Falcons Have Lots to Fix During Bye Week. Here's How They'll Attack It

From packets and rundowns to re-watching every rep on film, the Atlanta Falcons have a defined plan for growth during the bye week.

The Atlanta Falcons limped into the bye week with a 38-6 loss to the Denver Broncos on Nov. 17 at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons' bye week serves as a break by definition, but not in actuality.

Despite suffering their largest loss in three years -- a 38-6 defeat to the Denver Broncos (6-5) on Sunday -- the Falcons (6-5) still flew home with a 1.5-game lead in the NFC South.

Yet Atlanta, which is 1-4 against teams above .500, may have more questions than answers, and it now has a week to find solutions to a problem more pressing than its record suggests.

"How do we fix it?" quarterback Kirk Cousins said. "That’s to be determined. Those are important dialogs that still need to happen and time will tell. We'll look back and see how the answers to those questions were."

Priority No. 1 for the Falcons resides in the medical room. Head coach Raheem Morris said he expects Cousins (right shoulder, right elbow) and receiver Darnell Mooney (hamstring) to benefit physically from the week off.

Several players on or recently removed from injured reserve, including starting center Drew Dalman and rotational defenders Ruke Orhorhoro and DeMarcco Hellams, will either be back on the field or quite close to returning.

Health, however, doesn't cover up a defense ranked 25th or worse league-wide in total defense, passing defense, scoring and sacks. It also doesn't directly change an offense that's committed several self-inflicted wounds in the redzone and hasn't thrown a passing touchdown in two games.

The Falcons' coaching staff will, as it does each week, evaluate everything in all facets. Star running back Bijan Robinson said Monday he'll do the same thing, watching every run, pass and pass protection rep in which he's been on the field.

Robinson and fellow running back Tyler Allgeier will get together and watch film, searching for improvements in the minute details, such as pressing rushing lanes or figuring out ways to get open for Cousins in the passing game.

"It's more so like, 'What could I have done better?'" Robinson said. "Chase the hole a little longer, if I should have cut back and<> slots where can I see where the defense ends up, or how do they flow? Because I feel like that's what kind of takes my game to the next level.

"Just understanding the whole picture of the offense and not just knowing what I could do."

Atlanta's coaches help in this process, too. Morris said the staff will make a packet with information dating back to the Falcons' mini bye week after their Thursday Night Football victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The packets show different blocks of the season and contains key information regarding areas of improvement for each phase. Morris, meanwhile, wants the bigger picture.

He considers it a nuanced rundown broken into sections.

There's normal down and distance, be it first-and-10 or second-and-one through six. Then, the packet goes to "get back on track" downs, such as second-and-seven-plus. Defensively, that process includes looking at how to affect the opposing quarterback.

Third down buckets follow -- from third-and-short and third-and-medium to third-and-long and third-and-extra-long. The Falcons also look at situational settings, including red zone and two-minute drives.

Morris said it's essentially like walking oneself through a normal week of preparation, but the packet and rundowns are put together with information from the past six weeks.

"Now you can go out and see what you really did well, what you didn't do that you like," Morris said. "What can you fix? How can you help those situations? What can be helped? What can't be helped? What do you got to overcompensate for?

"All of those things got to come into place with those things."

Some of these discussions happen together. Others occur separately, providing a window for coaches to form their own views and bring back different ideas surrounding a variety of players.

But these specific conversations, Morris said, don't include the players.

"When they come back, you make it learnable and likable for those guys to be able to absorb those things better to go out there and execute," Morris said. "The better and better you see those guys go out and play, the more things you can give them, the things you want to give them, and how you want to give it to them."

Robinson said the bye week learning process is not difficult. Morris went as far as calling it fun -- especially considering the Falcons' standing as NFC South leaders with a strong path to the playoffs.

But for the Falcons to maximize the opportunity awaiting them on the other side of the bye week, they need answers. Without finding an answer, asking the question grows moot.

In a sense, Atlanta's roster is what it is. Becoming healthier is helpful, but the Falcons know who they are and what they have -- though Morris thinks there are plenty of tangible fixes available.

"Some of it's scheme. Some of it's putting players in different positions. Some of it's doing different things across the board," Morris said. "I think everything will be thought about and will be potentially applied to us going out to the next outing.

"Whatever it takes to win football games is what we're willing to do. I know my guys upstairs and on this football team are willing to do all those things. I've got a lot of confidence in all those things."

The Falcons' shorthanded but lethargic performance in Denver resulted in their first losing streak of the season. The sky, however, isn't falling in Atlanta.

Morris said Sunday evening the game won't define the Falcons -- one singular performance never will. However, it sent warning sirens and illuminated the urgency with which Atlanta needs solutions.

The 32-point defeat was, in Morris's words, a tough day for the players, coaches and organization. But the Falcons, he said, are built on tough people.

And after a week spent relaxing, reenergizing and being with family, Morris expects his team to respond accordingly.

"Everything's still right in front of us," Morris said, "and I think that's the most important thing for everybody to know."