 Welcome back into another edition of the Falcons audible presented by AT&T Cameron Dicker hits a last second field goal against Atlanta Falcons this weekend and the Falcons lose 20 to 17 to the Chargers at home. They fall one game below 500 on the season. He's Dave Archer DJ Shockley. I'm Derek Rackley We're gonna talk about all things that happen in that game and then we're gonna turn to page We gotta turn to page quickly this week fellas. We got a game coming up here as we record this show in about 24 hours so excuse me 48 hours, so we got a we got to move on to the Panthers But let's start with the Chargers Dave. Let's start with some some first reactions here We are kind of talking about next week, but we'll come back After losing this game. Is it getting to the point to where it's a must-win situation this week on Thursday? Yeah, I don't think it's a must-win unless you're being eliminated, right? Yeah, but because you're one and two in the division and now you're tied with Tampa again Who's two and one in the division if you begin to start doing the math Then you think you can't drop a division game, right? You need to win the division game So but it unless you're all being eliminated. I don't ever like to use the must-win center. Got it DJ. What about you? Yeah, I thought similar obviously with where you stand hum is you know Our says mentioned the where Tampa stands and obviously, you know, they got a big one at the end over the Rams I don't like to say must-win either unless that's you know the last game of the season It's gonna get you into playoffs but other than that I think you still got a lot of football left to play but I do understand the importance of winning inside your division Yeah, that's a big deal. So in that sense of must-win, I think yeah, but for the entirety of the season still got a lot of ball Yeah, no, I feel you guys I understand which direction you're going I'm gonna flip it slightly on you guys and take some of what like like the coaches would tell us Guess what every week in the NFL is a muscle in situation. So they're not saying over there Oh guys, you know, it's just okay Let's just go out there and play our best and if it's not good No, the guys on the team and the coaching staff they're saying we're going out to win the freaking game this week So that's kind of what some of the reactions our fans you probably will be are looking at it Saying yes, it is a must-win if they want to stay pace in the division But let's talk about what happened this past game because Dave we talked about it Well before we walked in the studio here this morning kind of a weird game Like Falcons came out like gangbusters just marching down the field They come up short on the second drive, but they still get points on the board and then all sudden you click over into the second Quarter and like it's like a different game two different teams Atlanta kind of slows down the chargers kind of speed up a little bit What was your take? What was the kind of shift in momentum between quarter one and two? Well, it felt like that that when you got down there the second drive And I think you penetrated maybe the ten yard line I can't remember you're right around the ten yard line don't get in and you have to kick a field goal I felt like that was a bit of a deflator because you had been you've been really been pushing them around You had the big run by Alger in the opening drive. You had you had a lot going on You're able to mix in some pass. You kind of were dictating throughout the entire part of those first two drives I mean I looked at the play sheet and I said Atlanta to run 21 plays in the Chargers run three Yeah, I'm going wow just you talk about domination You had like you had the ball for like 12 minutes and 12 and a half minutes of the first quarter And you only had ten points Yeah, and you if it felt kind of a little deflating there And I think the Chargers got a little bit of a boost that they got a stop down there It made it it was only ten nothing Then let's say you have 14 not that how much difference is that I don't know You go down to these two you punch two touchdowns in the first two times you touch it That feels a little bit different than getting stopped and taking a field goal I felt like that the Chargers got a little bit of momentum off of that And then started to put some things together in a second quarter DJ It's got it's got to be one of those situations though where Atlanta gets up 10 Nothing on the Chargers in the first quarter and you got to feel like you're in a good position But then you got to think at some point Herbert is gonna figure this out Like he's a top five call it quarterback in the league for a reason and Dave you talked about the two touchdowns would have felt Better the Chargers respond with two touchdowns in the second quarter and it really just kind of flipped the game around Yeah, you think early in the ball game there wasn't I want to say much attention But the Chargers are trying to do other things with their offense and then they said, okay We got to do back in number 30 that can really make things happen And they started feeding him in multiple ways out the backfield started, you know giving it to him and he was making some plays making some positive runs and I think early in the ball game the Falcons were really good on early downs I mean you're talking about first and second down were really big for him and they were able to you know Being third is short or maybe not even get the third down Then you get to that second quarter and the Falcons have was like three straight three and outs or something like that And now okay here the defense gains confidence for the Chargers now their offense starts to pick up And Eckler starts to get going a little bit. I give it to him And he ends up taking it down But this was I thought just most some of the time was a lack of execution As far as hitting some guys some guys dropping some balls some guys You know Mario not really hitting a lot of guys sometimes I mean it was a multitude of things that culminated in why they were able to come back It just wasn't one or two guys, but obviously your execution that second quarter I think didn't match what you had going on in the first Yeah, and I think if you're looking for a play to look at that kind of flip the thing the script for for the Chargers Was a third and 15 play from their own 10 yard line or 12 yard line And your rush doesn't quite do what you're looking for to do you wanted to push Herbert left or right? When he escapes forward It's a problem because he's got a big arm He could throw on the move or he can take off like most quarterbacks But if you shove him either way he his percentage goes way down when you shove him out the other direction Cut the field in half he escaped forward found Palmer on that deep end cut and that got him going and all of a sudden boom Then they they converted six consecutive third downs from that point on which led to the two touchdowns At that point you'd kind of been had him off his sorts He was kind of not feeling it and he wasn't finding guys and the next thing you know He got the ball to Palmer got some of the receivers. We knew he wouldn't work with Williams or Allen in the game Right, so I get Everett in the game. I got some guys I started getting them the football and they started feeling okay about themselves So you kind of gave them a little breath of fresh air there on that third 15 conversion Here's another thing that I thought was big in a game, too And you talk about what the Chargers were doing on those I mean four in that particular drive they converted third downs and on the other side for the Falcons because you were bludging them So badly in that first quarter they started to add more guys to the freight They start to add more good I think they brought in a couple extra D linemen. I mean they were adding linebackers They were doing a lot of run blitzes and now you look at it you go second to 10 second 11 Here comes third and eight or nine and that makes it a lot tougher So they changed their plan going in that second quarter as well so Falcons end up Having a really good first quarter 145 yards of offense 92 rushing But then the second quarter as we talked about Chargers 166 yards of offense It was kind of like you poked a bear a little bit and they came alive Falcons continue to do what they do all season long and that's run the football They've had success Dave I want to ask you a question about the presidents of the presence of Cordero Patterson back in the lineup Because it seems like Arthur Smith now. He's got options. He's he's seen enough from Algier He's seen enough from Huntley to have confidence that those guys can continue to run the rock And now he's playing a little bit of CP in the backfield a little bit of CP on the outside Did you see enough to be encouraged from from Cordero Patterson moving forward now that he kind of gets his legs back underneath himself? Absolutely, and you know what he's capable of doing So I asked Arthur and his crew on his coach's show Did you have him on a pitch count? He goes? I wouldn't like to call it a pitch count But we were monitoring how much they were using him. So Essentially me saying this it was there was some kind of count that he was on as to how much they wanted him Exposed so to speak to the to the contact and how much he was carrying the football But you saw it right out of the block you go no backs the first play the game It's a little bit out to him outside He gets nine and you go back and hand it off to him and he runs for about seven So you got so by do to answer your question We talked a little bit about this last week and I said CP was definitely playing this You got it But his versatility and that package is gonna expand now I think you'll see that in the Carolina game And that's the part as we get to that and we start talking about Carolina That'll be part of the game plan that Carolina has it necessarily seen Because they didn't see PC CP what 11 days ago when we get to Thursday, right? I didn't I didn't get a chance to hear the call of When he runs over the guy, I would have loved her I was trying to set that up. I mean Can we talk about him running over Drew tranquil on that play through even over through I mean Through his body Because they had to remove his helmet from his chest I mean listen Drew had a good game like he was all over the field made a lot of tackles And there are just certain times when you don't want to run the tape back And that's one that drew tranquil is never gonna want to see again and conversely CP gonna be shown that one to his kids and his grandkids for years I thought I thought it was classic defilements have a mic'd up with Grady this week And they actually had they showed him when this happened and his face was like God this grown man just obliterated another I could I could think of as John Collins posterizing somebody Like that that's kind of way it felt and I know it felt that way to try and call the first thing that hit the ground For twinkle was his name plate. Yeah, I mean boom and his name plate was the frizz back at the ground I asked CP a post game and he just got a big grin on his face. He said hey man. He was between me and the goal And I wanted to go You know last week I got fired up with a passion where Kyle Pitts and this one like I mean he got up through It's almost like CP is too cool to do it, but it's like he wanted to talk so much So much Still had the where fall to get the ball over the line like if I ever did that So, you know we talked a little bit about the offense defense, you know struggling a little bit on third down Dave Let me ask you this like Where do they need to sharpen their swords on that side of the ball? Well, I mean you got it Let's keep it in perspective now. You're not playing with your two best corners Okay, and I don't want to downplay anybody's play corneral Armstrong's done a nice job, you know But let's face it you have number one guys and then you have number two guys and then you have potentially number three guys Which you are playing with some But I do think that there's some things that they could brush up from a technique standpoint And the big throw was the one after you get TQ's fumble and they get the ball back around midfield They got to get themselves back in the field go range They go a three by one set and they run Palmer's the third inside receiver. He runs a depot or runs a crossing round So from a perspective if I'm teaching I would assume if you're John Hoke or whoever you're doing the DB coach Or if your D&P's you're saying, okay, I cannot give up the inside right and so Cornell if you look at the play Palmer gives him a little stutter step outside. He's already inside already. I mean just protect the inside take that away I don't have any help inside I can use the sideline as the extra defender if he decides to go that way and I can funnel him But he got beat inside right now. Yeah, that's that's what I wrote down. It's like he missed I don't know what the technique was I said, but I wrote down He missed a jam at the line of scrimmage You gotta get your hands on them exactly at least mess up the timing at the start But he got off right away right cut inside and right after you get like a big play They just to give it right back up, right? So now you know you can now you can't you don't have enough time if you're Jalen Hawkins Who hopefully comes down and tries to make the play he can't even get there in time right right because he wins so quickly So now Herbert's getting the ball out before we ever get any pressure So yeah, it was that from a technique standpoint. There's certainly things they can improve on yeah now Having the guys out there you would like to have out there Well, there's a lot of teams that aren't doing that in fact the Chargers played without their two best receivers a lot of that I thought the same thing. I mean when you watched the game I thought there were a couple times in crossing routes over routes We were a step behind or the communication wasn't there You know you're passing it off or you're not passing off the technique you talk about I thought was a issue in the game because you think about that last one But there were other plays throughout the game where Herbert climbs in the pocket And he finds a guy over the middle like even just the dig right in the middle You can see Corny Armstrong pointing on that third and 15 like somebody's supposed to come help him Or is he supposed to go with him and look like he was a little unsure on that particular play So I wonder on the back end is there still some communication stuff that they have to work out when it comes to play similar to that Well, that's what's big about when we talk about it all the time if we can buy time as quarterbacks for extra time Then it's hard to stay Disciplined in the back end because if you're an if you're an intermediate defender a linebacker or a safety It's in that intermediate area and a guy flashes in front of you your eyes naturally at the quarterbacks moving up Your eyes are naturally to go to him and there's a guy in behind you Can you stay disciplined enough if it's a zone to stay in that area take that throw away making throw the ball underneath I think those are still some things they're working through. It's not an overly old team or in a lot of cases Not an overly experienced team in certain areas, so they're still working through some of that stuff I do think they had a really good defensive stop late in the game If you remember Palmer catches a seam route with about five minutes six minutes to go into game And they get it to the eight yard line Atlanta bows their back right there and holds them and makes them kick a field goal Which tied the game as opposed to them punching it in and taking the lead and I thought that was a big moment for the defense Yeah, and you know we've I understand it happens, but I as soon as that happened I thought back to the coup miss that he had because he's just been so automatic all year was a 50 order I mean that's not a chip shot or anything, but it looks like he just pushed it right away And I'm thinking if it's only had that field goal right now It could be a different story on that margins tighter Yeah, what you're talking about rack because you only had I think he had nine possessions in this game normal NFL games It's somewhere around 12 possessions. Yeah, so if you're gonna run the ball as well as we're running it And let's say the other team runs it to some success Now was sudden it's a it's an eight nine possession game And so if you miss shots like that or miss opportunities get a guy open the end zone you're missing That comes back and magnifies itself because you're not gonna get that many shots So you have to be that much cleaner when you play. All right, so we can't really do anything about that one now It's a loss as we've mentioned Atlanta Falls a game below 500 on the season now tied with Tampa an overall record, of course Tampa Holding a slight edge right now This episode in part brought to you by the Home Depot Everything you need for your next home improvement project is just a tap away on the Home Depot app The Home Depot app digital toolbox gives you access to how-to guides Project calculators and image search so you'll know exactly what you need to pick up with the tap of the finger You can rent and reserve the right tools for the job Also browse through millions of items from top brands that you can have delivered right to your door Whatever your project find exactly what you need with the Home Depot app download the Home Depot app today But guys let's kind of talk let's move forward because like we said like the team already has to move forward because as we record They got a game in about 48 hours or a little bit more than that because they're playing on Thursday night football Again, it's another one of those situations. You can't make any excuses right short week Guess what a lot of teams in the NFL do this every single week. They got a plan a short week So but the only difference in here arch as we just played this team as you mentioned about 11 12 days ago What did Carolina learn from the last game against Atlanta when they lost that you think they're gonna try to change their game plan To put out a better performance at home against Atlanta Well, the front seven will all have neck rolls on because the run games coming Yeah, because in case you didn't watch the Cincinnati game Joe mixing just went completely off For a team that does not run the football Cincinnati We played them a few weeks ago and they ran for like 40 yards or something like in the game now burrow through it all over the Place but mixing just scored five touchdowns four on the ground and the week before that Atlanta touched them up for 175 on the ground. Oh, by the way, Atlanta just ran for 200. Yeah, what do you think's coming run the rock? Therein lies the advantage for Atlanta one CP comes back They didn't see him in week one so that whatever little nuances unscouted nuances you can put him in the game for But number two you have got to hit the play-action shots Because they're gonna do like what what shock was talking about where the Chargers put extra guys on the field bigger dudes They try to stop the run You're gonna have some play-action shots and you have got to hit them You can't miss them. We can't overthrow it. We can't overthrow. We can't drop them You got to hit them because we talked about limited possessions. Anyway, must it how hard is it? You and I know in quarterbacks and you played quarterback as well How hard is it to put 12 13 plays together every time you go in the field? It's nice to have a couple of drives like that right a holding or something Explosives you know that you have a 30 40 yard play the short in the field and give you some energy It's a momentum and get that other team reeling gotta hit those shots. Yeah, and there and the personnel is there I mean we've seen a more concerted effort to get the ball downfield to Kyle Pitts Obviously Drake London can do it even the shots that we've got to Demir bird OZ has had some opportunities the guys are there But you're right when they do take the shot downfield when Mario to finds that guy down the field they got to find a way to connect or You got to bail your quarterback out like you got to make a better catch, right? Your wide receiver has got to go up over the top of somebody you got to fight through contact whatever it may be DJ As good as many arts where we you know About one here and there, you know, right you did it too. So let me ask you this question What adjustments do you think that Carolina is gonna make let's take Atlanta's running game out of it? Which what adjustments do you think they'll make either offensively or defensively to give them a better chance to come away with a Win in this game, you know, I think over the time PJ Walker who they said will be starting on Thursday night I think is a guy that I think they want to use more with his legs He hasn't really used his legs at all. I went back and looked at it in his five games He has three attempts for 25 yards This is a guy that's considered a guy who can move and run He doesn't really use his legs now I think that's a part of the game that I know they want to probably implement because he's got a can get on the edge He can get on the corner You've seen other quarterback to create plays with their legs and arms Maybe this is a game on a short week where the plan kind of stays similar Everybody knows when you have these short games for fans who don't know there's not really much you do on the field It's all about getting your body back and prepare ready to go So the plan is somewhat similar aren't talking about the Falcons game somewhat similar, but adding a wrinkle here They were CP. I think they're gonna have a similar plan But maybe now you use PJ Walker more in the run game I'm we're on the edge that gives them maybe another what they feel is an advantage in this game to help them All right. I got a question for you then. Okay. Tell me Baker Mayfield came in the game and play and took him down and they scored two touchdowns He played pretty well in his relief performance. I'll be at the game was probably over and you can car at garbage time or whatever But Baker got some kind of rhythm going So now PJ Walker supposed to start. Okay, and you know that there's probably a much shorter leash Mm-hmm on you potentially in this game So tell me your mindset is you're going in does that make you want to make more plays and all of a sudden Maybe you put the ball in harm's way more or do you play within the game plan? What do you what do you think his thought process is knowing the bakers on the sideline getting ready to come in potential? That's a really great question because as a guy who's actually been in that role before Your mindset early goes to I gotta find ways to keep myself on the field and when that happens There comes force there comes you trying to do a little bit more within the play now Maybe they may help him maybe because in the past He wasn't a guy who was really trying to push the ball down a field trying to force the ball into those tough spots I mean we saw him in the last game That he played here. He had a two or three just blatant over throws or throws He didn't hit that he probably wanted back and here's a game where you just saw a guy come in who you know They brought in for a reason and now he played solid, you know Whatever time he was in but the mindset is I gotta make plays and whether that turns into him making mistakes Or him becoming a better player We'll have to see on Thursday night, but in my mindset is every time I'm on the field I gotta make that series count. I gotta make that play count because if we're not moving we're not you know getting first As we're not scoring points. They're looking we gotta find a way to get in the end zone and Here comes another quarterback behind you who gives cable of doing it It makes it it makes it difficult for the mindset of a quarterback Especially when you know they will pull you and another guy can come in Yeah, I mean, I think it's a great question that you pose to a margin guys You know kind of talk about it as guys that have been in that situation before and I know that Atlanta's probably gonna prepare Defensively for both guys and I wouldn't be surprised if they're actually okay if they bring Baker may feel because if you know Mayfield's coming in. He's a gunslinger. He's gonna take some shots So, you know, you're gonna have some chances. Maybe they're gonna be licking their lips a little bit on that one You guys talked about quarterbacks I do want to flip this a little bit because if you remember the last game There was a certain dude named foreman that had 26 carries 118 yards and three touchdowns Dave what Adjustments if any need to be made so he doesn't hurt them getting into the end zone as many times as he did in the last match Yeah, I think there's a bit there'll be a ton of studying rack on on their blocking schemes And some of the things they wanted to do we obviously misfit to run a number of times it gave him some creases There's also gonna be the ability for them to use what I was talking about for us to use and that's play action because we're gonna be Wanting to stop the run. That's our number one concern So what does your personnel look like do you change personnel a little bit if your dean peas? Maybe a little bit bigger players on the field destroy Anderson find himself on the field And all of a sudden you got that five linebacker set Or do you go away from that and put an extra defensive lineman on the field to create some clog up in there? To where the linebackers can get you know You can hang up some of those second level blockers so the linebackers can flow to get to fill some of these holes And then the other part of it is are you creeping the safety? Yeah, you know because if you see teams and we talk about all-time shock if they if teams want to play too Deep you got to be able to run it on if they're gonna play cover two or cover four You got to be able to run it because they don't have that that eighth guy to get in there Yeah, but does Atlanta shift to more single high safety and now all of a sudden Richie Grant and or Jalen Hawkins Is in the box and so and that's what they're thinking to over there Okay, how can I take advantage of that DJ more potentially or somebody like that? Let me let me go back and pose a question to arch okay going back to PJ Walker now You talked about obviously having another guy come in last week He throws three interceptions talking about being able to use the play action game to push the ball down the field Kind of two-fold on the Falcon side. Are you in the mindset of okay? This guy just threw three picks He's probably not gonna throw it in there. He's not gonna throw it down the field Or if your PJ walking through three interceptions, are you concerned about throwing the ball down the field? I'm not I'm concerned number one about the run because that was the only way they hurt me in the game other than the long throw It was a stupid mistake and they beat us down the field and the other guy I'm worried about is DJ more So where is more lined up and and Atlanta actually began to double him late in the game? You saw it. They began to actually literally double. I hear guys say oh, he's double covered No, that's where two guys are coming from the same zone to a receiver That's not double coverage when you actually clamp a guy where you walk a guy out and they actually were doubling him inside and out Because that's the guy he wants to throw the ball to so you pay attention to where he is and then stop the run And if they can make some plays God bless them down the field make them make those plays Are you cautious after throwing three picks the previous week? Probably It goes back to what you guys are talking about played very much if it's PJ Walker or it's Josh Allen, right? That's a different story. Exactly. If you're Josh Allen you go back there and you just keep slinging chucking it baby And you've played a ton, right? Yeah, Walker's only what started five games in his career And maybe his future's in the balance and all I I mean like you said Josh Allen ain't worried about the future He's good. He said they're expecting me to throw the rock All right, so those are kind of some of the big picture elements that we see coming down on Thursday night Is the Falcons go on the road play play face the fan Panthers again Is it difficult to beat a team last question twice in a season and even more so this close together Yeah, it is because actually in division it makes it even harder because you know the personnel You know they want to I mean ours just we just talked about the entire personnel and what they want to do I'm sure they over there saying the exact same thing here their group of guys who they want to get the football to and this Is how they're going to do it. Here's someone to the sets that they're gonna show us and with it being so close You can expect it kind of be similar. So yes, it's absolutely hard on both sides With the short amount of time and who you're playing to be the team twice like that So DJ talked about it. This is you know, it's a different week in preparation. It's a much more mental week You've got to learn off the tape You got to go through some walkthroughs in practice and then you just got to trust your preparation and go out there And be ready to fight and come away with a victory then afterwards Hopefully you get a chance to kind of unload get your body back underneath you a little bit and then Even more so we'll be back here to hopefully talk about another victory. Yeah, by the way, I'm not worried about their mindset Yeah, this drives me crazy when people start talking about the other teams mindset. Who cares what their mindset is? They got their ass kicked here. Okay. Yeah, okay It didn't it kind of weird the way we want it, but they lost, okay And then they just got their rear ends handed to them last weekend. I don't care We're coming get ready. Yeah. Yeah, they got enough to think about correcting some mistakes that they made last week So that's that's the story of the NFL who makes the least amount of mistakes and then who makes the plays down the field So we'll see how that ends up shaking out. That's gonna do it here for the Falcons audible presented by AT&T We appreciate however you get your podcast material continue to like subscribe review Spotify iTunes Atlanta Falcons calm and YouTube and we'll be back here to break it all down next week and hopefully these guys will have all of their best analysts cap on Yes, sir. Great work fellas. How about them dogs? How about them dogs? Yeah, by the way, Georgia Bulldogs hasn't been released yet number one in the country Number one in the country Dave you may you went out on a limb last week on CP. I'm gonna go out on a limb Georgia Bulldogs. Oh, wow Standing on a tree stump. Thanks so much for joining us everybody. We'll see you next week