Watching Falcons coach Arthur Smith touch the top of his head in a panic—as the Fox broadcast crew questioned his decision to go for it on a gutsy fourth down—made it seem as if Smith had doubt in his players.
Perhaps Smith didn’t like that his offense rushed to the line of scrimmage on the critical fourth-and-1 play, but don’t let his sideline reaction fool you. Smith had faith in his inexperienced offense and displayed it throughout the 25–24 comeback victory against the Packers to improve to 2–0 on the season.
After quarterback Desmond Ridder was stopped short on third down, the Falcons trusted rookie running back Bijan Robinson to move the chains, which the No. 8 pick in the draft did after gaining seven yards on the ground. That killed more clock and set up Younghoe Koo’s 25-yard field goal that erased a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit and eventually won the game.
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Smith’s aggressive decision on Green Bay’s 23-yard line with 2:08 left in regulation not only showed a strong belief in his offense, but also in his revamped defense to get a quick stop with three timeouts in case the offense had been unsuccessful on fourth down.
The Falcons are undefeated in large part because of the improvements defensively and the productive rushing attack with Tyler Allgeier and Robinson, who recorded 124 rushing yards on 19 carries against the Packers.
Ridder, the second-year quarterback, has struggled to get the passing game going in the first two games, but credit to Smith for riding out the growing pains and allowing him to make plays in key situations. Ridder ran for a six-yard touchdown on a keeper that fooled the Packers into thinking Atlanta was going to hand it off to Robinson on fourth-and-4 early in the fourth quarter, which trimmed the deficit to 24–19.
Smith’s aggressive fourth-down calls were two of many coaching decisions that stood out in Week 2. Here are other successful decisions—and some questionable calls—that occurred across the league.
Calls we liked
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Patriots get creative with field goal block: The creativity that the Patriots showed on the blocked field goal against the Dolphins was pretty remarkable, but we shouldn’t be surprised. It is Bill Belichick after all, the coach who recently provided a fascinating 10-minute response about the art of long snapping.
Again, it’s not surprising coming from the legendary coach, but this elite level of attention to detail certainly deserves praise. And we can’t forget the perfect execution from the Patriots’ special teams on the block that prevented Jason Sanders from making a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Belichick and special teams coordinator Cameron Achord took a page from Mike McDaniel’s playbook and had special teams ace Brenden Schooler get a horizontal running head start as if he’s Tyreek Hill getting ready to sprint for a go route. Schooler perfectly timed his sprint after noticing punter/holder Jake Bailey exhale before requesting the ball from the long snapper. That subtle observation was the difference in Schooler breaking free for the block.
How did Schooler know about the telling exhale? Bailey spent the previous four seasons with the Patriots. Watch this breakdown video from Pat McAfee for a better understanding of the memorable special-teams play last week.
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Seahawks go for it in their territory: Pete Carroll is a fan of smashmouth football, but he wasn’t your typical conservative old-school coach during the win against the Lions.
Carroll backed his offense, which might have been his only option with how poor his defense has played to start the season, going for it on fourth-and-1 from Seattle’s own 41-yard line with the Seahawks trailing 21–17 midway through the third quarter.
Kenneth Walker III converted with a three-yard run before Seattle trimmed the deficit to four points after Jason Myers’s 25-yard field goal. The fourth-down play got lost after the entertaining overtime finish, but it set the tone for the comeback victory in Detroit with the Seahawks (1–1) missing their two starting tackles. Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called a terrific game, and Geno Smith and Tyler Lockett closed it out.
49ers get risky before halftime: The 49ers’ risky decisions with six seconds left before halftime wiped away the Rams’ perfect start and ignited their comeback road victory.
First, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan called a bold passing play for Brock Purdy, who quickly threw the ball away after not getting the look he wanted in the end zone, leaving one second on the clock. Instead of settling for a field goal, Purdy scored on a QB sneak to tie the game 17–17, which was also the start of 17 unanswered points by San Francisco.
The undefeated 49ers stole the momentum and avoided a seven-point deficit with the Rams getting the ball to open the second half.
Calls we question
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Lions get conservative: Surprisingly, Lions coach Dan Campbell played it safe once his team got into field-goal range on the final drive of regulation against Seattle.
Instead of going for the game-winning touchdown, Jared Goff threw short passes to gain a few yards for his kicker, ensuring it would be the final play before overtime. Riley Patterson made the 38-yard field goal as time expired, but the Lions (1–1) fell to Seattle in overtime.
Campbell said he settled for the tie because he didn’t want to give Seattle another opportunity in the fourth quarter. But if that scenario would have played out, Seattle would have had less than a minute to score again.
Chargers’ timeout buys time for Derrick Henry: Brandon Staley’s decision to call a timeout before a critical third-and-2 play in overtime allowed the Titans’ running back to reenter the game after needing a breather on the sideline.
Henry converted on a two-yard run, as the Titans marched down the field for the eventual game-winning field goal, handing the Chargers a second consecutive loss of three points or fewer to start the season.
Staley told reporters he wanted to counter with a better personnel grouping after the Titans showed a formation that suggested they were going to run. Hindsight is 20/20, but at that point, the Chargers might have been better off taking their chances with the wrong personnel against rookie running back Tyjae Spears than a rested Henry.
Packers’ fourth-down call backfires: Packers coach Matt LaFleur had the right idea when he decided to go for it on a fourth-and-1 from Green Bay’s 34-yard line in an attempt to regain momentum after the Falcons trimmed the deficit to 24–22 in the fourth quarter.
The Packers were on the road with an inexperienced offense missing four of their best players with wide receiver Christian Watson, running back Aaron Jones, guard Elgton Jenkins and left tackle David Bakhtiari sidelined.
Green Bay (1–1) had an opportunity to put the game away, but the aggressive decision backfired after quarterback Jordan Love moved forward without the ball, leading to a false start. The Falcons then went downfield for the game-winning field goal.
