There are a lot of words to describe what we just saw at the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon: lifeless, embarrassing, tumultuous – you get the idea. It wasn’t an enjoyable viewing experience for anyone.

The good news is that the Falcons can rest a week and get healthy again before facing the second half of the schedule, which has suddenly become a much more difficult task than it seemed when the year started.

Before we get there, let’s run down a few numbers that might help us all understand a little better what we saw on Sunday.

Here are four numbers to describe the Falcons’ brutal 38-6 loss at the Denver Broncos.

2

Only two rookies in NFL history have managed to throw for 300 yards while completing 80% or more of their passes.

• 2019 – Drew Lock
• 2024 – Bo Nix

What makes this even more impressive is that when Drew Lock was carving up the Texans’ defense in 2019, his target air yards per attempt, according to Pro-Football-Reference, was 6.9 yards. Next Gen Stats reported that Bo Nix’s average depth of target was a “career-low 3.6 air yards per attempt”, almost half of Lock’s.

Even though everyone will remember this insane throw from the former Oregon Duck, Nix and noted Falcons villain Sean Payton literally did more with less as they meticulously carved up this Atlanta Falcons defense.

93.6

This season, to no one’s surprise, Kirk Cousins ​​is at his best when the pocket is clean and he can explore the field. According to Next Gen Stats, 175 of Cousins’ 187 passing yards (93.6%) came from a clean pocket, Cousins ​​was 16 of 21 (76.2%) on these throws.

Under pressure, Cousins ​​was 2-of-6 for -2 yards, an interception and three sacks. NGS pointed out that Cousins’ -1.84 EPA per dropback, while under pressure, is the lowest figure among each quarterback this season.

Cousins ​​was just a different quarterback under pressure than when the pocket was clean. There is expected to be a pocket quarterback who has more problems than a quarterback who has more escape options when things get a little muddy. Losing nearly two points per pressure allowed is not acceptable in the NFL because there is no sustainable way to succeed that way.

14.3

On Nix’s 35 dropbacks, the Atlanta Falcons were only able to get pressure on five. The only sack they were able to get came from Matthew Judon pushing right tackle Mike McGlinchey into Nix. That’s it. That’s the only sack this team could muster.

Coming in, the Broncos were one of the most formidable pass-protecting units, so there wasn’t much anticipation for this anemic Falcons pass, but that doesn’t make it any less embarrassing.

The Falcons currently have 10 sacks in 11 games. If they continue on this path, 16 sacks are projected for the season, the lowest mark this league has seen since the 2018 Oakland Raiders and ranks 11th worst for any team. in NFL history since the sack became an official statistic in 1982.

146

Nine years. 146 games. 5103 attempts. More than 39,000 meters.

That’s how long it took Cousins ​​to go back-to-back games without a passing touchdown. It took three teams, 269 touchdowns and 100 interceptions, but the 36-year-old Cousins ​​knows what it’s like to not find the end zone in back-to-back games.

Now he, Zac Robinson and the rest of this Falcons offense have an extra week to think about and understand where this passing attack may have gone south as they try to make a push into the playoffs .