Falcons defense showed life, but one aspect still lacked juice

Offensively, the Falcons were one giant mess in Week 1.

The offensive play-calling, led by first-time offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, was inexcusable. Robinson was essentially letting the Steelers defense know what was coming before the snap with his formations. If the Falcons were lined up in the shotgun, it was a pass. If they were in the pistol formation, it was a run. Atlanta also ran no play-action and didn’t even try to move Kirk Cousins from the pocket, allowing the Steelers pass rush to have a field day. It tells me one of two things. Zac Robinson is in over his head, or the Falcons know Kirk Cousins isn’t close to 100% following an Achilles injury that ended his season last year.

I’m not sure what’s worse, but the Falcons defense, for the most part, did a lot of good things. Justin Fields made some plays, and George Pickens continued to prove he’s one of the best young wide receivers in the game, but Atlanta never let the Steelers get into the end zone and came up with some critical stops, despite the Falcons offense putting the defense in some bad positions thanks to three turnovers.

It should have been enough to earn a win and is something to build off moving forward, but there is still one aspect that totally underwhelmed on Sunday. The Falcons pass rush was almost non-existent.

The hope was that the addition of Matthew Judon would have a major impact. It still might, and he did produce a half-sack in his Falcons debut, but Justin Fields had all of the time in the world to throw on most of his dropbacks, and even more discouraging, the Steelers offensive line isn’t anything to write home about.

This was a makeshift group that wasn’t at full strength and featured a ton of young, inexperienced players, some of which were playing out of position. This was an opportunity for the Falcons pass rush, especially against a quarterback like Justin Fields that is notorious for holding onto the ball too long, to prove themselves. Instead, it looked like the same ole’ Falcons, much like the rest of the team. It’s only one week, but the Falcons pass rush was once again the most discouraging aspect of the defense, a trend that’s continued for over a decade.

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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire