Bill Belichick Scoffs At Questions About Kyle Shanahan's Falcons Offense
BOSTON (CBS) -- Before the Falcons collapsed late in the second half of Super Bowl LI, they built a now-iconic 28-3 lead and seemingly moved the ball at will against the Patriots. Much of the same personnel will be back on the field for Atlanta when they come to Foxboro next Sunday night, with one key difference: the group is now run by offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian after the departure of Kyle Shanahan.
Despite the Falcons' questionable play-calls at the end of the Super Bowl, there's no question that the Patriots defense often had trouble stopping the likes of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Devonta Freeman with Shanahan running the offense. So it would be fair to ask Belichick about the differences between Sarkisian and Shanahan's systems.
"Yeah, I just look at their offense this year," Belichick told reporters during his Wednesday press conference. "Coach Sarkisian has a very well-balanced offense that's explosive, can score from anywhere on the field in a number of different ways with a number of different players."
Belichick also detailed the Falcons' use of two different running backs and ability to throw the ball well at all levels of the field under Sarkisian. Sounds a lot like Shanahan's offense, right?
When pressed on that, Belichick sounded like he was facing a completely different team.
"Well again, we're focused on the team that we're playing this weekend," said Belichick. "I don't really care about what some other coach did some other year. Like right now we're getting ready for the Falcons, Coach Sarkisian's offense, Coach [Marquand] Manuel's defense and Coach [Keith] Armstrong's special teams under the direction of Coach [Dan] Quinn. That's who we play this week. That's what we're getting ready for.
"What somebody else did some other year – it's really not that relevant right now."
There will certainly be some plays, schemes, and personnel packages that will be different for the Falcons with Sarkisian as offensive coordinator. But based on Belichick's answer, you would think that the entire roster and coaching staff was overhauled.
It may benefit the Patriots' struggling pass defense (30th in opposing passer rating at 104.4) that the Falcons have also been scuffling on offense in recent weeks. Ryan has posted a 74.4 passer rating in his last three games; his last pass attempt was an interception that clinched a comeback win for the Dolphins in Atlanta last Sunday. He posted a career-high 117.1 rating in 2016 under Shanahan.
Belichick is still taking the Falcons as seriously as you'd expect, but the coach apparently isn't interested in anything they did last year.
