The Falcons are coming off another game in which they failed to record a sack.
Atlanta now has fewer sacks than the number of games they’ve actually played. They rank dead last in the NFL with nine sacks and 27th in total pressures. Despite the club’s obviously weak pass rush, Terry Fontenot decided to stand pat at the trade deadline.
There’s plenty of blame to go around. Jimmy Lake and Raheem Morris deserve a portion. The lack of internal development is a driving factor, and the external additions have fallen flat on their face, none more than Matt Judon.
A couple of weeks before the start of the season, Terry Fontenot swung a trade that every Falcons fan was thrilled with at the time. The Patriots received a third-round pick for a pass rusher who posted 32 sacks in 37 games across three seasons. It seemed like the final piece to the puzzle, along with Justin Simmons.
It couldn’t be going worse for the Falcons. Judon has logged 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and five pressures across ten games. For comparison, in four games last season, the veteran put up 4.0 sacks, five tackles for loss, and 11 pressures. He has half the production in twice as many games. That could only be seen as a colossal failure up to this point.
It’s objectively been a bad trade for the Falcons, but is it an overreaction to already call it an epic failure? I wouldn’t blame you if you did, but it’s not a completely dead dream that Judon turns it around.
If Matt Judon has an impressive stretch run and comes up big in the postseason, it’ll be seen as a good trade. Of course, what’s the likelihood of that happening? Probably not great, but it’s an overreaction to completely give up on Judon contributing to Atlanta’s pass rush.
I wouldn’t blame you if you have given up on Matt Judon. This Falcons fan isn’t ready to do that just yet.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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