FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- In his first season as Falcons offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian is being measured by a standard that few offenses in NFL history have ever achieved.
Fairly or not, Sarkisian is coaching in the large shadow cast by the 2016 Falcons offense, which tied the 2000 Rams for the seventh-most points scored in an NFL season with 540 and averaged nearly 34 points per game. Even had Shanahan remained in charge of the offense, a regression to the mean would have likely occurred.
The most likely outcome for the offense this year, regardless of who called the plays, was probably somewhere between that record-setting high and the low mark in 2015, when Atlanta averaged 21.