ATLANTA — Raheem Morris, now past the halfway point of his first regular season as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, doesn’t want to hear about the high-level production of his team’s offense.
Morris is ready to see all that yardage translate to more points.
The Falcons will be looking for an offensive revival as they return from their open date by hosting the Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Before their break, the Falcons (6-5) were held to a combined 23 points in back-to-back road losses to the New Orleans Saints, 20-17, and the Denver Broncos, 38-6. Atlanta managed only two field goals against the Broncos on Nov. 17 as they took the franchise’s most lopsided loss since 2021. One week before the debacle in Denver, the Falcons lost to their fiercest rival despite compiling 468 yards of offense in New Orleans.
Morris is tired of seeing penalties and other mistakes end possessions, especially after the Falcons cross the 50-yard line.
“Stats are for losers, right?” Morris said Wednesday. “You’ve got to score points, man. You can’t kill yourself and stop drives and do those things. … You’ve got to get out there and score touchdowns. We’ve got to get back to doing that.”
The offense, led by quarterback Kirk Cousins — who has completed 68.1% of his passes this season for 2,807 yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions — and running back Bijan Robinson (167 carries for 783 yards and six touchdowns; 45 catches for 359 yards and one touchdown) had too many series grind to an early halt in their two straight losses.
Atlanta leads the NFL with only 11.5% of its possessions ending without a first down. The Falcons rank eighth with their average of 361.5 yards per game, but they’re just 16th with their average of 22.1 points.
“Awesome until you cross the 50,” Morris said. “… That’s when we’ve had self-inflicted wounds.”
The Chargers also have concerns on offense after running back J.K. Dobbins exited with a knee injury in the first half of a 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night. The loss ended the Chargers’ four-game winning streak that helped get things moving in the right direction during their first season under coach Jim Harbaugh.
Dobbins was placed on injured reserve Saturday, meaning he’ll miss at least the next four games, so Los Angeles could put more emphasis on its passing attack with veteran quarterback Justin Herbert and rookie receiver Ladd McConkey. The speedy McConkey will be returning to his home state, where he enjoyed high school success as an all-around star for the North Murray Mountaineers and became a college standout and two-time national champion with the Georgia Bulldogs.
Herbert has passed for 2,404 yards with 13 touchdowns and only one interception this season, while McConkey has 49 catches for 698 yards and four touchdowns.
Even without Dobbins, Morris expects Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman to find a way to create yards on the ground because it is “what they’ve done wherever they’ve been.”
The loss of Dobbins, though, leaves the Chargers without one of their top offensive playmakers.
Los Angeles had won five of its past six games ahead of the matchup with the Ravens, largely because of the threat of a running attack. Entering this week, the 13th of the 2024 season, Dobbins was fourth in the AFC with 766 rushing yards, and his 24 carries of at least 10 yards were tied for third.
Chargers running back Gus Edwards missed four games during the middle of the season because of an ankle injury, but he has 25 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown in three games since returning to the lineup. Hassan Haskins has mostly been used in short-yardage situations and on special teams, while rookie Kimani Vidal has been inactive for seven games, including the past three.
“I like them a lot,” Harbaugh said. “Gus is heating back up, Hassan is playing spectacular on special teams and pass protection, and I’m excited to see Kimani as well.”
The Chargers will be facing an Atlanta defense they are at least somewhat familiar with, though. Morris was the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams the past three seasons, succeeding Brandon Staley in that role after he left to become head coach of the Chargers. Morris employs many of the same philosophies and principles that Staley did during his nearly three seasons heading the Chargers.
As for their defense, the Chargers had one of the stingiest groups in the league in the first half of the season, but they have taken a step back in the past three games. They have allowed a passing touchdown of at least 40 yards in all three and have given up at least 27 points in the past two after starting the season with nine straight games in which they allowed 20 points or less.
They’re still very much in the hunt for the playoffs despite competing in the AFC West Division, where the first-place Kansas City Chiefs — the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions — have already locked up a playoff berth at 11-1 overall after Friday’s division win against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Falcons continue to lead the NFC South despite losing two straight games and being only one game above .500. Atlanta is 4-1 against division opponents and has already swept the regular-season series against the second-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6).
Los Angeles also has flourished against the NFC South, though, with wins over the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans. They’ll face Tampa Bay on Dec. 15.
The Falcons are the league’s only first-place team with a negative points differential, having been outscored 274-244.
Atlanta hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2017 season, and Cousins — the four-time Pro Bowl quarterback in his first season with the Falcons after spending the past six seasons in Minnesota and the six before that in Washington — is eager for his team to take advantage of the opportunity the final third of the schedule presents.
“We’re in a place where we can control our destiny and where, you know, if we can go out and execute and play at a high level, that we can go where we want to go,” Cousins said. “And so it’s a good feeling to be there, because I’ve been on teams where early in my career, you really weren’t in the hunt around Thanksgiving, and that’s a tough place to be.”