Falcons Defensive Attitude

[vel 30,307]

Last night, the Cowboys took it to the Saints for 60 minutes straight. I've been saying all season I don't understand how the Saints are scoring so many points with Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara as the only weapons that are threatening on that team. I had hope that we'd exploit this last week by forcing Brees to beat us with somebody else. The problem is we still just let them do what they wanted, beating us with Dan Arnold, Tommylee Lewis, Keith Kirkwood and Austin Carr. I'm talking replacement level WRs. People think we did a good job because Thomas and Kamara didn't go off, but they didn't have to. We didn't challenge the Saints offense to beat us and we got beat for it. 

Contrast that to last night and the Cowboys. They challenged and dared the Saints to win with those guys and you saw what happened. They didn't just sit back and play coverage. They knew those WRs weren't better than their defense and played like it. They sent pressure and manned up daring bums like Kirkwood and Lewis to beat them in man. That group put up 50 yards combined. Thomas and Kamara had 76 yards on 13 catches, a whopping 5.6 yards per catch. Yes, Byron Jones had a couple of penalties vs Thomas, but that's going to happen when you're playing tight and challenging guys all game. They bet that their players were better than the Saints and they were right.

This is what I complained about last year when people swore we had a top ten defense and I said we were underachieving. Even when healthy, we didn't do this. It was still sitting back and being passive/stagnant. I get the injuries hurt, but the biggest missing piece in my opinion is mentality. Swagger. Before the game, all the talk was on the Saints and Demarcus Lawrence took it personal for him and the defense. "We need to hit them in the f****** mouth, make them question their offensive brilliance then choke them f****** out." We don't have that right now. That's what made Seattle great. Not the scheme. The players and the mentality. They didn't take shlt. They gave it. 

[BLACK WATCH 38]

VEL You're F***ing Right! You do not wait for Your enemy to prepare, You Seize the day and buzzsawed them until they give up and forget the shout " Never give up, Never surrender and Never retreat! '' RESIST, INSIST & PERSIT!!!

 

[slick0ne 1,514]

Only time I seen us play like that was at the end of 2016 (mostly playoffs) and the Rams playoff game last year and it was beautiful. Don't know what's going on with this get slapped and turn the other cheek defense we have going on right now.

[Jesus 20,540]

18 minutes ago, slick0ne said:

Only time I seen us play like that was at the end of 2016 (mostly playoffs) and the Rams playoff game last year and it was beautiful. Don't know what's going on with this get slapped and turn the other cheek defense we have going on right now.

We know Quinn can put together a great defensive game plan. He did it with the Seahawks vs Denver in the SB. He did it down the stretch for 2016 and basically up to the 4th q in SB LI. He is not a micro manager, though. He wants his coordinators to do the work he hired them for. Manuel just doesn't have that ability yet.

Not sure if we fans have the patience for the light to turn on.

[ike barn87987 1,108]

We should play like this.

Check out @eric_crocker’s Tweet:

 

[vel 30,307]

1 minute ago, ike barn87987 said:

We should play like this.

Check out @eric_crocker’s Tweet:

 

Challenge at the line with your best CB. Don't be scared of getting beat and don't be scared to play physical.  

[capologist 13,239]

30 minutes ago, ike barn87987 said:

We should play like this.

Check out @eric_crocker’s Tweet:

 

We first need a CB of Byron Jones' talent level...

[Falcanuck 10,103]

Just don't play soft zone against Brees. The Falcons have played him twice a year for as long as I can remember, I don't know how they don't have this information yet.

[vel 30,307]

4 minutes ago, capologist said:

We first need a CB of Byron Jones' talent level...

Tru, Alford, and Oliver can all play like this. Too bad our DC would rather drop 8 in coverage and hope for coverage sacks than challenge and attack offenses 

[ya_boi_j 53,294]

Dallas can have that approach because they realistically have arguably one of the best all around defenses in the NFL. Said that before they beat the Falcons and I’ll echo it now. Lawrence talked **** because he knew they could back it up. 

[capologist 13,239]

7 minutes ago, vel said:

Tru, Alford, and Oliver can all play like this. Too bad our DC would rather drop 8 in coverage and hope for coverage sacks than challenge and attack offenses 

I wonder how much the LB's have to do with that decision.  You could definitely be right that they can play like that, I just have little confidence at this point I guess...

[Francis York Morgan 20,250]

15 minutes ago, ya_boi_j said:

Dallas can have that approach because they realistically have arguably one of the best all around defenses in the NFL. Said that before they beat the Falcons and I’ll echo it now. Lawrence talked **** because he knew they could back it up. 

Falcons wanted him that draft. Got tons of cap space coming free. Would not surprise me if he was a target...and I almost never expect us to be big spenders. We're definitely getting a pass rusher in FA this year.

22 minutes ago, vel said:

Tru, Alford, and Oliver can all play like this. Too bad our DC would rather drop 8 in coverage and hope for coverage sacks than challenge and attack offenses 

Manuel is an absolutely terrible coordinator. Quinn is being patient, but the dude is so timid with his playcalls. So vanilla.

