Atlanta Falcons second-year coach Arthur Smith arrived in Jan. 2021 with a fame.

Smith spent the earlier two years because the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator, main a top-3 dashing offense in each campaigns and fielding the third-best total offense in 2020.

And but, Smith’s first season on the helm confirmed little in the way in which of offensive success, with the Falcons rating thirty first in dashing yards per recreation, twenty ninth in whole yards and twenty sixth in factors.

Atlanta completed a good 7-10, however Smith knew his offense wasn’t adequate. That offseason, he and basic supervisor Terry Fontenot evaluated the unit and opted to make a change at quarterback, buying and selling 14-year franchise staple Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts and bringing in veteran Marcus Mariota, who labored with Smith in Tennessee.

The hang-up? Mariota was benched after six video games and spent the subsequent two and a half years as a backup quarter. It was a danger, however in the end the one Smith and Fontenot felt might assist unlock offensive potential.

Now six video games into 12 months two, the promise Smith displayed in Tennessee has begun to be realized. Atlanta’s offense is the NFL’s third-best dashing assault and ninth-best scoring unit regardless of rating No. 30 in passing.

Whereas Mariota has been inconsistent as a passer, his legs drive the protection to defend all 11 gamers on offense. He is been capable of get the Falcons out of hassle a number of instances, be it evading move rushers and choosing up yards on a scramble or managing to throw the ball away after dodging a free rusher.

After his sixth-game benching in Tennessee, Mariota flipped the script this time round, incomes NFC Offensive Participant of the Week honors for his Week 6 exhibiting towards the San Francisco 49ers, a 13-of-14 passing efficiency with three whole touchdowns.

Mariota’s mobility has freed up Smith’s offense and allowed him to get artistic. The making behind the system is a fruits of most of the coaches – and gamers – Smith has been round; he is discovered, he is applied and he is main an offense that is rushed for over 150 yards in 5 of its six video games.

Above all else, it is a unit that has Atlanta’s Week 7 opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, and coach Zac Taylor’s full consideration.

“It is a mix of a number of techniques that is changed into one actually finely-tuned system that Arthur’s put collectively,” Taylor stated. “I am seeing so many issues that Marcus Mariota’s executed since his faculty days that he is actually exceled in. Then you definitely see the 22, 13 personnel stuff that you simply noticed from Tennessee. They’ve matched all of the play motion from Tennessee and San Francisco, and all that stuff is mixed.”

Taylor talked about drift routes, blaze outs and pylons as a few of the notable ideas he is seen seem on movie. Smith threw in dig routes when self-assessing his personal offense.

Nonetheless, whereas Smith’s route ideas share similarities with others, there’s a component of innovation and uniqueness current that’s starting to get its personal identify: “the Atlanta system.”

“It is actually a mix of techniques that they’ve changed into the Atlanta system,” Taylor acknowledged. “It actually makes it robust in your protection they usually’ve executed a great job working there.”

“Robust” is a phrase Smith hopes his staff will embody. On this occasion, it is in reference to stopping his offense – however it’s shortly spreading to a mantra used to explain this 12 months’s Falcons.

Atlanta’s second-year coach is dedicated to establishing the tradition his method, and his gamers are absolutely behind him.

“We tackle the persona of our head coach,” second-year cornerback Darren Corridor stated.

A former offensive lineman and tight finish’s coach, Smith comes throughout as hard-nosed. His toughness has begun to unfold all the way down to his staff, and his fame evolving from the time he arrived.

Smith has usually stated he’ll craft his offense to maximise the talents of the gamers, and with almost all the weapons on the staff being hand-picked by him and Fontenot, the true identification he got down to set in Atlanta is starting to shine by means of.

Smith and the Falcons will look to recover from .500 for the primary time since 2017 on Sunday towards the Bengals, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.

You’ll be able to comply with Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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