From a Falcons fan in response to the FO article:
Each play Shanahan draws up is designed to open up lanes for a primary option and a secondary option with a checkdown in case things break down. The receivers run their routes precisely to draw coverages and create open guys for Matt to throw to. In that case, I could see this strategy working. However, I would also expect Shanahan to notice this and easily adjust by calling a play that would immediately burn a defense relying on covering our other receiving options. If that were to happen and Julio goes for 50 yards or so on a play, you better believe their DC will mix up coverage strategies. The problem there, of course, is that not all plays are designed to get the ball to Julio as a first-option, and since all plays start from a core group of formations, it's virtually impossible to know what kind of play Shanahan will call. You'd have to be psychic.
For why we did badly in those games? Probably just execution and there were some bad play calls. Philly took advantage of a few stalled offensive drives by rushing it down our throats. That increased desperation and forced us to force the ball to Julio, who was double-covered. We went back into 2015 mode. This was legitimately the best strategy against us. It's hard to do however as the Seahawks tried the same thing a few weeks ago by starting off with an 8-minute drive. They failed because we were able to score so fast and our defense was playing very well.
Another Falcons fan also chipped in:
Those comments are spot on. In all of those games except the Philly game, the teams were able to keep pace on offense, and there were a few bad luck moments or small execution errors that swung the game against us. The Philly game is the best template. Philly controlled the line of scrimmage, shutting down the run and getting consistent pressure. Ryan was still pretty effective, but, the receivers had a lot of tough drops, often coming at key 3rd downs. Philly tried to limit the number of possessions and were very effective in 2- ad 3- TE sets running the ball. They dominated time of possessions 2:1. Even then, it took the Atlanta offense stalling for field goals at the 30 on 3 consecutive drives, and a very bad no call on pass interference to end the game with Atlanta losing.
I can say with some confidence that the key to beating the Falcons isn't shutting down Gabriel and Sanu. Of course, it is also not going to help much to focus on shutting down Jones. The offense is so diverse that it isn't going to be shut down, you try to hard to limit one player or play typology and another will fill the gap. The best bet is to bring consistent pressure on Ryan, limiting his time to make reads. He's better outside the pocket this year, but he is no Aaron Rodgers on the run, and he does tend to get jumpy in a tight pocket.
On D, I'm not sure where our run D ranks on FO stats, but I can say with confidence we have been poor against the run. Teams who were committed to the run found they could do that with ease. Luckily we've been playing with a lead for most of the season, so teams seemed to focus more on the pass, which plays into our only strength on defense: the pass rush. Pressure on the line has helped cover for fairly weak secondary play. Losing our cover corner Trufant was a huge blow. Alford is physically gifted but his technique is a major liability. Teams would get in trouble and just throw at whoever he was covering knowing there was a high likelihood of getting a pass interference call. Embarrassing. Keanu Neal is amazing but he hasn't been able to keep up with TEs all season and we have been gashed over and over by them.
