Ypg-Wise, We Have Worst Defense In The League

[Borat 2,409]

That's it! The G.M and coaching staff did not put together a competitive roster in several key areas.

We don't have the personnel to execute what the coaching staff is implementing.

Trufant, Soliai, and Moore are our only above average defensive players.

[Dominique is Manufique 638]

well, if you can only force what 2 punts in 2 games, you're going to be giving up boat loads of yards. no sacks and 3rd down conversion rate has to be about 75%.

wake up call time.

[sdogg 9,792]

Defensive HC, Nolan as DC(Smith's 2nd DC) and a new DL coach. Writing is on the wall. You can only replace assistant coaches so many times, before your boss looks at the one constant. Smith will be fired if it doesn't improve significantly by years end. And no one should be too optimistic that this group, with this below average talent(with the exception of a few) will improve.

[Black Francis 7,180]

I don't get it, Mike Nolan has one of the best resumes of any D-coordinator in the league. He has turned around several defenses and made them top 10 if not top 5. Either he doesn't have the players or Smith is holding him back. There's no other explanation.

Nolan lost me when one of the assistant coaches on HK had to tell their D coordinator not to fall in love with players.

[FalconDiddly18 1,254]

I like Nolan but he isn't being aggressive enough, I know Alford got burned by a TD on that all out blitz but at least we were close to making a play on that. After that he quit playing aggressive. Our defense sucks so we need to start playing aggressive and trying to create turnovers because teams are going to score anyway.

[sdogg 9,792]

Bottom line is, TD and Smith's philosophy is to have a "bend don't break" defense and to put all the weight of winning on Ryan and the offense. It's a horrible philosophy and it why they will be fired.

[toadfishtom 5,526]

Why does our front 7 look weak and slow?with a few exceptions they have been statistically horrible in the first 2 games we are fortunate to be 1-1 The bucs will try to run in on us and pass up the middle we know this , but can we stop it ?Our only hope is to score points faster .

[dozer 709]

Unfortunately, this is not surprising news

[DaSteeleboy 132]

We have to deal with the hand that we're dealt with. Unfortuantely for us we have no pass rush, can't blitz or stop the run and it's all because of TD and Smith. If Nolan gets fired at the end of the season but Smith and TD keep their jobs i'm going to flip. Arthur Blank needs to realize that Mike Smith is what's keeping this team from being legitimate super bowl contenders. You can't win in this league if you play conservative.

[pzummo 6,734]

You guys do realize we played 2 top 10 offenses from last season the first 2 weeks, right? You do realize we only gave up 1 more point than the mighty Ravens gave up to Cincy, right? You do realize that we are the first team to hold Cincy under 30 at home during the regular season since week 5 last season, right?

This game was on our coaches and our offense. Yes, our defense has not looked good through 2 weeks. I'm not trying to act like they look great. But let's not act like we were playing the Bucs and Jags offenses. This game against the Bengals was on our coaches and our offense, not our defense. If our offense would have shown up, our defense would not have been worn out the way they were at the end of the game.

Myth #1 - The Bengals ran it down our throats!

Fact #1 - Bernard averaged 3.3 yards per carry. As a team, they averaged 3.8 yards per carry. And this was with us having the ball for 6 minutes LESS than the Bengals... The problem was, they had 45 rushing attempts due to TOP.

Myth #2 - We couldn't stop them on 3rd down!

Fact #2 - They went 6/14 on 3rd down. We stopped them more times than they succeeded, which is a big step forward for our defense from last season. They converted at a rate of 41% last season, 6/14 is 42%, so basically at their average.

Myth #3 - They bullied our Offensive Line all game!

Fact #3 - We had a problem at the Tackle positions in pass protection. Our offensive line actually did a good job moving their DL on running plays. And their DL is a good one. We averaged 5.1 yards per carry running the ball. The real problem was we did not run the ball. Technically, we ran the ball 19 times for the entire game, and 3 of those were by our QB. We struggled passing the ball, and we had 44 pass attempts. Our RB's had a total of 16 rushing attempts. And they average a yard more per attempt than the Bengals did...

