Week 3 up and 3 down: Reliable Falcons have an off day

David Onyemata wrecks his former team, but stalwarts faltering contributed to the outcome.

Atlanta falls to their hated rivals, and while one man absorbs most of the blame, there’s plenty to go around. The team is 6-4, and thankfully, their two-game division lead remains intact.

Here’s the Week 10 3 up and 3 down for the Falcons.

Up

David Onyemata

The former Saint got up for his personal revenge game. The defensive tackle had his most impactful game of the year, racking up three solo tackles (4 total), two TFLs, and one quarterback hit. The Falcons have desperately needed play like this from Oneymata, who helped keep Alvin Kamara in check for 3.2 yards per carry.

Getting disruptive play against the passing attack has also been a significant need, and while Oneymata didn’t live in the backfield, the Falcons will take any production they can get. This was a step in the right direction for the man known as DO, who had a disappointing season coming into Week 10. If Oneymata can build off this performance moving forward, then the Falcons defense could see a genuine improvement against the run.

Charlie Woerner

The unsung hero of the offense didn’t have a single catch and only got one target, but Woerner isn’t here to catch footballs. He’s here to open up running lanes. The University of Georgia product has become critical to the Falcons run game. Zac Robinson still operates primarily out of 11 personnel, but he’s put together a pseudo-heavy package that subs out Kyle Pitts for Woerner.

The team will utilize Woerner in multiple ways: in motion for both stretch plays or split zone concepts, inline as a traditional tight end, and off the line in wing looks. Woerner has led the way during Bijan’s incredible run, and Zac Robinson has done a better job maximizing the player’s skillset over the last few weeks.

Bijan Robinson

This man is a walking highlight reel right now. Bijan has somehow managed to top his performances week after week. For the second time this year, the running back had over 100 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns. He paired that with a productive 28 yards on three receptions.

What’s most impressive has been the running back’s ability to turn doomed plays into successful ones. Robinson’s EPA (Expected Points Added), a metric that measures the value of each play in football by its effect on the offense’s likelihood to score, is a great way to showcase that. Bijan finished with an EPA of 6.2; the only other Falcons above 2.0 were Darnell Mooney (3.4) and Kyle Pitts (2.9). One way to look at how this stat works from a practical standpoint is to examine Bijan’s yards after contact. Of Robinson’s 116 rushing yards, 86 took place after contact. He’s averaging 48.5 yards after contact per game.

It’s hard to quantify how valuable the running back has been, but the team would be lost without him.

Down

Younghoo Koo

Koo missed three field goals for the first time in his career. In his last six games, Younghoe Koo has gone 8-15 (53%) on all field goal attempts. The last time the kicker was hovering around a 50% conversion rate, he was on the Los Angeles Chargers. Fans have been in an uproar, and much has been made about the kicker’s mechanics.

I put together a helpful thread that breaks down and explains these changes, but I want to clarify a few things: this change started in 2023, and he ended that season with the same FG conversion rate (86.5) as 2022. It is also important to note that Koo was 12-14 in the first five weeks of 2024, with one of his two misses being a blocked 50+ yard attempt.

It is unlikely that the Falcons will throw the kicker to the side, and it would be unwise. There aren’t many options in free agency, and cutting him now triggers $3.75 million in dead cap. The Falcons obviously can’t overcome these kicks if they become a regular occurrence, but the team is going to do everything it can to finish the season with him. Koo’s earned it. Don’t forget this team loses the first Saints game without him.

Kirk Cousins

QB1 was off most of the afternoon. Cousins never seemed to get fully comfortable in this game. He would string together positive plays and then look lost the following set. The quarterback did deal with pressure; he was sacked three times and hit nine others. However, a handful of these pressures are on him, not his line.

Cousins has had a bad habit of holding onto the ball too long, which can lead to trouble. The quarterback fumbled twice yesterday and is lucky that neither landed in a Saints defender’s hands. He also forced an ugly interception in the final quarter of the game. This one was very reminiscent of his performance against the Seahawks. Cousins still moved the ball well enough to go over 300; he didn’t respond to pressure as efficiently as he had in prior weeks, which was the difference in this game.

Raheem Morris

When a team comes out as flat and discombobulated as the Falcons did yesterday, you have to look at coaching. Morris did not have his guys ready to play, and it started during the week. I’m not sure why the head coach declared that the Saints game wasn’t a trap game, but it clearly was. This was an opponent that the Falcons couldn’t take lightly, but they did.

Atlanta looked sloppy and once again drew the attention of the officials far too often, a theme we’ve seen throughout this season. Morris also had an egregious challenge in this game that has led me to assume that the Saints were hiding the camera angles because Allgeier was obviously short. The head coach will need to get his team ready to go on the road to Denver, where they’ll face an opportunistic Broncos team coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Chiefs.

The Atlanta Falcons still sit at the top of the NFC South, so there’s no reason to panic. The team is having an impressive season so far but has shown they aren’t a finished product just yet. The Falcons will need to continue refining their operations, and they have a much-needed bye week coming after the Broncos matchup to nurse some of their wounds.