Five things to watch as Falcons face Los Angeles Rams in Week 2

One of the major issues for the Falcons down the final stretch of Sunday’s loss was going 50 percent in the red zone.

Here’s the thing, as much as everyone in the Falcons fanbase loves Younghoe Koo, the less the Falcons see him jog out onto the field for a 30- to 50-yard field goal, the better. It likely means they’re scoring instead of having to settle for three. It’s what came back to bite the Falcons in the butt against the Saints, this lack of production in the red zone. That, and Mariota’s fumble inside the 10-yard line to give New Orleans the ball back instead of putting a nail in the proverbial coffin with a touchdown.

A 50 percent conversion rate inside the 20 is not going to cut it against the Rams. When they get the opportunity to get in the redzone, they’re going to have to make the most of it, and that means putting up seven points, not three.

As followers of the Falcons, you’ve probably seen a loss like Sunday’s carry over into the next week. For what it’s worth, even in Smith and Co.’s first season in 2021, that didn’t seem to be the case. The expectation to carry on – not carry over – should be the same this week.

Veteran leaders of the Falcons said on Sunday and then again on Monday that there shouldn’t have to be some fancy speech made to the locker room to move on. Everyone should already feel accountable to do so within themselves.

Is this a marker of a culture shift in Atlanta? Perhaps. But the answer to that question lays in what the Falcons do in Los Angeles and then again in Seattle next week. If they can put together four complete quarters of play against the Rams and Seahawks over the next two weeks? Even if they don’t necessarily win both games, that would be a marker of a culture shift as it is putting action behind words.

That’s what I’d like to see.