The Falcons defense stinks, and there’s no two ways around it.
They rank 26th in scoring, 25th in total yards allowed per game, dead last in sacks and completion percentage, 30th in third-down percentage, 29th in drives ending in scores, 29th in passing touchdowns and yards per drive, and 28th in points per drive and yards after the catch.
Find any major defensive statistic and the Falcons rank near the bottom of the league. There are several factors contributing, and one of them isn’t something that can be changed — personnel. The NFL trade deadline has come and gone, so there’s nobody walking through the doors of Flowery Branch to help.
However, a philosophical shift should be in the cards. It seems necessary at this point, and Jimmy Lake’s approach in Denver should tell you all you need to know.
“They came into this game very depleted at cornerback. Nevertheless, they did not do anything to try and pressure Bo Nix. They sent 4 or fewer pass rushers on 89% of his drop-backs…he might as well have been in a recliner with a newspaper and a cup of coffee, he was that comfortable,” Dan Graziano said on NFL Live.
Lake’s defense allowed the Broncos, led by rookie Bo Nix, to score 38 points. He led the Denver offense to 400 yards, scoring on six of their eight possessions before letting their foot off the gas. The pitiful showing has brought about criticism of Lake, but Raheem Morris isn’t entertaining the thought of replacing his defensive coordinator.
“There’s no major thing going on,” Morris said when asked about the possibility of taking play-calling duties away from Lake, via Daniel Flick of Sports Illustrated. “I’ve got no breaking news for you that anybody’s doing anything that way.”
If firing Lake is off the table, there has to be a philosophical change. What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. Former Falcons quarterback Dave Archer echoed similar sentiments.
“I think they can play tighter,” Archer said on 92.9’s The Morning Shift. “I think that they’re giving some easy stuff up. I think that they’re allowing quarterbacks to get comfortable.”
“I think that coming up and making those more difficult situations, jamming guys at the line of scrimmage, being a little bit more aggressive, being willing to maybe get beat over the top because you’re up tight,” Archer continued. “Those are harder throws. I can tell you as a quarterback, throwing fade routes or throwing the ball down the field, the ball is in the air longer. You gotta be more precise to get the ball down there rather than throw a screen pass outside with a guy that’s off 10 yards. I think that they’re going to have to look at reinvesting and maybe coming up and doing some of those kinds of things and maybe changing their philosophy a little bit on the perimeter.”
The Falcons don’t do anything well on the defensive side of the ball, so my thought process is that it can’t possibly get worse, right? Sure, the adjustments might not work, but how much easier could it get for opposing offenses anyway?
If I had the answers, I wouldn’t be writing this and I would be calling plays for the Atlanta Falcons. Perhaps the defense doesn’t have the personnel to do what Archer is suggesting, but they can’t keep doing what they’re doing. I know that much.
