Pity us, the foolish pro football fans and media, for according to Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, we are incapable of grasping the higher logic of an offensive scheme like Atlanta's. Even when it's seemingly plain-as-day busted and broke in the second half of games, that's just not the case. We're just not "seeing" it the right way.
The AJC's Jeff Schultz is among those naive enough to question Mularkey. When Schultz look at the Falcons' disparity in scoring and total yardage between the first and second halves of recent games, he assumed opposing defenses were adjusting to what the Falcons were presenting, and Mularkey's offense wasn't responding in turn. What foolish conjecture!
Mularkey dismissed the adjustments theory, saying, "That’s the outside sources who would say that." (I would be the outside source here.) He then pointed to penalties and breakdowns, not play-calling, as reasons for the scoring drop.
"The general public and yourself would not know that unless you studied film, knew what the game plan was and knew what was happening in the first half and not the second half," he said.
He’s right. I don’t study game film. I also can’t rebuild a transmission, but I’m pretty sure I can tell when one blows up.