On Marcus Mariota, Arthur Smith and Falcons passing game, Kyle Pitts and Drake London, plus Desmond Ridder

You’re going to notice a theme in this Monday Bair Mail.

There were so many questions about the passing game, from Marcus Mariota to Drake London to Kyle Pitts and Desmond Ridder that I just chose to address all those topics at once.

I saw other queries about the defense and a banged-up secondary. I’ll get to them, and whatever else you want to discuss, in the remaining mailbags heading into a Week 8 matchup against Carolina.

Kerry Miller from Centerville, Ga.

Scott, I am a big supporter of where the Falcons are going and what Smith is doing. However, when you are getting lit up like they were by the Bengals and you only throw the ball 13 times that seems counterproductive. Yes, I know Coach Smith wants to be a running team but late in the 3rd and into the 4th I was expecting to see more passes. Was this the plan? Was it lack of faith in MM1 (that 75yd bomb was a thing of beauty)? Did he feel is defense was done for and decide to just run off as much clock as he could? It just seemed odd to me.

Bair: I got this question a ton, Kerry. The lack of passing volume DOMINATED the postgame mailbag, with one of every two questions about this topic. Let Kerry’s question represent so many of you wondering why the Falcons weren’t throwing more down multiple scores in the second half.

Well, first of all, you have to possess the ball to throw a ton. They only had 18 plays in the second half. Of those 18 plays, seven were passes, three were sacks (where Mariota was trying to throw) and three more were Marcus Mariota runs, at least some of which weren’t designed.

All told, they only gained 40 total yards over the last two quarters. What they needed were sustained second-half drives, because they weren’t able to stop the Bengals attack.

I think we all have to look a bit deeper into the box score here before making a simple “run vs. pass debate.” Let’s also be crystal clear on one thing: play calling is not an issue. Arthur Smith and Dean Pees are excellent calling games.

This is about the identity of the team, how they operate. They are a running team that likes to control the tempo and the tone of games. They’re good at it, too. They definitely run block better than they pass protect. They have an athletic quarterback who adds a unique element to the run game. They have physical backs who can break tackles.

Have they been a good passing team when they have thrown? Not really. They have flashed at times, but they have not been consistent enough to operate the way the Bengals…