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On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons bounced back with a massive week 43-6 victory against the Las Vegas Raiders. The team is now 4-7 overall — and 4-2 since firing both general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn. But, we are here to talk statistics and so we shall.
This won’t be a deep dive into the analytical side of the numbers put up, but more of a broad outlook on weekly and seasonal stats so we can keep track of milestones and where this team stands with league leaders.
Without further ado, lets get started.
Younghoe Koo is out-kicking the competition
One of the few bright spots in 2020 is the Falcons kicking situation. After parting ways with the franchises all-time leading scorer Matt Bryant, the team struggled during the 2019 preseason with his replacement Giorgio Tavecchio and ultimately brought Bryant back to then release him halfway through the season. Since then, Koo has been the Falcons kicker and he’s kicking at a phenomenal level in 2020. Koo currently has a league-high 29 made field goals and 109 points scored. His field goal percentage of 96.7 is the most accurate in the league and he’s 6-6 from 50+ yards out. He’s currently leading all NFC kickers in Pro Bowl voting and rightfully deserves the accolade.
Matt Ryan has now played in 200 career NFL games
On Sunday against the Raiders, quarterback Matt Ryan became the fourth player in franchise history to play in 200 games. Ryan officially has joined Mike Kenn, Jeff Van Note and Jessie Tuggle as the only Falcons to play in 200 games.
Calvin Ridley scored; joined some quality company
With a score against the Raiders, Calvin Ridley recorded his 7th touchdown reception of the 2020 season. Ridley joins Odell Beckham Jr., A.J. Green and Rob Gronkowski as the only players to do so in each of their first 3 seasons since 2010.
Falcons are undefeated when Brian Hill gets his touches
This statistic is more coincidental than anything else, but it’s still interesting. When Brian Hill has 10+ carries in a game, the Falcons are 5-0. In those games however, Hill hasn’t really performed well and in the three games he’s started for the Falcons, he hasn’t scored. This statistic is likely more of an indication that when the Falcons establish the run, they performer better.
Deion Jones is still very good
There’s no debate that Deion Jones has been one the better Falcons’ linebackers in recent history, probably the best. With a pick-six on Sunday against the Raiders, Jones has now totaled 5 career pick-sixes, the most by a defensive player since entering the NFL in 2016 and most by a linebacker since 2006. To add to that, Jones is the first linebacker in NFL history to have 5+ interceptions returned for a touchdown within a player’s first five seasons. He’s good.
The NFL hasn’t witnessed a 43-6 victory in a very long time
On Sunday, the Falcons upset the Raiders 43-6 which is an insane margin. That exact score hasn’t happened in a while interestingly enough. The last time an NFL team defeated another NFL team by the score of 43-6 was 1921 between the Green Bay Packers and the Evansville Crimson Giants. The Giants, based out of Evansville, Indiana, played from 1921-1922 and were coached by team owner Frank Fausch.