Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons head coach, showed very clearly that he, like most other coaches, either doesn’t watch gamefilm or doesn’t understand what he is seeing. I will provide a little background prior to my comments on todays Falcon-bear game to clearly illustrate this point. Here is a brief recap of the bears’ previous games, which will provide the background for the comments on today’s game.
Game 1: The bears played the Colts, when Manning hadn’t played all preseason, they had a new offensive line, and their tight end went out in the first half. The Colts had a first-and-goal from the 6 early in the game, ran on first down for minus-4 yards, and had to kick a FG. Reggie Wayne then dropped a TD pass, and the Colts dropped an interception, resulting in a bear FG. Tillman then stripped the receiver, and Briggs ran it in for a TD. Tillman continues to strip receivers after the catch, and teams don’t adjust to this. Down 9 in the 4th quarter, the Colts run up the middle on 4th-and-1, resulting in a bear TD. The Colts played conservatively. The next time the Colts had a first-and-goal from the 6 or 7, they threw on first down and eventually got the TD. How did Dungy not know running on first down doesn’t work against the bears? Did he watch any gamefilms over the last 25 years? The bears won.
Game 2: Steve Smith was out due to a team suspension, and he destroys the bears. Carolina ran on first down on the opening drive, had to punt, and had the punt blocked for a bear TD. The bears blocked many kicks last year, but teams fail to adjust. Carolina continued to run on first down the entire first half, essentially making no attempt to score and keeping the bears in the game. I guess their coach also doesn’t watch gamefilm. With 4:24 left in the half, they finally threw on first down for a big gain, but it was called back due to illegal procedure. On the resulting 3rd-and-15, they ran for a loss at midfield. With 0:55 left in the half, on 3rd-and-3 from the bear 17, Carolina ran for minus-three. In the first half, Carolina had 15 passing yards and 32 rushing yards. The first-down-run gameplan resulted in the offense going nowhere, as again, the Panthers made no attempt to score in the first half. The first half of a game can set the tone. In the second half, they finally threw on first down for 35 yards. Down 17-3, Carolina got the ball and ran on first down for 2 yards. They then passed for a first down. They then threw on first down for a TD, but it was called back due to a hold that didn’t affect the play. On 2nd-and-20, they ran for 3 yards. With 6:00 left, down 17-13, Carolina threw first-down passes and easily marched for a TD to take a 20-17 lead and win. The pattern of running vs. passing on first down is obvious.
Game 3: Tampa Bay ran on most first downs in the first half, and went nowhere. I guess they didn’t watch gamefilm, either. They made no attempt to score, again keeping the bears in the game. Tillman stripped another receiver, additional evidence teams don’t watch film. Earnest Graham, Tampa Bay’s running back, was 12 for 16, slightly more than one yard per carry. Finally, Tampa Bay got it, stopped running, and threw on every play. Griese threw 67 passes for 407 yards, and Tampa Bay won. Joey Galloway, their top receiver, was hurt and didn’t play. Here are 3 quotes from the Chicago Sun-Times: Griese “shredded a bear defense that stopped the run and did nothing else.” “Stacking the line of scrimmage with linebackers, the bears were susceptible to quick slants and crossing routes all game.” “The short passing game served to wear down the bears, too.”
Game 4: Brian Westbrook didn’t play for the Eagles, and he is the key guy on their offense. McNabb also played hurt and hadn’t practiced. This was the first game Westbrook missed this year, so the Eagles hadn’t had time to adjust. The Eagles could have won the game on a 4th-and-goal from the foot-line toward the end of the game if they had run a QB sneak with their 6′2″, 240-lb. QB (McNabb), but instead, continued to hand the ball off to a back in the I formation, starting 10 yards deep and giving the defensive end time to make the play. Even Dusty Dvoracek, bear defensive lineman, said they thought McNabb would sneak. The bear announcers on the postgame show said a sneak would have worked easily, as the middle of the Eagle offensive line got a good initial push. The bears won.
Game 5: Detroit is a very bad team, and of course came out and ran on first down. When it was 3-0 bears, the Lions stopped the bears for a big loss on third down which would have resulted in a fourth-and-long, but since they lined up offsides, the bears got the first down and then a TD, making it 10-0 and changing the momentum. A gift momentum-changer. Although the game was over by this point, when it was 24-0 bears, the Lion DB dropped an easy interception in the endzone on a 5-yard pass prior to the bears getting another TD.
Game 6: Well, we finally get to today’s Atlanta game. Keeping in mind the above and the games of the last 25 years, you would think a coach would get it. So, let’s review what happened. Atlanta ran on almost every first down for almost no yardage. With 8:30 to go in the second quarter, the television announcer said Atlanta needed to start throwing on first downs as their runs were going nowhere. The announcers also said this much earlier in the game. Up 6-0, Atlanta had a TD pass called back due to an ineligible receiver downfield. It was obvious Atlanta was making no attempt to score in the first half by running on first downs, as Carolina and Tampa Bay did, and the announcers pointed out that it could easily be 21-0 instead of 9-0. As previously pointed out, this gameplan of not trying to score in the first half allows the bears to stay in the game. Atlanta had 39 yards rushing in the first half, and 23 were on one play. They came in with the league’s leading rusher in Michael Turner, but of course, runs don’t work. Mike Smith, Atlanta’s coach, said at halftime they needed to score TDs, not FGs. This was a funny comment when you consider his offensive gameplan. In the second half, Atlanta got another FG after another first-down run lost yardage. Since Atlanta let the bears hang around, the bears got a TD and cut the lead to 12-10. Atlanta got the kick, ran on first down for 1 yard, then ran on second down for minus-one yard. This, despite moving the ball through the air whenever they did decide to pass. In the 4th quarter, up 12-10, Atlanta got a first down by passing, then ran on first down for minus-one at the bear 17. They passed for a first down at the 5, then ran on first down for 2 yards. They then threw for a TD. Does anyone see a pattern yet? Atlanta then stopped a bear drive at midfield forcing a punt, but a cornerback (!) lined up offsides, allowing the bears to eventually get a first down at the Atlanta 35. Since Orton was flagged for intentional grounding on the play, the bears would have punted on fourth and long. The bears got this same line-up-offsides gift twice last week against the Lions. Although the bears were stopped at the goal line, the resulting bad field position gave the bears a FG, cutting the Atlanta lead to 6 at 19-13 and making it a one-score game. After stopping the bears and getting the ball at their own 5 due to a bear penalty, they ran on first and second down for a few yards, then threw a 3rd-down pass short of the first down. The bears got the ball at their own 45 due to the field position, and got the FG as previously discussed with 4:00 left. Atlanta ran the kickoff to the bear 17. On first down, they ran for minus-two. On second down, they ran for 2, leaving a 3rd-and-10. On third down, they ran for almost nothing. With 2:46 left, Jason Elam missed a 33-yard chip-shot FG, his first miss of the year. This would have made it a two-score game, and just about ended the game. It should be pointed out again that not trying to score in the first half let the bears hang around. With 18 seconds to go and the bears out of timeouts, the Falcon DBs let a bear receiver get behind them for a TD to put the bears up by one with 11 seconds left. How can you let a receiver get behind you with that little time left and the other team out of timeouts? Even if the bears complete a pass in the field of play, the game will end. Incredibly bad coaching if they didn’t tell their players this, and if they did, the defensive players have a major problem. The announcers kept saying how unbelievable it was that the bears would probably win after having been dominated. This was a huge game for the bears’ confidence and in the standings, and winning this would have had a positive-momentum effect. Elam did make a long FG to win the game on the last play, but it should never have come to this. For the record, Michael Turner was 25 for 54, and if you take away his first-half 23-yard run, he was 24 for 31, less than 1.3 yards/carry. Yet, they kept running him, and on first down!!
So, the question is, will future bear-opponent head coaches ever get it?