#3 is why it's on the coaches. We had our starting LT out and our starting RT had to move over to an unnatural position replaced by our backup RT. The Bengals saw our passing game and we should know that this was going to be the center of their attention to stop. The gameplan should have called for a lot more running keeping them honest and taking some pressure off of our tackles. 5 of the runs were on our only scoring drive in the first half (basically a 3rd of our called running plays). On that series, we had 4 passing attempts resulting in just 5 yards. If anything, the passing game was holding us back. The very next drive, 3 and out, all pass attempts resulting in a total of 4 yards. The next drive we started with a 13 yard pickup in the run game, immediately going back to the air with 3 pass plays that were incomplete, sack, and completion short of the 1st (punt). The next drive, all pass plays, punt. And it was still just 10-3 at this point.

In other words, the game was well within reach, they were completely focused on our passing game, and we never tried to commit to the running game. Unlike the Bengals that committed to the running game even though it really was not working that well for them.

[ya_boi_j 67,763]

Why is this such a surprise to everyone. Now all that laughing at the saints 2 years ago comes back to haunt

[Bring It 3,049]

http://www.nfl.com/s...bSeq=2&role=OPP

Not sure why a bigger deal hasn't made of this. Yes you could make the argument that most teams get gashed by the Saints, but were just as bad against the injury-riddled Bengals. There will be no playoffs without a drastic turnaround (pass rush and LB play have been pathetic).

Edit: WE have lol

LOL.........and WHERE is this Pass Rush magically going to come from ??? LOL

[Peyton 21,045]

The defense is freaking awful, but I do have to say that it wouldn't have given up quite as many yards if the offense could have stayed on the field for a minute yesterday.

But yeah, this defense is bad, and probably isn't going to stop anybody. That could be a bad omen for games against teams like Minnesota and Baltimore on the road, because I think those defenses are going to give the Falcons offense a tough time.

[Deep2Julio 545]

I was convinced with all of the LB's we drafted and even the ones we brought in through FA we were going to be a 3-4 team. Instead we wind up in the nickel. Lets be honest here, if this team wanted to be physical, we would have went 3-4. Linebackers are just naturally more physical than corners. (not saying that a corner can't be physical)

Edited September 15, 2014 by Deep2Julio

[dmo_dlo 2,499]

Myth #1 - The Bengals ran it down our throats!

Fact #1 - Bernard averaged 3.3 yards per carry. As a team, they averaged 3.8 yards per carry. And this was with us having the ball for 6 minutes LESS than the Bengals... The problem was, they had 45 rushing attempts due to TOP.

Myth #2 - We couldn't stop them on 3rd down!

Fact #2 - They went 6/14 on 3rd down. We stopped them more times than they succeeded, which is a big step forward for our defense from last season. They converted at a rate of 41% last season, 6/14 is 42%, so basically at their average.

Myth #3 - They bullied our Offensive Line all game!

Fact #3 - We had a problem at the Tackle positions in pass protection. Our offensive line actually did a good job moving their DL on running plays. And their DL is a good one. We averaged 5.1 yards per carry running the ball. The real problem was we did not run the ball. Technically, we ran the ball 19 times for the entire game, and 3 of those were by our QB. We struggled passing the ball, and we had 44 pass attempts. Our RB's had a total of 16 rushing attempts. And they average a yard more per attempt than the Bengals did...

#3 is why it's on the coaches. We had our starting LT out and our starting RT had to move over to an unnatural position replaced by our backup RT. The Bengals saw our passing game and we should know that this was going to be the center of their attention to stop. The gameplan should have called for a lot more running keeping them honest and taking some pressure off of our tackles. 5 of the runs were on our only scoring drive in the first half (basically a 3rd of our called running plays). On that series, we had 4 passing attempts resulting in just 5 yards. If anything, the passing game was holding us back. The very next drive, 3 and out, all pass attempts resulting in a total of 4 yards. The next drive we started with a 13 yard pickup in the run game, immediately going back to the air with 3 pass plays that were incomplete, sack, and completion short of the 1st (punt). The next drive, all pass plays, punt. And it was still just 10-3 at this point.

