Falcons vs Eagles: Who is primarily to blame for the offensive woes?

Going into the season, we all knew there would be question marks around the Falcons offense and whether Steve Sarkisian would take a step forward. It’s safe to say that the performance against the Eagles did not alleviate any concerns.

That said, an argument can be made that Sark was not the primary reason for the disaster on Thursday night. If you’re looking for who to blame, here are some good candidates:

Steve Sarkisian

This will be the name that comes up first and foremost since he had the most questions surrounding him coming into this season. The offense was a disaster yet again in the red zone and the gameplan seemed centered on Julio Jones for most of the night. The play calling was abysmal at times and there’s just too much talent on this team to put in that kind of performance, and thus Sark is justifiably feeling some heat.

Matt Ryan

With a completion percentage below 50 and a passer rating of 57.4, it’s hard to ignore how bad his night was. He looked jittery throughout the night and nothing like the confident QB we’ve seen the past few years. While he was pressured often, he also had some very clean pockets during the night. It’s hard to imagine him putting in a worse game than this one.

The Refs

Seriously, the no-call for DPI against Austin Hooper early on was egregiously bad. Calling Julio’s catch a non-catch only adds to the fire. The fact that this game set an NFL record for penalties says alot about the kind of game that was played, but also about the inconsistency from the guys in white and black.

Dan Quinn

While the defense played well, Quinn has to own the overall performance of the team. If Sark isn’t the guy, that falls on his shoulders. If the team wasn’t prepared enough, that falls on his shoulders. If they can’t make adjustments to do better in the second half, that is on his shoulders.

Share the blame

In a game that bad, you have to blame everyone. The offensive line was porous at times and set the offense behind with some awful penalties. The drops from various receivers did Ryan no favors. The play calling was suspect and the preparation was clearly not good enough. Just blame everyone and call it a day.

Let us know who you think is to blame in our poll: