Raheem Morris: Falcons Trying to 'Mimic' Lions' 3-Year Turnaround

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris cited the Detroit Lions' progress in execution as the track he hopes his team will follow.

The Atlanta Falcons are looking at the Detroit Lions as an example for turning around a roster and becoming competitive. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Atlanta Falcons looked at the Green Bay Packers' model for quarterback succession plans this spring when drafting Michael Penix Jr. as the successor to 36-year-old Kirk Cousins.

Now, Atlanta wants to follow the path of another NFC North team: the Detroit Lions.

"Who are those top teams right now? What did they do over the last three years? And what it looks like in that path and finding ways to make that path mimic that so we can become those teams," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said Monday. "That's how I always look at it.

"And you talk about the Detroit Lions three years ago."

Morris's mention of the Lions arose after discussing the potential for execution alone to solve Atlanta's defensive struggles, which include ranking in the bottom fourth league-wide in total defense, pass defense, scoring and sacks.

Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss said during the bye week improvement will come if execution improves. Morris said Monday that's a great answer publicly for players who don't want to say anything in-depth, but he added it's also the truth.

So, what's that have to do with the Lions?

Morris views Detroit as the standard for execution -- more specifically, the year-over-year progress Lions head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have fostered, culminating in an 10-1 record entering their traditional Thanksgiving game Thursday.

"Where were they at on defense, offense, special teams? And then how much better has it gotten to?" Morris said. "Like, they're arguably one of the best teams in the NFL right now. However you want to mock it, right? It is what it is. That's what their record says. That's how they play."

Execution, Morris said, is most reliant on the players -- but coaches play a significant part in helping them. Repeating things that have been executed well is an example of that. Getting rid of plays that haven't been executed well is another.

There's always a learning curve attached to teams, especially those with new coaching staffs, which the Falcons largely have in Morris's first season. One way to ease that curve? Look at football history and try to pull what works from other teams.

For the present and future of the quarterback position, that meant looking at the Packers. For developing execution, Morris turned to the Lions -- whom he watched beat the Indianapolis Colts 24-6 on Sunday during Atlanta's bye week.

"When you watch them play, you look at that team and you see the toughness, you see the execution, you see all the buzzwords that we consistently talk about in football," Morris said. "And that's what you're trying to build to."

The Falcons are 6-5 and will sit atop the NFC South entering December. They're trying to snap a six-year playoff drought, and what once felt like a high probability to do so is now much less certain.

Yet as Atlanta moves forward under Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot, merely reaching the postseason isn't the goal. The Falcons want to win Super Bowls -- and they believe Detroit's model is the best to help them get there.