The Atlanta Falcons may be on the lookout for new coor

dinators a week from now Calvin Ridley Jersey Sale , and a new name might need to enter the realm of possibility on the offensive side of the ball. Let’s now consider former Patriots offensive coordinator and Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis. Schefter says in the piece that Weis is expected to garner interest from the league despite several years away from football. Weis’s connections to the Falcons coaching staff coupled with the team’s expected need for a new offensive coordinator makes this an intriguing prospect. SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey made note about not being super-excited about the idea of Weis being the guy for the vacancy on Twitter, which got this writer’s wheels turning. As it turns out, Weis might actually be the most likely person for the job not named Darrell Bevell. Weis has a direct connection to Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. Quinn and Weis worked together under Will Muschamp at Florida. Weis and Quinn were both with the Gators in 2011, where the former was the OC and the latter the DC. Soon after that season, Weis went up to Kansas to be the Jayhawks’ head coach from 2012-2014, while Quinn’s path, of course, led him through Seattle to Atlanta. Muschamp said the two worked well on that staff congruently. Weis also hyped up Quinn being a head coach way back in 2014.So the two very much have a relationship with each other. That might’ve been part of what inspired the Falcons to hire Weis’ son, Charlie Weis Jr., in 2017 as an offensive assistant. The younger Weis is a highly-regarded up-and-comer around the game who inspired one of the more eye-opening stories to be told about a coach in quite some time. It involves the evaluation of Weis by NFL legend Gil Brandt (per Bleacher Report). Long story short, he compared the younger Weis to Bill Belichick. The B/R story also notes Weis Jr. came handpicked with Steve Sarkisian from Alabama, with Sark allowed to take one Bama assistant with him.So you have to think about this next quote carefully when you think of that Brandt anecdote, knowing Weis Jr. left Atlanta after the 2017 season to join Lane Kiffin at FAU as his OC. This matches how highly Quinn spoke of the former assistant last season. If Quinn really thought highly of Weis Jr., and has a natural connection with Weis from their days at Florida, perhaps Atlanta should consider a reunion. The elder Weis Replica Calvin Ridley Jersey , of course, was the offensive coordinator of those early-00s Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots teams and a look at the Pats system back in the day shows it might not be a bad fit for what the Falcons like to do with its personnel. You know the offense well; it has been the bread and butter of Tom Brady’s career. The Patriots’ “Erhardt-Perkins offensive system,” as it’s called, might not be the worst transition for Atlanta with its personnel. New England has a similar offensive line makeup to the Falcons now; Joe Thuney, a Patriots guard, was a Falcons target in that draft class. This leads us to another Weis link to Atlanta, as he and general manager Thomas Dimitroff were both Belichick guys who would up elsewhere due to their time with the Patriots. Dimitroff offered some praise for his old coworker in 2010 when offering thoughts about the Panthers drafting Jimmy Clausen. Atlanta needs an offensive coordinator with experience, and if Weis really is interested in the gig, he might have a legitimate shot with all of his connections. Bevell is probably the odds-on favorite to land the job right now should it come available, but what if that’s a smokescreen? Does this news of Weis being interested in returning to the pro level and the expectation that Atlanta will change out the OC spot all link to each other?Quinn might be interested in having his old Florida companion (and Dimitroff his old Pats colleague) return to run the offense, which could also, hypothetically, spark Charlie Jr. to return to Atlanta in a higher capacity (like a positional coach). The team would get its accomplished veteran mind, and Matt Ryan would work with a guy who’s worked with Brady. If Weis Jr. did come along, that would bring an exciting young offensive mind back in house. As you know Stitched Calvin Ridley Jersey , those are quite popular these days. Could dad turn the keys over to son one day?Now the caution here is, obviously, if Weis could scheme something to meet the modern demands of what NFL defenses can do. The game has drastically changed since Weis’ heyday with New England, and he’s not had an NFL offense under his control since the turn of the decade. He also struggled mightily at Kansas, though that might have more to do with it being the Kansas job, which has seen few successes over the last few years.Maybe his stop in Kansas City would be more telling? That Chiefs team he was the OC of found success running the ball and made Matt Cassel look like a decent starting quarterback. It wasn’t the best of units, but it absolutely shouldn’t be overlooked, considering the talent on the roster and the production. Not to play connect-the-dots too much, but the GM of the Chiefs at that time? Scott Pioli, current assistant GM for the Falcons and another Patriots alum. Weis was part of the Chiefs draft that saw guard Jon Asamoah taken, who later ended up with the Falcons. He also oversaw the drafting of Tony Moeaki, who was a Falcon in 2015. There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence that links Weis to Atlanta. We’re purely speculating with the connections and potential vacancy, so take all of this for what you will. It would meet exactly what the Atlanta front office typically does, though: hire people they have a working relationship with and meet exactly what the focus of the moment is. Consider the Sark hire just two years ago when the team wanted to keep the Shanny playbook intact, or when the team moved Raheem Morris Baby Calvin Ridley Jersey , Quinn’s old companion, to offense to help the receiving group. OL coach Chris Morgan was a former Seattle guy, as was Marquand Manuel, the current defensive coordinator. Dimitroff hired his old Pats colleague Pioli back in 2014 as his assistant GM, too.Veteran minds and leadership might be the soup du jour this offseason, so watch for Weis.One final note: Weis was just around the team last fall, paying a visit to see his son in action. Could this become a regular sight on Sundays next fall?A small margin for error leaves the Falcons doomed when things go awry In what was billed as a matchup between two desperate teams, only one team looked capable of getting back on track. A few self-inflicted mistakes kept the Pittsburgh Steelers from going into halftime with a bigger lead. Although Dan Quinn’s group bounced back in the second quarter, they were second best in every department. Ben Roethlisberger’s shaky first half gave the Falcons momentum going into halftime. A disastrous second half quickly erased their hopes of pulling off an upset.The second half encapsulated what most feared about the Falcons going forward. If the offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, they will struggle to stay competitive against talented teams. For all of Pittsburgh’s issues, they still possess one of the better rosters in the league. An offense with their plethora of playmakers can punish any defense. When Desmond Trufant was forced out of the game, it rendered them hopeless in trying to contain Antonio Brown. What happened defensively isn’t nearly half as bad as what transpired offensively.Pass protection implosion When previewing this game, it seemed like the only way the Falcons’ offense could stumble is if Matt Ryan was under serious duress. Pittsburgh is notorious for running a wide variety of blitzes and twists. With their back seven struggling all season, Mike Tomlin must have figured they needed to bring pressure at all costs. They don’t have the personnel to cover Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley Best Calvin Ridley Jersey , and Mohamed Sanu. Instead of devising coverage schemes to contain them, why not run blitzes from different angles and see if they can knock Ryan out of rhythm? It proved to be a fantastic game plan.The Falcons could never adjust to Pittsburgh’s relentless pressure. On every third and long, they brought five or six to collapse the pocket. Targeting Tevin Coleman’s inability to pick up blitzes was something they had great success in. With the offensive line slow to react and Steve Sarkisian failing to make any genuine adjustments, it left Ryan helpless in trying to make plays downfield.To allow six sacks and 11 hits against an average at-best Steelers front seven is problematic. While some sacks came off play action and freak moments, there was still plenty of pressure being created up front by a pure four-man rush. The offensive line simply lost far too many individual battles. After failing to open any running lanes on first down, they would get pushed around on the inside or beaten around the edge on the next two plays. Ryan Schraeder struggled to stay in front of T.J. Watt for most of the game. If he wasn’t getting blown off the line of scrimmage, Watt dipped under him to make the normally steady right tackle look overmatched.Schraeder isn’t the only highly regarded lineman showing signs of regression. Alex Mack isn’t playing anywhere near the All-Pro level everyone is accustomed to seeing from him. Those outstanding second-level blocks to spring open big runs aren’t happening this season. His tendency of getting overpowered in pass protection is starting to become more noticeable. By allowing three sacks in the last three games, which includes Cameron Hayward humiliating him, it’s fair to question if Mack’s best days are behind him. Other than Jake Matthews, there isn’t any other offensive lineman playing up to expectations right now. That needs to quickly change for the offense to succeed against more-aggressive defensive fronts.New week, same defensive issuesThe undermanned defense was always going to face an uphill battle in this matchup. After looking out of sorts against Baltimore, Pittsburgh was bound to produce explosive plays across the field. Roethlisberger and Brown were going to get back on track at some point this season. To do it against a defense struggling to muster a pass rush shouldn’t be viewed as a major surprise. The loss of Trufant certainly allowed Brown to shine, as both of his touchdowns came when the former Pro Bowler was sidelined.Besides not generating much pressure, there are multiple weekly habits causing the defense to play even worse. Tackling continues to be a significant problem on all three levels of the defense. On third-and-thirteen, Pittsburgh ran a designed screen for James Conner. That shouldgreatly benefit the defense Adult Calvin Ridley Jersey , which is trying to get off the field at all costs. It was only a ten-point game when the play was called. Brooks Reed ends up being in fine position to stop Conner from accelerating into the open field. The veteran edge rusher fails to wrap him up, along with two other defenders. What should have been a seven-yard gain turns into a massive 28-yard play. The defense never recovered from that mistake.It wasn’t the only costly missed tackle. Per Pro Football Focus’ Pat Thorman, Conner forced a whopping 12 missed tackles. Duke Riley was on the receiving end of a few nasty runs. After two consecutive decent games, the enigmatic second-year player had a dreadful performance. His inability to wrap up on a consistent basis must be concerning for the coaching staff. The same applies to Brian Poole, who is missing open-field tackles at a rapid rate. What made Poole into a reliable contributor over the last two seasons was his excellent instincts in zone coverage and knack for making big tackles in the open field. Neither of those qualities have been shown this season.Third down woes and “next man up” aren’t going awayNot being able to generate pressure or properly tackle on a consistent basis will make any defense prone to falling short on third down. It showed in Pittsburgh converting nine of 12 third-downs. They barley a sweat while converting them as well. Other than Reed unleashing his trademark spin move to force an in-completion, Roethlisberger was comfortable in the pocket. The front seven couldn’t cope with Pittsburgh’s terrific offensive line, particularly when they ran power designs.With the defense lacking difference-makers, it has forced the coaching staff to rotate heavily and hope for someone to break out. Steven Means, Michael Bennett IV, Bruce Carter, and Sharrod Neasman all played on Sunday. These are four players who weren’t on the opening day roster. They are now being given significant snaps four weeks later. That’s the obstacle the Falcons face at this stage of the season. Not having four of their arguably most valuable defensive players leaves them grasping for straws. There is only so much you can expect from a defense relying on players that were deemed not good enough by 32 teams a month ago.Looking AheadThe Falcons face a pivotal two-game home stretch. After facing a slew of playoff teams and what appears to be a very good Bengals’ team, they have two very winnable games coming up. Matchups against the Bucs and Giants gives them an excellent opportunity to get back on track before the bye. The offense should get back to their prolific ways against two woeful defenses. Although there isn’t much optimism surrounding the defense, Grady Jarrett could possibly return against the Giants. There are no easy games left on the schedule, given the difficult circumstances surrounding the team. That doesn’t mean they can’t come out on top against two similarly imbalanced teams.