Tori McElhaney pulls up the tape to answer your questions.

Tori McElhaney

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. Two main topics flooded the Mailbag inbox this week after the Falcons lost by three to the Jets at MetLife Stadium last Sunday, dropping their sixth game in seven weeks.

It had to do with special teams and "what the heck" is going on there (per a few X/Twitter responses) coupled with a few questions about the state of the wide receiver room, and what goes into the Falcons' decisions to have certain guys up on game day when Drake London is hurt.

Let's get into those two big questions in today's Mailbag. Reminder:You can submit questions here, or tweet myself (@tori_mcelhaney) or Will McFadden (@willmcfadden) with your inquiries.

Chris R. from Sydney, Australia

"Week in and week out, our kickoff/punt return and coverage have been abysmal, almost looking like they're trying to deliberately keep other teams in any given game. It's been a glaring issue all season, with seemingly zero changes or adjustments made to try and improve. What do you see as causing these issues, and do you think enough has been done to actually try and improve them throughout the season?"

I wish I could pinpoint just one thing for you, Chris, because that would mean it's an easy fix. That is not the case. This is a team that is last in the league in average kickoff return yards this season. They are last in the league in average yards given up on kickoff returns, too. This isn't a problem that happens because of outliers. These are trends, and signs of faulty tackling and potentially scheme, too.

Let's take a look at two recent kickoff coverage failure examples: The 75-yard return given up to the Saints in Week 12 and the recent 83-yard return surrendered to the Jets. Both came at the expense of the right side of the unit and both saw the Falcons utilize an inside twist of Feleipe Franks, which left a hole the Falcons were unable to fill.

In the 75-yard Saints return, the original logic seemed sound. But it broke down as Franks cleared too far and there was no one wrapping back around him. It created a moment where there was a sizable hole with every blocker accounted for, as the lead blocker took on DeMarcco Hellams as the momentarily freed-up man. It only took a split second of engagement to have the return man blow by the Falcons.

You can see in the 83-yard return that the Falcons maybe took into account the lack of backfill they had when Franks pushed to the inside of the field. Against the Jets, they crossed Mike Ford behind Franks to in theory fill the lane vacated by him.

Another issue arose, however, when Ford couldn't really disengage from his man, even allowing the Jets player to gain inside leverage. A similar hole opened up for the Jets returner as it did the Saints return man a week prior.

This time the lead blocker didn't even really have to put hands on Hellams as his own leverage was already gone by the time the return man reached him and (subsequently) ran by him.

Now, I confess that I am not truly an expert on special teams/what the actual call was/what the leverage should have been for guys. Not without knowing the call itself, because it's difficult to know what the genuine direction was for players without it. However, the eye test of these two plays shows a similar wrinkle that didn't work. It was then taken into account that it didn't work and was tweaked. But then, the tweak didn't really work thereafter.

I know these are only two small examples, but they ended up leading to pretty significant moments for opponents in these games.

Jason H. from Boca Raton, Florida

With the Falcons needing receiver help, why haven't we elevated Chris Blair or Nick Nash?

Short answer: I don't know why these two individuals, specifically, are not being elevated. I guess the main information I have there is that players like Dylan Drummond and Deven Thompkins have shown in practice and/or the film room that they are better equipped to do what the Falcons want at the receiver position.

The long answer, though, is that this isn't the question we should be asking, in my opinion.

The better question isn't why the Falcons haven't elevated Blair and Nash; it's why KhaDarel Hodge and Casey Washington cannot be relied upon. Washington was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game this Sunday. Hodge? A healthy scratch for the first time. What is going on there? These are two individuals who you've invested draft capital and free agency stock in over the last two years. Two individuals who are needed without Drake London in the lineup and as the Falcons still have not gotten solid production out of Darnell Mooney.

I asked head coach Raheem Morris this question Monday. And I think it could also speak to answering your question, as well.

"You gotta go out there and find out who can give you the best chance to win. (Sunday) we went with DT (Deven Thompkins). He went out there and made two really big catches for us," Morris said. "When we were talking about speed and some of those different things, we had gotten that provided from Casey (Washington) that we were getting in the offseason, getting a little early on in the preseason. It hadn't been as consistent. From a performance standpoint, (Thompkins) kind of out played (Washington) in practice. ...

"Last week with KhaDarel Hodge, he didn't do some things right so we had to make a change there to get a spark. We put Drummond up on the active roster and he was able to play for us the last two weeks. ... Drummond has done a nice job for us in that role, finding a little bit of consistency, trying to go out there and make some plays on offense. It's always going to be performance-based to see who can give you the best chance to win."

Morris said it: The group of receivers the team has up on game day is the one that outperforms in practice. I'm sure there are scheme-related decisions to be made, too, plus what role you need certain guys to play. But ultimately, the Falcons do not feel that they are getting enough from Washington and Hodge. That may change next week, Morris said, but that's how things stand right now.

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