A Look At The Falcons Red Zone Performance, Week 7

by Dave the Falconer on Oct 30, 2009 8:00 AM EDT in Falcons News Comment 19 comments

This post is sponsored by Comcast and their NFL RedZone channel. If you're looking to check out red zone action as it happens, then you need Comcast's NFL RedZone. That's right....take out your wallet...

Surely this is the week that our beloved Falcons and their insane streak of awesome in the red zone comes to an end, right? No, no it's not. And don't call me Shirley.

The Falcons only made it into the red zone twice against the Cowboys, but once again they scored both times. One was a short Matt Ryan pass to Roddy White on a third down, while the other was a short Michael Turner run on first down. That bumps our conversion rate up even further, hovering right around 95%. It's truly astonishing how well this team does in short yardage, and I'm amazed week after week by their consistency there.

Not to beat a dead horse with a stone that I'm squeezing but there's no blood coming out, but this really highlights why the Falcons need to do better in between the 20's. It also makes me wonder—because I am not an answer machine, somehow—why we can't march down the field with the same ease with which we can score at that range. Perhaps if we treated the entire field as ten to twenty yard blocks? Who knows.

Your thoughts?

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95% is amazing!

Um…maybe we should tell the offense EVERY play is redzone and see if that improves the yards per attempt. It might work for the defense too!

How many more days, Lord, must I walk through the wilderness?
GO FALCONS!!!

by AnOldBird on Oct 30, 2009 12:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

95% scoring in the red zone? What’s the breakdown TDs vs. FGs here?

And how is the defense doing in the red zone?

by wiesengrund on Oct 30, 2009 12:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I believe they have only one or two red zone FGs

The rest are TDs.

by Dave the Falconer on Oct 30, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Defense

Allowed the Cowboys 1 for 3 in RZ, so they’re still doing well there. It’s just the other 80 yards that have been a problem. I couldn’t find the overall RZ stats, but I found this that says they’re only allowing 31.6% Completion Percentage, 1.50 Yards per Pass Attempt, 4 TD’s and 2 INT’s in the Red Zone (oh, and a 1.9 Rushing Average).

"Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital." - Aaron Levenstein

by orang3b on Oct 30, 2009 12:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bless your skills,sir

Rec’d.

by Dave the Falconer on Oct 30, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Those numbers aren't likely to hold up over a full season.

Those stats are unbeleivable the way the Falcons have given up yards. As much as I like the Falcons I don’t see any good reason the Saints offense doesn’t crush them Monday night. Sorry to be negative with my first post just being honest. I like this website though. A lot of others are full of raving lunatics.

by Flanker88 on Oct 30, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gonna be a smarty here, Dave

Generally, most offenses do divide the field into 10 yard chunks.

Ya know, 1st and 10, play ball, etc. :P

But I understand what you’re saying. I think the Birds get a little more rabid inside the 20. I also think the run game works a little better inside the 20 as well. Not sure why that is, probably b/c defenses know we can score on one play using the run or the pass inside the 20, but they’re not afraid of the run between the 20s?

by Zippo729 on Oct 30, 2009 1:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Prepare to be banned

No, I kid. I think the thing is that we’re just more aggressive and have tunnel vision that close to the goal. I think we have to think that way universally.

by Dave the Falconer on Oct 30, 2009 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Touché.

I’m glad you have a sense of humor. Haha.

I agree with ya, though I’m not sure tunnel vision is necessarily the right term. Maybe unwavering determination. Jason Snelling is a perfect example. If I remember right, it was him who was stopped in the backfield against DAL but had a second and third effort that pushed the run to a 4 or 5 yard game. We need more of that fiery passion in our offense. I think we went into a bit of a slump in Dallas after we got stopped a few times and then never got our mojo back until DAL wasn’t really trying to stop us.

by Zippo729 on Oct 30, 2009 1:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

One quick thing: Please use the reply function to keep the flow of conversations….well, flowing.

by Dave the Falconer on Oct 30, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My bad, I had intended to do that.

by Zippo729 on Oct 30, 2009 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's been a while since I've been online.

Just gotta say that we looked GREAT on the first drive of the game, but not so much after that. One important thing to remember though is that this is our toughest stretch of the schedule. West coast trip against a pretty good team, then back home to the bears off a bye, then to dallas off a bye, then to the saints on monday night. I think the bye week really helped Dallas get their stuff together. They have so much talent I can’t figure out why they haven’t won a superbowl at least once in the past few years.

Just heard Tye Hill is to be starting over Grimes…anyone know if their is any truth to that?

by FLA_Falcon on Oct 30, 2009 4:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You Got a Link to That?

If that’s the case, I’m not crying over it. I’m ready to see if we can get anything out of Tye Hill. We need someone to make some plays and you just can’t coach speed.

As for the overall topic, our offense is an enigma. It’s supposed to be HARDER to play in the red zone than in the open field because the defense tightens up and has less room to cover. I suspect it’s because we aren’t spreading the field enough with all our weapons, but that’s just me, and that observation may be unsubstantiated.

by LetsGoFalcons on Oct 30, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No link

Just a text message from a friend saying he saw somewhere that brent grimes gt demoted and tye hill would be starting

by FLA_Falcon on Oct 30, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

First I've heard of it

Doesn’t appear to be out there yet, if it is true.

by Dave the Falconer on Oct 30, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

THill is still 3rd sting on AF.com.

First string is Grimes and Houston. Second string is Jackson and Owens. I wouldn’t mind seeing anything that shakes up the lineup for the better.

How many more days, Lord, must I walk through the wilderness?
GO FALCONS!!!

by AnOldBird on Oct 30, 2009 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What I don't understand

is why trade a draft pick for a guy you keep on the third string? Why not promote someone from the practice squad or pick up an unsigned DB, especially if there are no plans to play him?

Grimes is a great athlete and plays HARD but is just to small. Use him as the nickel back and start a larger guy on his place.

by mwalex on Oct 31, 2009 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You make a very valid point.

Evidently, the word around blogs and ESPN is that Tye Hill had a TON of talent in college, but he’s been so injury plagued he may just be a shell of his former self. He was a former first round pick only 5 or 6 years ago (if even that long ago) so he’s still plenty young enough to be helpful.

When he was healthy, he was one of only a few bright spots on the Rams.

Dare I say Tye Hill is a long term investment? Or maybe even a potential late season starter? Who knows. They may be giving him a long, hard look. Although if this defense is completely new to him, he may just not know enough of it all to play, yet.

by Zippo729 on Nov 2, 2009 3:26 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You're right...

…but if he’s a remarkable talent, he’s on the field. I compare it to the DJ Shockley situation. If he’s the one who will win games when MR2 goes down, he WILL be on the roster. If Hill is a good corner, he’ll be on the active roster. After this many months, it’s starting to look like another failure by TD to recognize marginal secondary talent.

I’ll be soooo happy to be proven wrong.

How many more days, Lord, must I walk through the wilderness?
GO FALCONS!!!

by AnOldBird on Nov 2, 2009 12:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs