Schultz: Falcons aren’t a work of art but they can win the NFC South like this
ATLANTA — Watching the Falcons play this season has not been like watching a beautifully choreographed dance recital, because between the periodic dazzling moves there have been too many times when somebody twirled or leaped in the wrong direction and fell off stage into the first row.
But give them credit for this: At least they don’t lack self-awareness.
“You’re coming off three or four losses and everybody’s asking questions,” safety Jessie Bates III said. “Is Art going to be here? Are they making the right decisions with the quarterbacks? But one thing I like about this team is our mindset and ability to block out the noise. We know we have to play our best ball this time of year.”
The Falcons did not play their best football Sunday against the Saints . Nothing sums up the state of this team right now better than the relative sports schizophrenia of this five-series sequence: touchdown-interception-punt-interception-touchdown. But they were physical and they made plays that won a game — and by this point, we should know not to expect ballet. They celebrated a 24-15 win on the sideline like the beautiful disaster that they are — because when you’re 5-6 with a share of first place in the NFC South, why wouldn’t you celebrate?
We could say this was a must-win situation. But when a team starts 4-6, aren’t they all kind of must-win situations?
“I keep saying this but this is a different group, and I mean that in a great way,” said coach Arthur Smith, who has caught more heat than any player, including quarterback Desmond Ridder . “If you had seen our Wednesday practice, it felt like training camp. It was a damn battle. It felt like a heavyweight fight. It was physical as hell out there. It was kind of cathartic for those guys because they know they put a lot of work in.”
His name is Art. But don’t expect art. This was an exhibition of punch-em-in-the-mouth football — and that’s fine. The NFC South champion will be strictly paint-by-numbers, not Monet.
Atlanta rushed for a season-high 228 yards and passed for only 168. The math worked. Bijan Robinson ran for 91 and a touchdown and caught a 26-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
Ridder had some impressive moments early, when he used his legs to escape trouble, and late, when he completed four straight passes for 73 yards on the Falcons’ fourth-quarter touchdown drive. But he also threw two interceptions, including one in the end zone that killed a scoring drive.
Courage, he has. Accuracy, he doesn’t. It’s a problem. But if he can cut down on turnovers, the Falcons can finish strong. The team that wins the division, most likely Atlanta or New Orleans, will do so because it committed the fewest mistakes and has some level of resolve.
Which leads back to Wednesday. Smith held a full-pad practice that he likened to training camp. David Onyemata called it “intense,” and then repeated, “I mean, it was intense. You could feel the energy, feel the guys out there.”
Calais Campbell said the entire week felt different, even the “bonus” practice Monday following the bye week.
“We really understood the moment,” he said “There was a sense of urgency. It’s been tough because we know how good we can be. I feel like we’ve seen so many plays where we’ve messed up, where we could be better, more focused, or we had some miscommunication. We still made mistakes today but we made big plays.”
Bates said he welcomed the tougher practices, adding, “Coming off a bye a lot of people want to ease into stuff. Art did a good job, setting the tempo for the week for what we wanted to do. If you turn on the tape, I think you’ll know what we did.”
Defense saved the team. The Saints were held to five field goals and out of the end zone despite 444 yards in offense. Bates had the biggest play early in the game — a 92-yard pick six that gave the Falcons a lead they never let go of. He recognized the Saints’ motion and read David Carr’s pass from a play he had seen on film, cut in front of receiver Rashid Shaheed to pick off the pass at the Falcons’ 8 and boat-raced Saints players down the left sideline.
“It was me just checking gangster (sizing up Shaheed) and making a play,” he said.
He attempted to do the Deion Sanders vogue thing as he crossed the goal line but later said he was too tired to complete the move. Once in the end zone, he threw the ball down like a bomb and teammates fell, a choreographed celebration they apparently had practiced.
A team with a losing record generally should limit the silliness, but this game was like a long sigh of relief. They were overdue for a celebration. The Falcons had gone 2-6 after a 2-0 start and everything was being questioned — the coach, the quarterback, the way the team was built, the play calling.
Smith has done an appropriate amount of reflection. He made one interesting change with his coaching staff, moving offensive coordinator Dave Ragone from the field up to the press box. Smith calls plays but he wanted a better view of the Saints’ defensive tendencies in specific situations.
Nobody can know where all this will lead. The Falcons are a flawed team but they play in a flawed division. They’re 5-6 overall but 3-0 against NFC South teams. Welcome to tiebreaker nirvana.
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... Ludacris being lowered into the Falcons stadiumpic.twitter.com/nwE4gCfDm9
— The Athletic NFL November 26, 2023
Not everything has gone as expected this season. Fittingly, the team celebrated 50 years of rap Sunday by bringing back a number of former artists onto the field. But the audio often cut out during songs. T.I. walked through the stadium tunnel onto the field before the game, holding a mic. You could see his lips moving on the video board but no sound was coming out. Eventually, the microphone turned on and everybody could hear, “Bring ‘em out, bring ‘em out!”
Like the Falcons, even a partially successful performance was good enough.
(Photo of Jessie Bates returning an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter: Todd Kirkland / )
