The Falcons have gradually improved over three games, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
There were concerns that fans were sold a fake bill of goods following Zac Robinson’s debut. The Steelers held the Falcons scoreless in the second half, and Kirk Cousins looked lifeless in Atlanta’s offense. Robinson’s calls were egregiously predictable in Week 1, but that trend changed against the Eagles.
For much of the night, the Falcons offense moved the ball on the ground, but Cousins failed to really open it up for the first three quarters in Week 2. Eventually, Cousins and Atlanta’s offense broke through with a touchdown to Darnell Mooney at the end of the third quarter. The performance was capped off by Cousins leading the Falcons down the field 70 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
Back in primetime, the Falcons offense once again spun its wheels in one facet against the Chiefs, but this time, it was the run game that struggled to get going. Despite a less-than-stellar stat line, Kirk Cousins played the best game of his brief Falcons career.
It’s progress. It might not seem like it, but Zac Robinson and the Falcons offense is getting better. However, one facet of the club hasn’t improved. It’s the single biggest weakness on the team, and it’s a familiar one — the pass rush.
Despite spending eight draft picks since 2021 on defensive linemen and trading for Matt Judon, the Falcons rank second to last in sacks (3), second to last in pressures (12) and pressure percentage (11.3%). It’s been atrocious, and the advanced metrics back it up.
Look at the top right graph Pass Rush D —
Trench measures from PFF and ESPN (the run stuff is all over the place) pic.twitter.com/sLAi8eDQKZ
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) September 24, 2024
That is the Falcons all by themselves in the bottom left. Grady Jarrett and Matt Judon have 1.5 sacks each, while the former has accounted for seven pressures and the latter totaling four pressures.
Kaden Elliss is the Falcons second best pass rusher, and he assumes a traditional off-ball linebacker role most of the time. The acquisition of Judon alone was never going to turn this pass rush into an elite unit, but he’s underperformed thus far. Even still, I tried telling folks that he’s not some pure pass rusher who can stick his hand in the dirt and beat tackles one-on-one but rather one who thrives in schemed-up situations like twists and stunts.
Arnold Ebiketie hasn’t improved and is looking like the latest wasted draft pick from Terry Fontenot. Lorenzo Carter is what he is and has never been a reliable pass rusher. The Falcons three defensive linemen taken in April’s draft haven’t seen the field as Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus remain inactive for gamedays and Bralen Trice is out for the season.
It’s amazing how well this Falcons defense has played despite having virtually no pass rush. This is still clearly an area that needs bolstering. Nate Landman’s return should help, enabling Elliss to take more pass rush snaps, but it needs more. A potential trade for someone like Haason Reddick, who is younger and more of a pure pass rusher than Judon, could pique their interest.
I don’t know the answer, but the answer certainly doesn’t lie inside of Flowery Branch right now.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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