 What's up and welcome everybody to Falcons final whistle your preeminent and authoritative post-game podcast from the people at Atlanta Falcons calm I'm your host digital managing editor Scott Baird with me is Atlanta Falcons calm beat reporter and football analyst Tori McElanny say hi Tori And we have long-form features reporter Chris rim also in the room say what's up Chris And we are going to break down Sunday afternoons 32 to 6 lost to the Philadelphia Eagles which happened right here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium where we still are a Full seven hours after this game is over And we're gonna try to break this game down tell you what this game was What it meant and how it's going to fall into place into the big picture of the 2021 Falcon season and we're gonna do this after every single game rain or shine win or loss And we're gonna do this in a fun and kind of structured way We're gonna go over four quarters five minutes per quarter not the standard 15 five minutes per quarter And we're gonna make fun of each other. We're gonna debate things. We're gonna disagree although I will always be right and We're gonna come to Conclusions about where this falcons team stands. So please feel free to Give us a rating a review subscribe on Spotify Apple podcast wherever you can get audio you will find this podcast and Hopefully you like what you hear more than you like what you saw from the falcons over the course of this game Where they didn't do a lot of things right Tori What was your biggest takeaway from what was a disappointing start to the Arthur Smith and Terry font no era of the Atlanta Falcons? First of all, that was an amazing transition. So kudos. No, I was thinking the same thing That was super smooth We're not really keeping score, but now we are I have the first point. Okay. No, but on a serious note I think I was so looking forward to finally getting to this point because I feel like all we've been doing over the last Nine months since Arthur Smith and Terry font no got in here was like just speculation We're just speculating as to what this team was gonna do what this team was gonna look like and You know, I was really excited for this game because I was finally like, oh my gosh We're finally gonna get to see what this group looks like, but even now that the game is over I feel like I still don't really have that answer. I feel like there's a lot of questions that I still have for this team In terms of just my overall thoughts my biggest takeaway had to be the offensive lines I guess lack of production that to me I went into this game thinking that was gonna be the key to the game I even said so many times. I was like the Falcons overall success hinges on the productivity of this offensive line And I think now that we look back on the game Whether it was penalties or whatever it was past protection. It was just I wanted more from that group And and maybe I expected two more going into it But that that was just my biggest takeaway because that was something that I was thinking about the entire week leading up to This game Chris, what are your thoughts after this game where not a lot went, right? What did you kind of take away from it positives negatives from your end? I mean What did go right at the beginning was the running game and that was really my biggest takeaway was how it went right until it didn't Which was early, you know, Cordero Patterson looked great his first runs were like a bind for 25 yards and Mike Davis broke out You know 12-yard run on second second, you know possession So I thought things were going well for the running game You know Twitter people were excited about the running game and it just came to a fiery halt and You know once you they got down, it's hard to continue to run the ball So I thought the positives from that is You know, it looked the running game looked a lot better than it has in recent years But at the same time it looked like it has in recent years for the The largest part of the game so, you know Matt Ryan talked about a post game and Jayla Mayfield talked a little bit about it So I think that's one thing for fucking fans to look at I think from this game to say, okay We we looked good for about a quarter moving forward. How can we replicate that quarter? Yeah, and I really think that with this Falcons team as it's currently constructed There's no secret that it's thin, right? They just don't have a lot of depth and they're one of those teams where everything needs to go right For this team to be consistently competitive and to stay close in games That's not what happened too many things went wrong and we're gonna break them all down here over the course of the next four quarters There will be no points assigned. I don't think unless they fall in my favor, but nonetheless We are marching on with Falcons final whistle. Let's get to it the first quarter We have five minutes to talk about the most important thing in my mind that happened after This Falcons Eagles game and that was head coach Arthur Smith Who never makes an opening statement before his press conference? He started it off like this and I quote I did a really poor job of getting us ready to go I feel awful for our fans and everybody who showed up today We'll do a better job moving forward that game is not going to define us It's a long season to go, but I didn't do a good job of getting us ready to go now We've heard coaches fall on their sword before but what toy? You can go first. What do you think this? Particular statement meant for this particular game. Did it surprise you at all that he opened the press or the that way? I think it falls right in line with something that we've heard about Arthur Smith since he took this job And it was something that I wrote about post game, you know plug for the old work But anyways, I think we have heard so much about Arthur Smith's Accountability, and I think he almost to a certain extent was holding himself accountable I don't know what goes on, you know behind closed doors and anything and what he was talking about in terms of like the penalties some of those penalties in terms of Illegal formations and false starts. He's like that's on me that I put that on me And I think that is an accountability of sorts where he's like I need to get these guys prepared to play in Terms of talking about those penalties That's the way that I took it and and that was the way that I thought that he was going with it Especially when we got really into the press conference and he brought it up So so to me that's kind of where my mind is at where it was him kind of Showcasing that accountability that he has not only for these players But the accountability that he has for himself And I think he has a really good opportunity Ahead to kind of be like all right for putting this into practice. We talked about it. We talked about it Let's actually go out and do it and it's It's gonna be really easy just to pull the first part of that quote out and make a mountain out of a molehill and Just say Arthur Smith colon. I did a really poor job getting us ready to go. Let's talk about it But nonetheless Chris let's just ask that question Did he do a poor job of of getting this team ready to go and was that evident in these in these pre snap Penalties or do you think that that that's an over exaggeration here that maybe there's more blame to get kicked around Yeah, yeah, I think there's obviously more more blame to get kicked around than just that I think and I don't think it was it was all on him I kind of I mean I like when people do that But it's also kind of like, you know when the one person tries to take the blame for everything Everyone knows it's not just you who who you know made the team lose like this So I think it was a it was good for him to say But I thought the weirdest thing about that press conference is just that you know He's talking and he's saying all this while his bosses are like in the corner, right? Arthur Blank is just sitting there looking at him while he says all this I wonder how he feels when he's saying this But yeah, I think there were some challenges on on the offensive line the Philly defensive line was physical Dominate he can't go out there and block himself. You can't go out there and play defensive back himself You know, we don't obviously we we don't know like tourist that was going on behind closed doors What the directions are what he's telling the team what they're going through But yeah, I think for example like I was I was confused at least in the two times If they went to the red zone that Kyle Pitts wasn't on the field, right? That's something that I think I wish he I would have got chance to ask a question that he could have talked about Because of his dominance in the red zone in college I think that's one thing I think about that maybe maybe was a mistake for him Or maybe that was a strategy that he was using he thought someone else was better suited for that But that that's one thing that I could think of but but no way is the blame Solio and Arthur Smith. Yeah, and I look at it I don't think Arthur Smith wanted to start Jalen Mayfield at left guard against Fletcher Contingency plan like he was like you make contingency plans. This was a contingency plan Josh Andrews was supposed to be the starting right And if you take away baptized, right? And that's exactly what what what happened for a third round pick who got thrown into the fire in a very difficult position I thought it was pretty respectable that That that he was able to that Jalen went in front of the press and was accountable for it That's pretty strange for somebody so young Also, that's tough like there are some pictures that I saw of him on the sideline looking like a sad puppy And I was just like dear god like I think we're forgetting how little I Guess just time he has spent at left guard It's really going up against this type of competition not to make excuses or anything like that But at the end of the day he has a third round pick who wasn't supposed to be starting today And who was playing outside of his position against one of the best defensive lines in the NFL so Yeah, so I mean I really think plenty of blame to go around for this one head coach players You name it as we run out of time on the first quarter Topic number two for our next five minute segment comes down to the amount of yellow We saw on the field there was a lot of it for both teams and the falcons really hurt themselves Time and again to the tune of 12 penalties for 99 yards. And here's the kicker Here's what Arthur Smith was really upset about we talked about it a bit in the previous segment But five pre snap penalties three false starts from the left guard position alone and then Kyle Smith lining up over another tight end illegal formation from the two Those are things that get you pointed out during the film session. Those are things that will get you beat when like when you're thin Were those penalties insurmountable Right, I mean like could they have overcome that or do you think that was the primary reason that set this team back during this game? Well, I mean, I think they could have been Uh Surmountable, is that a word? No, maybe but I don't know but we now we all know what I'm talking about My thing is is like, okay Philly also didn't play very clean. They had a ton of penalties as well So I don't necessarily even though there was a ton of penalties 99 yards. That's going to be awful every single time I don't 100% just put it on the penalties. You have to go to I put it down You know third downs red zone I mean all of these things where they weren't getting the job done in a lot of other areas I think it just makes the penalties that much more Uh important in terms of the overall scope of the game. It's like well, you were penalized for 99 yards It's like what did you expect was going to happen? And so I think that that to me is where it's like I think they could have been Overlooked if they were actually converting On the field on offense that I mean that's just me Yeah, I mean the the eagles were penalized 14 times for 89 yards But they had 434 total yards of offense and the falcons only had 260 So you're you're taking 260 going forward and you're going backwards 99. I mean, I'm no that's a huge difference. Mass guy Yeah, I'm not either. I don't I that's why I got into journalism. I don't like writing. I don't like wait a minute I do like I do like writing I I will go on the record to say I do like writing and I hate mass Okay, and but so at least we got that straight and we definitely got it it's straight here that There were too many penalties too often Um Yeah, that's what I was going to say too. I think it matters where you're penalized Like when the one you mentioned about cow pits lined up over at least mid that the I think that's A challenging. I think that's a tough one like this Like where it happens that but also like you were saying 3 for 14 on third down on third down the eagles were 6 for 13 Like you have to maximize your other opportunities when you when you need them So once you say that you were penalized that many times it's just like adding salt to the wound on top of you Not being effective when you need it to be yeah You look at some of the other ones that they had and this podcast isn't designed to To litigate whether Eric Harris should have gotten that that personal foul But you look at two offensive past interference penalties on picks like things that It just wasn't executed well and I think too often things weren't executed well It's a byproduct of those types of things But let's not forget going back even to the offseason program every time you fall started in practice You ran a lap didn't matter if you were jake matthews or jalen mayfield or or Kyle pets a couple Yeah, so I don't think it's a matter of arthur smith not putting importance behind it I think more than anything else. It's a matter of A young team a new team Maybe some emotions got the best of them But we're saying maybe maybe maybe but these are the types of things that cannot continue for the falcons to be Competitive in these games. It's crazy. Like you go back and you think I thought I'll like I'll take the blame here. I thought the philly was a very winnable game I thought they were I thought they were a team that could be taken advantage of at home in arthur smith's first game That that that defensive line put Chris do you think that that was a factor as we have about 45 seconds here? Do you think that was a factor? You have the offensive line making pre snap penalties. You got fletcher cocks breathe it and brand again Breathe it down your neck before every play. Yeah, well, you feel ahead and influence there Yeah, well jalen may I don't know if you saw jalen mayfield's fall start was the first time Fletcher was lined up in front of him. Really? Yeah, he tried to jump the snap because he He's thinking he's probably thinking. I mean it. I don't know. I'll probably do the same thing if I was down there And but yeah, I think You think when jalen said post game like we were trying to play physical because we knew how they were going to be Or you know sometimes when you think too much about who you're going to play against Sometimes it affects what you do when you get too nervous first game jitters No offensive line. So yeah, I think defensive line their presence had a little bit of an effect Yeah, this all a negative effect things. They got to clean up as we move on And our third quarter we have five minutes to break down exactly where the running game went, right because Because it was right there in plain view in the first quarter What what an amazing first quarter of not only good running by mike davis and cordial paterson But excellent play design by head coach arthur smith things were working well. They were able to move the ball downfield There was space, right? But this is one of those things where it's week one and then you get some adjustments on both sides and Bottom line they had more yards in the first quarter Then they had at seven in seven individual games last season And then the rest of the game didn't go quite so well So open ended where did the running game go where to go chris you go because you wrote about this I have no clue And that's on that No, but yeah, I did write about this like myself was plugged like torries for ellenafocus.com But but to be honest, I I think like you said it's got adjustments The defensive line Seemed to be getting through with ease It seemed like before it was like more like there was like there was a space like the first two drives There was a space from passes to and and it was it was precise the way they were They were moving the ball both running and passing and then once they got down a little bit They just started pinning their ears back and coming for matt And the running game was gone fearing fearing for matt ryan safety. Yeah, and in the third quarter They had negative two yards rushing. Yeah, so Yeah, I don't I that's like a huge disappearing act I mean and obviously once you go down But but you would think once you're down if you if you run you would be able to gain, you know a little bit But yeah, I don't I'm sorry. That's not the best answer, but I don't know We don't know I will say it was very encouraging to see that especially coming from what I saw in the run game last year and how just Abysmal it was at times how we we say like where is the running game? Like I feel like I questioned that almost every single Play last year. I mean it really did feel that way. I said I wrote all the time I was like the Falcons feel two one dimensional um, but Even in saying that I felt like it was encouraging this first half But I think matt ryan said it best when he was talking post game about how They just really The like wheels fell off the wagon in the second half And they weren't getting the push that they needed to on first and second down Which is making it hard on them on third down and that is exactly What we have talked about over the last year of being a problem for this team So for me when i'm looking at the run game, it's like you did it in the first half And even arthur smiths said that they didn't really change anything they being the eagles So what what's the disconnect between what we saw in that first half and in the second half? I mean do either of y'all have any clarity because I I don't I I I feel like I Am just kind of grasping at straws like why couldn't you give it back to cp? He was doing so well. I don't understand Yeah, I think the eagles defensive line eventually took this game over a little bit And they started asserting their will especially on the inside which if you can't run inside It's hard to run anywhere, but I look at it how they had what five consecutive drives it ended with a punt something like that and it and it's so Coach speak to say they weren't on schedule. They were behind the sticks But like when you add so like case so like maybe penalties aren't all to blame for everything bad that happened Maybe the disappearing act of the run game isn't bad for everything isn't to blame for everything That happened but when all those things add together and you put yourself in a bad spot And I'm just going to throw this in there. This isn't on topic But whatever when they gave up that two-point conversion after the penalty on the pat And then they the eagles went up two scores into the second half It's it's one point. It's one penalty I thought that was a huge deal that that took the falcons kind of out of what they wanted to do in the first quarter I think like a lot of that scripted a lot of that's planned and you can see inside of arthur smith's mind in a while That's really impressive right but them having to get away from that They didn't have any real responses and i'm not necessarily saying that's a lack of adjustment on the coach's part I think they just got out physical Upfront and that really slowed them down But you know more of more of cordial patterson We have about 30 seconds left tory cordial patterson Was impressive when he had the opportunity. Do you think he's earned more carries or do you think he's going to have kind of like a Set roll Yes, he's earned more carries in my eyes. I mean, I think I I think he should be getting the ball As much as mike davis at this point and that is not something that I came into this season thinking He really truly did impress me coming into Just ending this game. I am very impressed with cordial patterson. Whoo. Just under the wire I I saw that thing going to five minutes. I know it was very close And for our final segment, we're going to be looking forward to Next week when the atlanta falcons have a super easy job ahead going on the road against the super bowl champs In the greatest quarterback of all time Walk in the park. Uh, nonetheless, this is going to be a very difficult Game to respond to to what happened here, but broad question tory macklanny wrote it It was a good one. So uh, what needs to be fixed before they face tampa What is essential in terms of improvement before they go Farther south and play tom brady It needs to just be a cleaner operation as a whole like i'm talking penalties. I'm talking ball movement. I'm talking, you know Consistently being effective in the run game for four quarters Like all these things seem really simple in the grand scheme of things But we didn't see them do that against philly If they didn't do it against philly, how are they going to be able to do it against tampa who I would argue is a much better team I think a lot of people would argue that they're a much better team. Uh, so being able to play Efficiently cleanly. I mean, I don't I don't think the falcons would go down and just like absolutely Murdered tampa or anything like that But being able to just play a clean game at this point after what we just saw I think is a step up from from what we we did just see against philly Yeah, um, I think agreed But I think Oh line They might need to see what is looking like out there to see if they need to make if they can possibly make It's like is there a veteran left guard anywhere something so I don't because I don't know Yeah, because I don't know how that's the way they fared against philly tonight I think the buccaneers is kind of the going to be the same situation But also I think defensively It now the bucks are obviously different in terms of brady just sits there and I thought what hurt the falcons today was Hurts his mobility because stuff was kind of covered But you're playing against a team that has three wide receiver ones essentially and Gronk and for net and just a boatload of weapons a bevy of weapons and Today philly just scored 32 points today And only allowed six points. This is the eagles and you're playing a super bowl champ So I think they need to just reevaluate and just forget about this game and reevaluate, you know defensively making sure everything is Everything's correct from the secondary and also looking I think really think the offensive line because I think going into the season We kind of expected like the falcons would score points I don't think I I don't think people thought that the falcons would put up six against philly So I think if they can try to score with teams and hopefully slow teams slow teams down I think that's the goal for next week So I would say priority number one is figuring out the o-line because because matt ryan can't be back there fighting for his life Every week, I think you make a good point too about like we thought that the falcons would be able to score Like I remember saying multiple times during the preseason like don't worry They're not scoring because it's like not the starting offense The starting offense didn't score anything tonight. So Not just cut you off, but I think I think the cowboys in the bucks game I feel like that I see that I see the buccaneers offense similarly to how I I'm the buccaneers the falcons often Similarly how I look at the I see the the falcon similar to how I look at the cowboys to be honest Whereas like the offense is really really strong They have good right receivers. I see the falcons the same way the offense is really really strong and the defense is on its way Right and so the game will be high scoring. We're trying to outscore each other, you know 32 29 or 29 track me. Yeah, it's track me So that that's that's how I expect that game to turn out and I think If they can do that and figure out the just give matt ryan some time He'll be fine because I think it's hard for you to make plays when you're fighting for your life Well, I was like one time I like Tried to time it in my head and I was like that has to be less than two seconds in the pocket That he had like easily and any quarterback who who's not like if tom brady was in that situation It would I think it would be the same result in terms of the time that you're given right when you're a non-mobile quarterback You know what I mean? You need that time not not saying you need all day, but you need a second to go through your progression Yeah, you need more than two seconds. Yes. Yeah Yeah, and just to on the defensive side of the ball with these guys that don't leave the pocket very often And have they get rid of the ball quick you have to get into the backfield quickly and a lot of that is I always say it's interior pressure I want to see more from arland davidson in terms of snaps in terms of activity grady jarrett was grady jarrett I I didn't feel dante fallow very much I didn't feel anybody off of the edge, but you've got to be able to to penetrate and disrupt He's not going to make many errors He will make zero if he has time back there with all those whiteouts chris, uh as you mentioned so I think that they need improvement on both sides of the ball just to be able to To take that step forward it starts with clean operation and it goes into better execution. I think that's the only way it's going to make it work We just made it right under the wire five minutes almost on the dot there and that's going to bring The first ever falcons final whistle to a close chris torrey, thank you guys so much for sticking with us Well into the night. They were nice enough to leave a couple of lights on for us I think we should tell people that they legit were turning off lights Like we're in a booth at the stadium and they were going down turning off the lights and ours is the only one still on But we are still here for you Go check out at landofalcons.com. There's plenty of good stories on there. The best one written by me, naturally And uh point two. I can't even keep a straight face when I say that Nonetheless subscribe on apple podcast itunes. That's the same thing spotify everywhere that you can get a podcast hit subscribe Rate review. Let's get uh, let's uh, let's get some feedback. Let's get some topics. Let's get some Engagement going as we move forward. Let's talk about what you want to hear about That's our goal as we try to take a macro and a micro view of this at land of falcons game by game And and about the season as a whole so chris torrey. Thank you so much everybody Thank you so much for joining in and listening. We'll talk to you again next sunday