NE Atlanta News

The Atlanta Falcons are looking to enhance their offensive strategy by incorporating more play-action plays following their recent bye week. Head coach Raheem Morris highlighted the need for this change, pointing out that the team has been lagging in utilizing play action compared to other NFL teams.

According to TruMedia, the Falcons have used play action in only 8% of their total plays through the first 11 games of the season, ranking them last in the league. In contrast, the Washington Commanders lead with a 22% usage rate. The Los Angeles Rams, whose offensive scheme is familiar to Falcons coordinator Zac Robinson, sit at 10th place with 17%.

Morris emphasized that increasing play-action usage is a priority for the team. "It's something that we want to increase, something that we want to do better, something that we want to make more important, more a part of our game," he stated.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins is known for his proficiency in play-action passing. Since 2016, Cousins has maintained a 24% play-action rate, ranking him 10th among quarterbacks who have started at least 75 games. Despite this strength, the Falcons' current use of play action under Cousins is at its lowest since his time with Minnesota in 2018.

Morris acknowledged that while they had plans for play-action plays earlier in the season, they were not fully implemented due to success in other areas of offense. "We have 'em; we got 'em. They've always been in our program and always will be a part of our program but it's something that we definitely neglected," Morris admitted.

With these insights from their bye week evaluations, the Falcons aim to integrate more play-action plays into their game plan moving forward. "It's definitely something we can add to our arsenal in order to make (the offense) better for us just across the board," Morris concluded.