FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn wished he could replay the failed fourth-and-goal jet sweep that proved costly in a loss to New England, but Quinn was careful not to be overly critical of offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian's play-calling in that situation.
Quinn, who had a state of the team meeting with coaches and players Monday, addressed the media and reflected on a 23-7 loss to the defending champion Patriots. Quinn dissected what went wrong on the early fourth-quarter goal line play, where speedy receiver Taylor Gabriel took the toss from Matt Ryan but was dropped for a 5-yard loss.
"It wasn't the assessment of going for it that kept me up," Quinn said. "It was the execution of it. ... The linebacker and the defensive end, where we have to have a combination blocking going to both of them, didn't go. And yeah, if you had to have a play called back, that would be one, for sure."
Based on the film, right tackle Ryan Schraeder and tight end Levine Toilolo were the ones responsible for the combination blocking, but missed.
"Basically, it's the same run play that we normally have, where it's the combination block between a tight end and a tackle on a linebacker," Quinn explained. "As opposed to the running back taking it and going outside, it was a receiver taking it outside. But as you look back to it, definitely we've got to have a better play for that."
A reporter asked Quinn if the Falcons should have relied on either running back Devonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman to picked up the yard in that scenario.
"Yeah, you always think that," Quinn said. "The (defensive) front that they had, it would have been a difficult one to do where they had a goal-line defense against a three-wide look. But I recognize the question and, yeah, we have great belief in them.
"If we had a chance to take a shot on that one -- I wouldn't give our game plan for the rest of the season on fourth-and-1 at the 1-yard line -- but, yeah, I've got great belief in the runners."
Going into the Patriots game, the Falcons ran 12 plays straight up the middle and averaged 5.17 yards per carry on those plays. They have a fullback in Derrick Coleman who can be a lead blocker in power situation. Plus they have a top-caliber center in Alex Mack to run behind.
"It's a lot different than short-yard, sometimes," Quinn said of goal-line situations. "But the short-yardage piece has been effective for us. Just so happens that was a short yardage and an inside-on-the-goal-line play. ... That was definitely one that I'm bummed where it went, how it went through. If you had a call back, damn right, you want to have that one back."
Sarkisian has been the target of criticism with the offense scoring just seven points the last six quarters. A couple of weeks ago, the first-time NFL coordinator said one adjustment from calling plays in college is getting used to how opposing defensive coordinators make personnel changes. In college, Sarkisian typically saw his best 11 offensive players work against the oppositions best 11.
Quinn addressed Sarkisian's statement.
"We talk quite a bit about matchups and how to feature the guys," Quinn said of Sarkisian. "That's one of the parts of the game that I enjoy the most, and it's one he and I spend a lot of time talking on.
"For us to improve in those areas, (matchups) is what it's going to come down to on the third downs and the red zone. I thought our first-and-second down plays, we did a good job of executing quite a bit of the time. ... But on the third down, especially beating the man-to-man and beating the matchups that you want, that's where we can improve upon. We're going to expend a good part of time on that."
