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Falcons are #4 in NFL in Rushing - Pass Rush


gazoo

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After 4 games my Falcons are #4 in Total Rushing Yards and Rushing Yards Per Game at 168 YP Game.

Who saw this coming? I sure didn’t. It’s changed EVERYTHING and is the main reason we have been so competitive. We maintain a lot of long drives which keeps our defense fresh and particularly our pass rushing attack dogs fresh.

Have you noticed our pass rush (and defense as a whole) this year isn’t just better, it does something else we haven’t seen in several years. It gets the job done when the game is on the line, this pass rush ( or run defense) steps up in the big moments of the game, when we really need to get a stop.  This defense gets stops in critical moments with stuffing a run, getting pressure or a sack or a turnover on 3rd down. In the past it was always critical moments our defense would give up a 3rd and 16 or whatever. This would happen so much to us many of us became disillusioned late in games that were close, we always knew “oh no, here we go again”. If a team just needed a FG to win, had their ball at their own 25 with 1 minute left in game, that old feeling of just knowing our defense would fold is still fresh in many of our memories.

I will again link this to our stalwart running attack. We are able to keep the legs of our defense fresh late in games. But it’s even more than that, it’s quality depth. We are rotating a lot of players in and out on on both offense and defense. This also keeps that playmakers fresh. For instance, on defense we see rotation with Andersen, Horne, Alford, Malone, Darren Hall getting snaps.

This is a beautiful team that is being assembled, but there is more to be done.

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Huntley looks legit and Allgeier finally broke out. Should be able to keep CP fresh and move him around more. I think that was the plan from the start. Williams getting hurt stalled those plans. 

But think if we had a competent QB. This offense would open up even more. Yes, there's some good scheming going on in both the pass and run game. But, it's mostly one read and go for Mariota. 

This team does fight. I'll give them that. That means complete buy in by the players which is always a good sign. Still need impact guys at LB and DL though. Wouldn't be mad if we went all defense in the next draft. 

There's still another off-season worth of work to do to be a contender. We're not as far off as some people thought we were. Just need more infusion of talent at key positions. 

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5 minutes ago, Ezekiel 25:17 said:

It always has been, but chicks dig the deep ball! 

They had some dialed up but just couldn't hit. Not Mariota's forte clearly.  

But on the flip side, that's why we ran so well after those continuous three and outs. Browns kept sitting on the short to intermediate pass in the third. AS adjusted and started calling run plays after seeing the Browns adjust.

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4 minutes ago, The Don™ said:

Huntley looks legit and Allgeier finally broke out. Should be able to keep CP fresh and move him around more. I think that was the plan from the start. Williams getting hurt stalled those plans. 

But think if we had a competent QB. This offense would open up even more. Yes, there's some good scheming going on in both the pass and run game. But, it's mostly one read and go for Mariota. 

This team does fight. I'll give them that. That means complete buy in by the players which is always a good sign. Still need impact guys at LB and DL though. Wouldn't be mad if we went all defense in the next draft. 

There's still another off-season worth of work to do to be a contender. We're not as far off as some people thought we were. Just need more infusion of talent at key positions. 

I don't think Mariota is Trent Dilfer bad, he just hit his ceiling a while ago.  Mariota is a sandlot QB, and that's fine in spurts, it's just not a long term thing.  He's a change of pace QB. 

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27 minutes ago, Sun Tzu 7 said:

Disagree about the pass rush.

Grady has made clutch plays the last 2 games but other than that there’s a lot to be desired.

The pass rush has been so bad it’s like giving a starving man in the desert a cracker.

But yeah. Run game has been a pleasant surprise. 

I am not speaking for OP. But I think, the pass rush has been much better compared to previous years. We would go without a sack for multiple games. We already have 6 or 7 sacks. This should say something. I think would we be better adding more pass rushers. You bet. But don't discount current D though.

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30 minutes ago, Sun Tzu 7 said:

Disagree about the pass rush.

Grady has made clutch plays the last 2 games but other than that there’s a lot to be desired.

The pass rush has been so bad it’s like giving a starving man in the desert a cracker.

But yeah. Run game has been a pleasant surprise. 

Well we gone have to agree to disagree cause we have 9 sacks in 4 games that’s 2 sacks a game and have been putting pressure on the QBs it’s not all about sacks it making a QB uncomfortable in the pocket and we are light years better then last year 

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5 minutes ago, Herr Doktor said:

I don't think Mariota is Trent Dilfer bad, he just hit his ceiling a while ago.  Mariota is a sandlot QB, and that's fine in spurts, it's just not a long term thing.  He's a change of pace QB. 

For sure. Keep building this team to make the long term QB's job that much more seamless. 

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18 minutes ago, Herr Doktor said:

I don't think Mariota is Trent Dilfer bad, he just hit his ceiling a while ago.  Mariota is a sandlot QB, and that's fine in spurts, it's just not a long term thing.  He's a change of pace QB. 

 

If Ridder starts, there is no pace to change by bringing Mariota in.  They both have identical 40-times (both top-10 QB 40s all time at the combine).   

 

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36 minutes ago, Sun Tzu 7 said:

Disagree about the pass rush.

Grady has made clutch plays the last 2 games but other than that there’s a lot to be desired.

The pass rush has been so bad it’s like giving a starving man in the desert a cracker.

But yeah. Run game has been a pleasant surprise. 

We're tied at 17th in sacks.  That's a HUGE improvement over last season.  Obviously I want to be even better, but I wasn't expecting us to be where we are already.

FWIW, the Browns and Seahawks have given up the 4th and 6th least sacks in the league.  Week 1 we couldn't close out the game against New Orleans.  We closed out the games the past 2 weeks against pretty good OL's.  

I do agree we need to see more pressure from other players though.  We can't put it all on Grady.  Whenever that happens, this defense has the potential to be very good.

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1 hour ago, VTCrunkler said:

The resurgence of Kaleb McGary 

This can't be said enough! If he keeps this up throughout the season, we need to invest a reasonable contract in him to see if he's the guy long term. I'd rather us keep him if he's taking the next step than go get another OL we have to develop or train in our system. 

 

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2 minutes ago, thanat0s said:

This can't be said enough! If he keeps this up throughout the season, we need to invest a reasonable contract in him to see if he's the guy long term. I'd rather us keep him if he's taking the next step than go get another OL we have to develop or train in our system. 

 

A light switch clicked on for him. Probably cause he knew he was playing for his future. Barring a coklapse I would say that signing him longer is a Rodger dodger. Like you said otherwise the learning curve starts over. He is becoming the stud that we all were hoping for. Dare I say it, troffed?
 

 

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5 minutes ago, thanat0s said:

This can't be said enough! If he keeps this up throughout the season, we need to invest a reasonable contract in him to see if he's the guy long term. I'd rather us keep him if he's taking the next step than go get another OL we have to develop or train in our system. 

 

Honestly, I think he is playing with a chip on his shoulder.  He has to hear the whispers about his play and his draft position.  I hope we can resign him.  We have to pay Lindstrom.  

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