The same plays and method he’s criticizing led to one of the greatest offenses of all-time and a giant lead in the Super Bowl.
The Falcons led 28-3 with in the 3rd quarter with a 99.7% win probability according to ESPN.
According to Ryan, it was Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shannahan’s play calling that sealed Atlanta’s fate.
Looking back, Ryan pointed to the cadence of Shanahan’s calls as one of the big reasons for the Falcons’ collapse.
“Kyle’s play calls — he would take time to get stuff in. As I was getting it, you’re looking at the clock and you’re talking 16 seconds before it cuts out. You don’t have a lot of time to say, ‘There’s 16 seconds, no, no, no, we’re not going to do that. Hey, guys, we’re going to line up and run this.’ You’re talking about breaking the huddle at seven seconds if you do something along the lines.
“With the way Kyle’s system was set up, he took more time to call plays and we shift and motion a lot more than we did with (former coordinator) Dirk (Koetter). You couldn’t get out of stuff like that. We talk about being the most aggressive team in football. And I’m all for it. But there’s also winning time. You’re not being aggressive not running it there.”
The recipe for a collapse of this magnitude contains several turning points which all had to align for the Falcons to blow this lead. One could point to Devonta Freeman missing a block on Dont’a Hightower which led to a strip sack of Ryan.
In all of this, Head Coach Dan Quinn needed to play a more assertive role. The main priority of the Coach is to have the vision to realize time, score & situation. Up 28-20 at the Pats 22-yard line the Falcons were set-up with a fresh set of downs. Further simplifying what should have been a no brainer approach, Kicker Matt Bryant had made 19 of his 20 Field Goal attempts inside the 40-yard line last season.
The Seahawks haven’t been the same since throwing it at the 2 in Super Bowl 49 but have still found playoff success. Interesting to see how Atlanta bounces back this season