to the kind of what you're talking about with the third down. Yeah, that's super interesting Yeah, well something else that's really interesting and kind of another caveat to this is that if you look at the Falcons like three and ounce they all started with a No game on Their first down play or a loss of yards Whether it was a sack or a tackle for a loss So when you're going out there and you're not converting Significant yardage or not even significant yardage, but a small chunk of yards on first or second down that really makes it hard on Yourself on your offense to go third and long over and over and over again And it was something that they the Falcons couldn't do today. I mean that's evident in they had four Three and ounce in a row between the second and third quarter. I mean that kind of tells the story Yeah, I think it absolutely does just one thing real quick that I wanted to highlight from the defensive box score The Cowboys had 10 passes defense to 10 Matt Ryan through 21 passes he completed nine that's that's that's a lot That's Cowboys defensive backs or defensive linemen getting their hands on the football before the Falcons have a chance to catch it That's not enough separation. That's not good enough for an offense That relies upon moving the ball through the air if defenders are getting the hand on the ball They're close enough to make plays like that that often spells trouble In quarter number three, we're gonna start taking our eyes forward away from this game and what and Towards the future and about what needs to happen for the Atlanta Falcons and their players To improve execution to come out on the winning end of some of these games and stay relevant as we move forward So when when you look at this Roster Chris and you looked at this game Is there an area is there a group of players? Is there a specific player that you think needs to step up to to help the Falcons get and stay on that winning track? Yeah, I would say that the secondary for sure definitely I think needs to step up today. We saw CD lamb I get multiple touchdowns and Michael Gallup returned and he played well even a Mario Cooper and I think it was kind of surprising because when you look at the When the Falcons played the Buccaneers, I didn't think I don't have the stats in front of me I don't think the wide receivers were getting Open with as ease as as they were in this game And I think that's kind of comparable wide receiving course So maybe I don't know if that's if that's you know, there was someone today who was maybe in a position They weren't comfortable in or if figuring that out But I think moving forward the secondary has to find out where guys feel comfortable at to ensure that, you know You don't let a team throw for I think 317 passing yards and you know multiple guys have you know Six receptions and multiple touchdowns. So I think I think the secondary Now definitely needs to step up. Yeah And I think I guess I'll stay with the defensive side of the ball for for the group that I feel like needs to step up I mean, I just constantly kind of think about pass rush And the fact that Dak it really did feel like Dak Prescott could kind of just do what he wanted to today And I thought, you know, there was very little pressure on him outside of maybe a couple times And then the the thing that I thought really stood out to me is like even when the Falcons did bring pressure They were bringing guys They're they're bringing dbs And then Dak was immediately picking that up and and giving it to a cd lamb or Or even giving it to Ezekiel Elliott kind of just like running out. I mean It's that kind of thing. So if it's like the only way that you can generate pressure is to send your dbs Like that that's going to hurt you. I think in the long run because You got to have those guys to kind of shore up the secondary. I don't know. It's just kind of really really difficult to Face a quarterback like Dak Prescott and not put any pressure on him because he just like I said He just goes and does kind of what he wants to go and do and you know Matt Ryan threw two interceptions and he was sacked a couple of times and Dak Prescott threw for every interception that mess that Matt Ryan threw Dak Prescott threw a touchdown and he wasn't sacked and and he's had a really really great day I mean, I think his passer writing was was pretty pretty solid today. So That it's it for me it has to be pass rush because I think in order for this defense to For for all levels of the defense to to be playing the way that they want to Got to get after the quarterback and got to at least make it hard on him. Yeah, I coming into this Uh segment I was thinking offensive line because we know Matt Ryan does better when he has time to carve a defense up He's pretty good at that But i'm staring at this box score, right and I just see a wide receiver court that Wasn't very productive and didn't create enough separation Today the best part about when the Falcons offense is really humming. Sure. Kyle and and Patterson They're going to get theirs They're going to be the featured players in an offense But they're never the only players right offense the ball gets spread around quite a bit and we see production As we saw in that Saints game from a number of different people Even if the catch and yardage totals aren't high Tajé sharp or oz makes these types of big catches I'm looking here and outside of Kyle Pitts. There isn't there isn't a pass catcher that has more than 22 yards Yeah, and and that's in a lot of targets oz was targeted seven times and it's just one of those things where um This is another game where rustle gauge has no catches Right and I thought they were so that they benefited They benefited a great deal from his production last week and to have it go away Again and this has happened a couple of different times now That you need to see a guy like that step up Especially when you don't have Calvin Ridley in the pattern that you need more of these guys this buy committee approach You need that committee to to ultimately step up That's not really what we saw here And I think that they've got to be better moving forward against every type of coverage Really as the Falcons tried to get back in sync and that's what we're going to talk about in this next quarter As we kind of move on here Thursday nights coming quick Again and the Patriots are rolling. How can the Falcons get back on the right track? How can they rebound quickly? As we continue this season Quarter number four is going to talk about less about what happened against the cowboys And more about how quickly they have to rebound because they have a Thursday night game against the new england patriots Who just had their way with the cleveland browns today mac jones? Looking great that defense is looking tough and the falcons normally Thursday night football is like an unavoidable evil Right. Nobody's ever mentally and physically ready to play four four days later three days later really After you just play a football game. It's just not possible But the falcons seemed excited about the opportunity so they could flush this game as as quickly as possible and try to get back on Like on the winning track. Yeah, that's the optimist view of it, right? The other side of it is if they don't rebound well They could be looking at oh and two over the course of five days going from 500 to two games under in a snap So this is one of those times where they've got to find a way to rebound, right? And that's what we heard a lot during the press conferences find a way to rebound Is that easier said than done? How can the falcons really do that? As they when they have a tough team coming into mercedes-benz stadium pretty soon. Yeah, I think I can't remember. I think it was grady Jared who said this post game who who said, you know, we can't let this Lost turn into a second loss and I think that was very well put because it easily could I mean when you're talking about as quick of a turnaround as a thursday night game is it absolutely could And the the way that the patreots are playing right now I feel like this is one of the worst times to to be playing this team because they do feel like they have Have their thing together And they have it together and I I think they're playing very very well right now So this is a tough time to to play them but there's also the other side of that where it's like well Arthur Smith said it the reason why he didn't play some of those starters some of those guys in the fourth quarter of Today's game against dalis was because he knows that that thursday night game is coming So it was like almost like okay like let's take this for what it was and let's go see if we can get another win Or let's let's see if we can go get a win on thursday and guys will be fresher Because of that they didn't have a huge battle like how they did against the saints They they really didn't play in the fourth quarter. So that maybe works in the falcons favor I don't know if you're if you're looking at any way to kind of look at it because it's always tough a thursday night game But that's kind of how I look at it. There are a lot of different variables. I think they go into thursday night games Chris, how do you think that like like what's the magic potion here to get this team back on the right track pretty quickly? Yeah, I think I think they they I think they got it figured out with in terms of like flushing a loss and forgetting about it And because considering how they back bounce back from each loss this season and I just remember how Matt ryan approached the press conference after the philly loss and he was just and even later that week he was just like, you know like You know people we lose games. It happens. So when you have a leader who understands who's kind of mastered that ability of Forgetting about a loss. I think that's great so that they're not, you know Looming on that and thinking about that going into this game. But Like tory said the patres are hitting their stride right now. I think they won four straight games They put up 45 today and their starters were also pulled Early. Oh, I didn't know that see that's the thing is when we're watching the falcons game. We're traveling We don't get to see the other games. Yeah, you know, I have all the all the patres be writers on my timeline Yeah, so they the patres had the top two passers In today's game on their team like brian hoyer and mac jones have more passing yards than Baker mayfield and case keenam who wow who got hurt. So the defense is is playing well firing on all cylinders Matthew judon, I think has nine sacks and he's had seven is the highest in his career. So I think like one thing that that I think is important too is like the how things change In the nfl so quickly especially this year like there's no team who's dominating everyone. So even with the patres hitting the stride and everything Today, I think I really learned that We have to approach each week as its own thing. Yeah It's its own entity. It really is this year more than any other year. I saw a tweet the other day that said I don't think anyone's gonna win the super bowl like because everybody's just beating each other Yeah, exactly. So so I think It's fair to it's fair to just like we said forget about this and think that the The focus will come in here and look like a completely different team If we're gonna look at the nfl playoff picture in good times We can look at it in less than ideal times as well And as it looks right now the the vikings won carolina with cam newton Wow scores twice in two plays cam camera tarnes and and he brings a win over the cardinals What in the what in the world that really goes back to your point? No one's gonna win this rule You know the saints lose to tennessee basically if we're looking at seeding because why not The falcons are ninth at this point, but it's all tight. Yeah Close and foyer said that last year they were they never felt like they were in the hunt They never talked about it Right, they're in the hunt now and he said that's why we're so upset by how we played here And I think that that motivation will spurn them forward is the goal is to be relevant and be in the mix in december The only way that you can do that is by responding well through these difficult stretches We've talked about softer portions of the schedule They ain't it they ain't in that. Yeah, that's not where they are That they're in a much different place So they got to kind of stay competitive as we see Some teams like the vikings are pretty talented right that we're starting to see some of these teams surge I'll kind of fighting for that six and seven spot falcons want to stay in it I think that motivation will be Important I think what chris pointed out about matt ryan's leadership during these times I think arthur smith is good at turning the page and nobody feels sorry for ourselves There are no soft souls. I think all that comes into play can they Can they get to a point against the patriots at home where they can put themselves in position to To win this one late to go it's so funny for as bad as everybody may feel after the cowboys game If you come out of this five day two game stretch and you're one in one You're like I yeah, you're you're totally good with that totally good with that So we've been through the the start of this difficult stretch No, uh falcons fans are not thrilled. They're still an opportunity here to come out of it Ahead or come out of it even and stay in the hunt and I think that that's going to be important Um as we wrap up quarter number four and the end of this falcons final whistle podcast So with that you all know the drill at this point right go to itunes spotify youtube even Give us a five star rating. Please please pretty pleased with sugar on top. That would be awesome And uh, definitely listen and download each and every week We are going to take you through the entire falcon season and after you're done with that Do us a solid stay tuned to the falcons podcast network Because falcons audible comes up on wednesdays with dj wrackley dj shockley and and dav archer lots of good insight We're going to review this game and push it forward and then those guys are going to take the torch from us and keep it Moving forward and get you ready for thursday nights game. That's how you can always stay in the know It's how you can be smarter than your buddies at the bar Listen to these pods man and uh, definitely subscribe. Thank you so much for the time. We will talk to you again On thursday, well, it'll be friday morning by that friday morning. No doubt about that