The Atlanta Falcons picked up in 2018 right where they left off at the end of the 2017 season.
The Falcons went down the field on their opening possession against the Philadelphia Eagles Thursday night, but their drive stalled when they turned it over on downs at the 1-yard line. That was all too familiar for the team, whose 2017 season came to an end in a divisional round playoff loss at Philly. They turned it over on downs at the two and lost 15-10.
Seeing Atlanta turn the ball over on downs near the goal line led to some ridicule and reactions on Twitter.
LOL FALCONS…Welcome back football
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) September 7, 2018
Falcons season begins….exactly how the Falcons season ended.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) September 7, 2018
All summer on the red zone and that's what the #Falcons came up with. Stuffed again.
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) September 7, 2018
Falcons red zone offense picking up where it left off
— Robert Littal (@BSO) September 7, 2018
Noooooo Kick the Field Goal Dan Quinn!
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) September 7, 2018
Maybe the Falcons should stay in the Green Zone.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 7, 2018
The Falcons’ goal line play calling pic.twitter.com/VEL0LfkGhP
— Chris Spags (@ChrisSpags) September 7, 2018
Falcons you’ve got to solve these red zone issued. Kicking shorts fgs is a sure fire way to lose a gm.
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) September 7, 2018
Falcons red zone offense pic.twitter.com/4bvGmArsXc
— Prime Bam Childress (@fearthe_beard11) September 7, 2018
As if that weren’t enough, the Falcons on their next possession got stopped at the three and had to settle for a field goal.
The Falcons were 23rd in the league in red-zone offense last year and have been in the bottom half of the league in red-zone offense four of the past five seasons. Maybe figuring out ways to utilize Julio Jones — and actually having him on the field in the red zone — could help.
