There was a grand total of nothing wrong with the Falcons defense. They did a hell of a job in the first half. The offense didn't play NFL football much less playoff football, overshadowed the excellent job OUR defense did at limiting the Falcons' offensive possession time, and the fact that the Falcons' OC showed no interest or fascination with playing for possession time definitely helped.
It's the same old problem with gunslinger quarterbacks, and one of the reasons Bledsoe was not the right quarterback to win Superbowls for us. Gunslingers don't watch the clock. They want the big play, so they swing for the home run a lot too much, and even when it works you don't burn enough clock. that was why the Falcons were able to put up so many points while giving Brady all the time he needed to come back. The thing the Falcons probably feel they got most right was their big undoing.
The problems the Falcons encountered were
primarily offensive problems. It was the Falcons'
offense that repeatedly let the Patriots back into the game. It was the
offense that didn't manage the clock or play for possession, and kept a gassed defensive unit on the field. It was the
offense that coughed up the ball instead of giving their team the points they needed to win.
Their defense did a fine job until the complete neglect of the clock and possession games by the coaches and players on the offensive side of the ball caught up to and exposed that defense. And the key to the offensive problems might be the offensive gameplan, but the reason for the gameplan is Matt Ryan, and this is why I honestly don't think Ryan will win Superbowls. In fact Ryan reminds me a lot of Bledsoe, both to the good and to the bad, and it was the same sort of decision making that kept Bledsoe from winning Superbowls for us. Meathead quarterbacks who exist to be a home run threat on every possession are only an asset when they have and will listen to a good coach and strategist that will get them to play the rest of the game intelligently. Bledsoe had a coach like that but wouldn't listen to him. Ryan doesn't have one.
If they are convinced the problem is defensive, then in typical also-ran fashion they're going to be going into the preseason trying to fix the wrong problem and that makes me happy, because it highlights the superiority of our coaching staff and the inferiority of theirs and means that, as good as their roster is, the Atlanta Falcons will not be back in the Superbowl.