First off, your rushing averages are skewed because you include QB scrambles and that works in our favor and against Bengals' stats. without those, their average is 3.9 on 42 carries and 4.3 on 16 for us. Now to your "myths":

1- They did run it down our throat. 3.9 average on 42 carries is impressive because it says that we knew they were going to run it, and they still got the yards.

2- We couldn't stop them on 3rd down, because what matters is how much better your team does on 3rd down compared to the other team. I understand you're looking at this from a defensive perspective, but still 42% is nothing to write home about.

3- They completely bullied our OL at least on their passing plays. We could not get a hand on Dalton all game long. We had very few plays behind the line of scrimmage in the run plays. I would call that dominance, specially when compared to what their DL did to our OL.

[Osiruz 10,079]

After two games, there are only five teams who give up more points per game - on average.

Scoring D isn't much better.

Thanks to the Bengals kicker and aj green.

[pzummo 6,734]

First off, your rushing averages are skewed because you include QB scrambles and that works in our favor and against Bengals' stats. without those, their average is 3.9 on 42 carries and 4.3 on 16 for us. Now to your "myths":

1- They did run it down our throat. 3.9 average on 42 carries is impressive because it says that we knew they were going to run it, and they still got the yards.

2- We couldn't stop them on 3rd down, because what matters is how much better your team does on 3rd down compared to the other team. I understand you're looking at this from a defensive perspective, but still 42% is nothing to write home about.

3- They completely bullied our OL at least on their passing plays. We could not get a hand on Dalton all game long. We had very few plays behind the line of scrimmage in the run plays. I would call that dominance, specially when compared to what their DL did to our OL.

1. Their starting back that got the vast majority of carries averaged 3.3. Their backup that got limited attempts brought their overall average way up. But that doesn't change the fact that we did a lot better than what we did last season in a similar situation.

2. I said 42% is about their average. Far from this being a horrendous performance by our defense. To your point, I said this game was due to our offense and coaching. Referencing our inability to convert 3rd downs adds to my point.

3. I agree 100% that our pass protection sucked, especially from our tackles. This again adds to my overall point. The coaches should have recognized the run was more effective against their defense with our lackluster tackle play, and they should have adjusted by running more. They didn't.

[insight 1,932]

You guys do realize we played 2 top 10 offenses from last season the first 2 weeks, right? You do realize we only gave up 1 more point than the mighty Ravens gave up to Cincy, right? You do realize that we are the first team to hold Cincy under 30 at home during the regular season since week 5 last season, right?

This game was on our coaches and our offense. Yes, our defense has not looked good through 2 weeks. I'm not trying to act like they look great. But let's not act like we were playing the Bucs and Jags offenses. This game against the Bengals was on our coaches and our offense, not our defense. If our offense would have shown up, our defense would not have been worn out the way they were at the end of the game.

Myth #1 - The Bengals ran it down our throats!

Fact #1 - Bernard averaged 3.3 yards per carry. As a team, they averaged 3.8 yards per carry. And this was with us having the ball for 6 minutes LESS than the Bengals... The problem was, they had 45 rushing attempts due to TOP.

Myth #2 - We couldn't stop them on 3rd down!

Fact #2 - They went 6/14 on 3rd down. We stopped them more times than they succeeded, which is a big step forward for our defense from last season. They converted at a rate of 41% last season, 6/14 is 42%, so basically at their average.

Myth #3 - They bullied our Offensive Line all game!

Fact #3 - We had a problem at the Tackle positions in pass protection. Our offensive line actually did a good job moving their DL on running plays. And their DL is a good one. We averaged 5.1 yards per carry running the ball. The real problem was we did not run the ball. Technically, we ran the ball 19 times for the entire game, and 3 of those were by our QB. We struggled passing the ball, and we had 44 pass attempts. Our RB's had a total of 16 rushing attempts. And they average a yard more per attempt than the Bengals did...

