The Falcoholic
The impending return of linebacker Divine Deablo could do wonders to revive a struggling Atlanta Falcons defense. