Raheem Morris Says Falcons Offense 'Best Since 2016'

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons are in the midst of a midseason, two-game losing streak. Zac Robinson and the offense are under a particular amount of pressure to perform after another poor performance. 

After the second-straight 10-point performance, the Falcons slipped down to No. 28 in the NFL in scoring offense (17.1 points per game). The once highly rated numbers in total offense have also slipped from the second-rated unit a few weeks ago to No. 14 in the league.

On Monday morning, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris confirmed that no changes are coming to the staff, despite a stretch of poor performances. He said the issues come down to execution, not coaching. 

“We didn't play well yesterday [Sunday],” he said. “The guys have got to go out there and play well and execute, and we didn't do it. Yesterday was a simple execution thing, and we were not able to do it yesterday.”

On Wednesday, Morris made his weekly appearance on the Falcons’ flagship station, 92.9 The Game. He sat down with hosts Carl Dukes and Mike Bell (Dukes & Bell) for a discussion, where he doubled down on his comments from Monday. 

Dukes pressed the head coach on his decision not to make a change despite the lack of scoring punch the offense has had this season. Morris stood firm in his response, saying this is the best unit this franchise has had since they made their run to the Super Bowl. 

“It’s like the best offense we’ve had since 2016, and we’ve done a really good job over the course of the last two years, and we’ve done some really good things across the board,” Morris said. “We’ve got to get better in the red zone this year, and we’ve got to do a better job in the red zone this year. I believe in my guys. I believe in what they do. I believe we’ll go out there and get that stuff done. I believe we have the system in place, the coaches in place. I believe the guys are in place, and we’ll go out there and get those guys ready to go, and we’ll play football.

“It’s not about defending everybody. It’s not crisis management every time something goes wrong, you gotta go out there, and you’ve gotta play and do what you do and how you believe in it. That’s what we do.”  

The 2016 Falcons were one of the highest-scoring offenses in NFL history, averaging 33.8 points per game, and they were led by MVP-winning quarterback Matt Ryan.

Since that season, they scored at 22 points per game in each of Ryan’s final seasons until 2021. In fact, since the 2016 season, the Falcons have scored at least 18.4 points per game in each full season. This year, the Falcons are scoring 17.1 points per contest. 

The Falcons have 10 games left in the regular season, and with plenty of talent on this roster, these numbers are far from a finished product. Their overall performances must see a marked improvement if they wish to avoid an eighth-straight season below .500 and out of playoff contention.