Imho, Quinn needs to be calling the plays. It's worked great in the past. Let Manuel assist, let him learn under you and maybe take over in the future...but right now, he isn't the guy.

[PokerSteve 24,005]

32 minutes ago, vel said:

Tru, Alford, and Oliver can all play like this. Too bad our DC would rather drop 8 in coverage and hope for coverage sacks than challenge and attack offenses 

The Falcons have the worst defensive scheme in the NFL and play it as badly as it can be played. We play so soft, sloppy, stupid and scared it makes me want to puke. Quinn is fielding a defense that makes you ashamed to be a got dam fan of the team.

[Falcanuck 10,103]

29 minutes ago, ya_boi_j said:

Dallas can have that approach because they realistically have arguably one of the best all around defenses in the NFL. Said that before they beat the Falcons and I’ll echo it now. Lawrence talked **** because he knew they could back it up. 

Yeah, you're right. With Jones, Lawrence and now Vander Esch playing like Pro Bowlers, that defence has it all.

[E. T. 4,963]

The LB play is the root of the problem with our defense. They are the middle of the pack and they cannot give adequate support to the line and the secondary.  Lack of coverage, lack of gap discipline, lack of shedding tackles, misreads, mistackles....etc. All in all, they are making the entire defense struggle.

We need to land a good solid FA to pair with Deion and Campbell. The rest of the guys we have are not starters, subs at best.

[vel 30,307]

6 minutes ago, capologist said:

I wonder how much the LB's have to do with that decision.  You could definitely be right that they can play like that, I just have little confidence at this point I guess...

It comes from coaching. Does our DC believe they can play like that? If so, he would. Instead, he's coaching and calling defenses scared.

[Monolith2001 4,334]

2 hours ago, vel said:

Last night, the Cowboys took it to the Saints ...

I really didn't read past that part.  I saw exclamations and a lot of likes so figured it must be some good stuff. 

[No.11 7,055]

That kid from Boise though, Vander-Esch, plus Jaylon Smith are gonna give offenses fits. It's one thing to have attitude, it's another to back it up and execute your assignment well.

We missed Senat in the game against the Saints. The defense did enough to win that game. Offense kept shooting itself in the foot.

[Faithful Falcon 6,720]

We saw overrated Josh Norman play Thomas the same way, but the Saints had the refs on Norman. Most of us have been calling out this weak zone for a minute now. 

[Faithful Falcon 6,720]

1 minute ago, JerseyNo12 said:

That kid from Boise though, Vander-Esch, plus Jaylon Smith are gonna give offenses fits. It's one thing to have attitude, it's another to back it up and execute your assignment well.

We missed Senat in the game against the Saints. The defense did enough to win that game. Offense kept shooting itself in the foot.

Don't forget that other kid from Boise (Lawrence)

[sdogg 9,250]

1 hour ago, PokerSteve said:

The Falcons have the worst defensive scheme in the NFL and play it as badly as it can be played. We play so soft, sloppy, stupid and scared it makes me want to puke. Quinn is fielding a defense that makes you ashamed to be a got dam fan of the team.

Nailed it!!

[4dabirds 3,467]

58 minutes ago, PokerSteve said:

The Falcons have the worst defensive scheme in the NFL and play it as badly as it can be played. We play so soft, sloppy, stupid and scared it makes me want to puke. Quinn is fielding a defense that makes you ashamed to be a got dam fan of the team.

^^^

This

It is frustrating to watch how bad the Falcons D is. The communication pre-snap has them looking confused more time than not. I know we have a bunch of young and mediocre talent level guys, but you'd think they'd eventually have better awareness. Week in and week out, there is no real improvement, and that is on DQ and MM. The scheme is not working with this group. Is it the talent, or the inability to adapt to use what you have? I guess we have to give DQ a pass this year and hope that he can find a better way to teach/motivate come next year. I do believe we have to stick (like other organizations do) with DQ for now and see if he can get the ship righted. This team is too talented to be 4-7.

[Jpg428gggg 920]

I get that we are beat up but we are now ranked worst defense in football by football outsiders. There is no way anyone can convince me we are the least talented defense in football. At what point does our coaching staff wake up and realize what we are doing is not working.

[octoslash 14,750]

7 minutes ago, Jpg428gggg said:

I get that we are beat up but we are now ranked worst defense in football by football outsiders. There is no way anyone can convince me we are the least talented defense in football. At what point does our coaching staff wake up and realize what we are doing is not working.

They usually realize it about five minutes after they get fired. 

[E. T. 4,963]

1 hour ago, vel said:

It comes from coaching. Does our DC believe they can play like that? If so, he would. Instead, he's coaching and calling defenses scared.

There is zero faith in the defense from the coaching staff. We cannot get exotic with this bunch, but not sure if Manuel is our guy to take it to another level either.