#3 is why it's on the coaches. We had our starting LT out and our starting RT had to move over to an unnatural position replaced by our backup RT. The Bengals saw our passing game and we should know that this was going to be the center of their attention to stop. The gameplan should have called for a lot more running keeping them honest and taking some pressure off of our tackles. 5 of the runs were on our only scoring drive in the first half (basically a 3rd of our called running plays). On that series, we had 4 passing attempts resulting in just 5 yards. If anything, the passing game was holding us back. The very next drive, 3 and out, all pass attempts resulting in a total of 4 yards. The next drive we started with a 13 yard pickup in the run game, immediately going back to the air with 3 pass plays that were incomplete, sack, and completion short of the 1st (punt). The next drive, all pass plays, punt. And it was still just 10-3 at this point.

In other words, the game was well within reach, they were completely focused on our passing game, and we never tried to commit to the running game. Unlike the Bengals that committed to the running game even though it really was not working that well for them.

We were beaten soundly in all phases of the game.

You can twist the statistics however you like but the fact remains Cincy dominated the Falcons in all aspects on Sunday. I can't understand how someone can watch that performance and come away thinking we were ever in control of that game.

Truth: We could not stop Cincy's offense, the D almost gave up 500 yards.

Truth: The offense pass/run was ineffective, we scored 10 points the entire game.

Truth: Matt Ryan was sacked twice and was under extreme distress throwing 3 interceptions.

Truth: Andy Dalton had more passing yards on half the attempts of Matt Ryan without A.J Green.

[Atlsport 1,844]

Thanks to the Bengals kicker and aj green.

What did he end up missing 3 FG's ? That's 9 points and with them having their way Green would be been good for at least 6. Yep, that probably could have solidified the D's lowly scoring rank even more.

[pzummo 6,734]

We were beaten soundly in all phases of the game.

You can twist the statistics however you like but the fact remains Cincy dominated the Falcons in all aspects on Sunday. I can't understand how someone can watch that performance and come away thinking we were ever in control of that game.

Truth: We could not stop Cincy's offense, the D almost gave up 500 yards.

Truth: The offense pass/run was ineffective, we scored 10 points the entire game.

Truth: Matt Ryan was sacked twice and was under extreme distress throwing 3 interceptions.

Truth: Andy Dalton had more passing yards on half the attempts of Matt Ryan without A.J Green.

I am not saying our defense was good. I'm saying they were not as atrocious as people are making them out to be. And they are not the reason we lost. We had 4 offensive possessions while the Bengals had only 3 points. Their only TD in the first half came right after they were on the field a while before our offense went 3 and out. The offense never showed up.

Week 1, our defense was atrocious.

[Borat 2,409]

LOL.........and WHERE is this Pass Rush magically going to come from ??? LOL

Didn't say it was coming, just that it is lacking.

[chucktown birdfan 11]

Defensive Stats after two games:

Yards Per Game: 472 (32nd)

Points Per Game: 29 (26th)

Sacks: 0 (tied for 31st)

Rush Yards Allowed: 309 (28th)

Pass Yards Allowed: 635 (31st)

Not going to win many games that way.

[Borat 2,409]

No redeeming qualities to be seen

[shc 2,288]

We were beaten soundly in all phases of the game.

You can twist the statistics however you like but the fact remains Cincy dominated the Falcons in all aspects on Sunday. I can't understand how someone can watch that performance and come away thinking we were ever in control of that game.

Truth: We could not stop Cincy's offense, the D almost gave up 500 yards.

Truth: The offense pass/run was ineffective, we scored 10 points the entire game.

Truth: Matt Ryan was sacked twice and was under extreme distress throwing 3 interceptions.

Truth: Andy Dalton had more passing yards on half the attempts of Matt Ryan without A.J Green.

And given that, the pass that Julio didn't bring down in the endzone, and ryans int at the goal line, and this game is entirely different.

[Power I 1,537]

The only thing I want to say is that Tyson Jackson was in coverage last week against the Saints.

That tells me all I need to know about this defensive philosophy.