After a brutal 30-0 beating in Carolina, Falcons’ head coach Raheem Morris knew something had to change. In an unexpected move, he removed one of his coaches immediately after the defeat. But that wasn’t all.

Morris fired wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard right after the loss, as reported by NFL insider Adam Schefter on X. With no delay, passing game coordinator T.J. Yates will slide into Hilliard’s role. But the frustration wasn’t just Morris’. The Dirty Birds as a whole are tired of coming up empty. According to beat writer Terrin Waack, Morris addressed the locker room mood directly.

When asked whether the wide receivers and tight ends were frustrated about not scoring touchdowns, he clarified that it wasn’t about individual stats or scoring. Instead, as Morris put it, “Their frustration comes from team goals — winning.” Still, the Hilliard firing didn’t come out of nowhere.

The passing game has been flat-out ugly. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is just 31-of-57 for 307 yards across two games. That’s a 54.4% completion rate with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Worse, the Falcons have found the end zone only once in that stretch. Statistically, the offense is near the basement, 31st in scoring at 14.0 points per game, 28th in passing efficiency, and 27th in EPA/play.

Now, here’s the twist.

Hilliard wasn’t all bad. Just last year, he helped Drake London explode with 100 catches, 1,271 yards, and nine touchdowns. That put London in elite company with Roddy White and Terance Mathis. On top of that, Hilliard coached newcomers Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud to some of their best work as pros. But…

Morris decided it was time to shake things up. Past numbers didn’t outweigh the current drought.

And Hilliard wasn’t the only change.

Morris revealed another adjustment. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will now call games from the sideline instead of the booth.

Raheem Morris has a new role for OC Zac Robinson

The Falcons are switching things up after more communication breakdowns. Raheem Morris confirmed on Monday that offensive coordinator Zac Robinson will no longer call games from the press box. Instead, he’ll be on the sidelines starting this week.

Morris explained the thinking behind it.

“We’ll move Zac [Robinson] down to the field to be able to get that little cleaner communication for him and to be able to get [the play] to [Penix] if something does happen,” Morris said.

“To be able to be more visual, and see the quarterback and do some of those things that have him have a clear line of communication with Mike to be able to help him out more. We definitely hold some responsibility in those things, and we’re going to go out and do those things,” the coach added.

Still, this wasn’t just about one bad game in Charlotte. The headset issues showed up in Week 3, and crowd noise made things worse last week. But it even traces back to the opener, where miscues forced unnecessary timeouts and sloppy pre-snap penalties. Those stalls killed drives and erased any rhythm Michael Penix Jr. tried to build. For an offense already struggling to score, every mistake felt magnified.

Now comes the real question.

Can this sideline shift actually spark improvement? The Falcons have only one touchdown in their last eight quarters, and that number tells the story. If Robinson’s move doesn’t help clean up execution, the margin for error shrinks fast.

With playoff-caliber teams coming up, Atlanta can’t afford another week of wasted possessions.