Offensive Coordinator Steve Sarkisian is abysmal

Serious question here. Can offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian call a high school offense?

This guy is by far one of the worst play callers in the league. Ever since he took over the play-calling duties last season, the Falcons offense has been sporadic. Sarkisian took one of the most talented offenses and completely neutered them. In 2016 under Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator, the Atlanta Falcons offense ranked first in points per game with 33.8.

With Sarkisian steering the ship, they became an average offense with 22.1 points per game that ranked them at No. 15 in the league. That’s a two-touchdown difference, which is insane. That’s because, when the Falcons get into the red zone, the play calling gets predictable. They only produced one touchdown out of the five trips to the red zone Thursday.

Expect this offense’s scoring to go down even further this season.

Sarkisian is just an abysmal play caller. Julio Jones was going off on the first drive of the game, yet he gets taken out the last few plays as they’re on the doorsteps of a touchdown? It makes no sense. It feels like Sarkisian is closing his eyes, then places his finger on a play and calls it once he opens his eyes.

This game gave me deja vu from the NFC divisional round between these two teams. Both games ended on an incomplete pass to Jones in the end zone. Sarkisian had all offseason to improve his playbook. He had a chance to show that last night with at least the final play of the game, but clearly that’s too much to ask.

There’s so much talent on this roster that’s being wasted with Sarkisian. It’s going to be a rough watch with this offense throughout the season.