Raheem Morris and the Falcons worked on making a big change to their offense during the bye week.
The Atlanta Falcons stumbled into their bye week, as they suffered a pair of upset defeats at the hands of the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos. While the team certainly used their time off in Week 12 to get their bearings, it also sounds like head coach Raheem Morris and company were hard at work trying to find ways to help their team improve.
Atlanta is currently leading the pack in the NFC South, but they have been rather inconsistent, as highlighted by the pair of losses they recently suffered to drop their record to 6-5. Morris may have found an issue with the team's offense that could help open things up, though, as he revealed the team plans to utilize play-action passes more frequently moving forward.
Per Will McFadden of Falcons.com, “Raheem Morris says the lack of play-action passes over the first 11 weeks was something the Falcons' offensive staff seriously looked at while self scouting. He says it's going to be ‘more a part of our game' moving forward.”
Raheem Morris, Falcons hoping big change leads to more offensive consistency
The Falcons offense has endured some growing pains with new quarterback Kirk Cousins under center, and Morris believes he may have found the root of their struggles. With a lack of play-action passes to keep opposing defenses on their toes, the offense hasn't been able to consistently find their footing, and it's led to them hovering just above the .500 mark, despite all the talent they have at their disposal.
Atlanta will need to get their offense going soon, because their schedule ramps up now that they are back in action, as their will face off against fellow playoff contenders in the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings in their next two games. And with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers breathing down their necks in the NFC South, the success of Morris' play-action initiative could determine how his team fares over their final six games.
