I said it before the season, and it rings true today. These 2024 Atlanta Falcons are Matt Ryan’s Falcons.
Kirk Cousins was excellent on Sunday. By passer rating standards, it was the best game of his young Falcons career. Cousins finished with a 145.9 passer rating thanks to a 79.3 completion percentage, 276 yards and four touchdowns.
The offense was humming, but much like Matt Ryan’s days in Atlanta, Cousins’ defense wasn’t holding up its end of the bargain. It looked like Jimmy Lake’s defense was going to let Cousins and the offense down.
The run defense is horrible, and the pass rush is still non-existent. For the third time this season, the Falcons came up with zero sacks. While Lake and Morris continue to talk about the “process” and “evolution” of the pass rush, it hasn’t improved and doesn’t seem like it’s even inching forward unless you consider a high-pressure rate against the worst offensive line in football last week against the Seahawks.
Thank the lord for Jessie Bates III because, without him, this defense would be utterly embarrassing. The Falcons came out of Sunday with the win, and that’s all that matters, but the way the defense is playing isn’t a sustainable way to win, and Matt Ryan knows that.
There have been countless examples of such, but the two that come to mind immediately are the Super Bowl and the 2018 performance against the Saints. In both, Ryan had a 140+ passer rating but ended up losing.
Ryan finished the day against New Orleans with 374 yards passing and five touchdowns without the help of a run game. The Falcons defense ended up costing them that game, which became all too familiar during his tenure.
Kirk Cousins and the Falcons offense are still learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but it’s clearly good enough to make a deep playoff run. The only issue? The defense looks like it’ll cost them an opportunity to do so.
The Falcons cannot sit on their hands at this year’s trade deadline.
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