Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones is one of the best pass catchers in the NFL. He’s dynamic and can pull down just about anything that’s thrown his way. Yet, somehow, he had one of the strangest streaks in the NFL lasting all the way into last season. Entering Sunday’s games, Jones had not caught a touchdown since Week 12 of the 2017 season. In that game, against the Bucs, Jones caught two touchdowns and rushed in another.
On Sunday, Jones finally broke the spell and caught a touchdown against the Redskins. It required Jones to cover some yards and get it in himself, but that doesn’t matter because he finally found his way into the endzone. Why did it take so long for one of the best receivers in football? Nobody really knows for sure, but it was clear he was very happy to get back into the painted area.
JULIO. JONES. TOUCHDOWN. pic.twitter.com/Cvs1ony5jy
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 4, 2018
Jones doesn’t catch very many touchdowns. Maybe this is an effect of the playcalling, or how defenses scheme against him, but Jones isn’t known for getting points for the Falcons himself. He would so frequently put up crazy stat lines without a touchdown that it almost became comical. How is a player this good not finding his way in? It was just odd.
Maybe now that Jones has found his way to paydirt he’ll be able to break out of this streak in a bigger way in the second half of the season. The Falcons could certainly use it. This team isn’t that far removed from a Super Bowl trip and given their defensive woes, need all the help they can get from everyone on the offense to put points on the board.
