"There's nothing that fires me up more than seeing a gunner sprint down the field and decapitate (within the confines of the rules, of course) a helpless returner, or seeing some foolish team think they can pull off a fake punt on 4th down (teams were 0-3 when trying that on the Atlanta Falcons in 2024), but something didn't look right in the third phase of the game on Sunday and it wasn't just Younghoe Koo."
"Jamal Agnew only lasted one half before his day was over, forcing the Falcons to reshuffle their returners, a task they already performed pregame. Ray-Ray McCloud is usually a part of that group, but due to the Falcons being short-handed at wide receiver, it appeared the team didn't want to overload his plate and leaned on Natrone Brooks. McCloud would come in to field one punt in the fourth quarter, resulting in a fair catch, but he never set foot on kickoff return."
Jamal Agnew left after one half, forcing the Falcons to reshuffle returners and adjust pregame plans. Ray-Ray McCloud was limited to a fourth-quarter fair catch and did not handle kickoffs while Natrone Brooks and Dee Alford absorbed additional duties. DeMarcco Hellams' absence weakened coverage units and Jordan Fuller and others struggled in tackling and assignment execution. Troy Andersen's continued unavailability removed a proven special-teams asset. Younghoe Koo missed a bounce kickoff landing zone by half a yard, and Bradley Pinion outkicked coverage leading to a 54-yard punt return that swung third-quarter momentum. Overall, injuries and execution errors undermined coverage effectiveness.
Read at The Falcoholic
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