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Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian spent the offseason Ricky Jean Francois Jersey White , training camp and preseason fine-tuning an Atlanta offense that's expected to be elite in his second year.When the Falcons and Eagles open the NFL regular season Thursday night in Philadelphia, Sarkisian will be back in his role as play-caller, giving him a chance to move past some of the disappointment of eight months ago."To say that we had a fourth-and-goal at the 2 against the team that went on to the win the Super Bowl and it was a bang-bang play tells you that we're very close, and it's been this offseason of getting over that hump," Sarkisian told The Associated Press this week."So we're very hungry and looking forward to the opportunity."Sarkisian's first season wasn't exactly a bust. The offense led the NFL in third-down percentage and ranked eighth in passing as Atlanta went 10-6 and won a wild-card playoff game at the Los Angeles Rams.But the Falcons dropped from first in scoring to 15th. Quarterback Matt Ryan, the league MVP the year before, threw 18 fewer touchdowns, was intercepted five additional times and had his passer rating fall over 16 points from the NFL's best.Even worse, the offense developed a reputation for being predictable. Atlanta scored its only touchdown in the divisional playoff game after the Eagles lost a fumble at their 18-yard line. The Falcons, who were favored to win, went scoreless in the second half.Yet they still had a chance to sneak away with a win before it all fell apart at the 2.With the ball on the left hash mark, the Eagles said they knew the call before the snap as soon as tight end Levine Toilolo motioned right across the formation . They had only one half of the field to defend as Ryan rolled right and came under quick pressure.Julio Jones Matthew Stafford Jersey , the star receiver and obvious target, fell down in the right side of the end zone, but got up quickly enough against cornerback Jalen Mills to turn and face the quarterback. Ryan lofted up a perfect pass. The ball went through Jones' hands .Sarkisian, a former head coach at Washington and Southern Cal, has been through similar moments before, but this was his first big test as a coordinator in the NFL. He said he did the best he could."You put together a plan throughout the week and you get into situations and things are going accordingly, you trust the plan," he said.The Falcons are hoping to improve in Sarkisian's second year the way they did in the second season of his predecessor, Kyle Shanhan, who called the plays that helped Atlanta win the 2016 NFC title.Sarkisian said he feels more comfortable this time around, and it's obvious why.Ryan and Jones and center Alex Mack are three of the league's best at their positions. Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman are tough to defend in the open field and the receiving corps that still includes dependable veteran Mohamed Sanu and added Alabama receiver Calvin Ridley as a first-round pick.The biggest issue is getting the ball to Jones more often in the red zone. Sarkisian was heavily criticized last year for not having Jones, a two-time All-Pro Womens Kerryon Johnson Jersey , dialed in more often as Ryan's No. 1 option inside the opponents' 20."I think I'd be remiss not to say we need to get No. 11 the ball," Sarkisian said, "and we need to make sure you defend No. 11, and Julio demands coverage that way."Notes: Long snapper Josh Harris was limited in practice Tuesday after missing Monday's session with a hip injury. Coach Dan Quinn said he Harris will be a game-time decision. Two reserves, G Ben Garland and CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson, will not play, but the Falcons are otherwise healthy. On the surface, the Detroit Lions’ win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday looked like one of their better performances of the season. You don’t jump out to a 24-0 lead without some really solid play—I don’t care how many field goals the other team missed. But with so much happening on a single play, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s actually happening and who’s playing well. So every week, we turn to Pro Football Focus, who grades every individual on every single play, to see which Lions players performed well. Thankfully Michael Roberts Jersey , each week they provide us with the top performers on both offense and defense. Let’s take a look for Week 5.OffenseThere aren’t too many surprises among the top five, and it’s no shock at all that Kenny Golladay tops the list with an outstanding 89.6 rating. In fact, that rating was good enough for Golladay to land on this week’s PFF Team of the Week, falling just short of Adam Thielen (90.1) and Odell Beckham Jr. (90.7). But Golladay’s play wasn’t just limited to Sunday’s game, he’s been a big-play threat all year. Per PFF, Golladay has 14” explosive plays” and six contested catches on the season, both of which rank in the top five among receivers this year.It was a relatively modest day for the rest of the offense, however. Only one offensive lineman made the top five, and Taylor Decker’s 66.3 grade is nothing to write home about. It’s also pretty surprising to see Kerryon Johnson graded so low considering he eclipsed 5.0 yards per carry for the fourth straight week. DefenseIf I weren’t so excited by Da’Shawn Hand’s future, I may be sick of talking about how good he is. Hand has now landed in the top five in three of the past four games, and he continues to be one of the highest rated rookie interior defensive linemen. This past Sunday, he was credited with three run stops http://www.lionslockerroom.com/authentic-a_shawn-robinson-jersey , three pressures, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. And check out this set of numbers from our own MathBomb:It may come as a bit of a surprise to see linebacker Christian Jones on the list, especially since he only had two tackles on the day—although one was for a loss. However, Jones did only play in 24 snaps against the Packers, as Detroit relied more heavily on coverage linebackers like Jalen Reeves-Maybin. In the secondary, Glover Quin cracked the top five after a pretty slow and quiet start to the season, and Nevin Lawson had an obviously solid game with his tight coverage. However, you don’t want to know how the rest of the defensive backs graded out, and lucky for you, I don’t have publishing rights to share them with you.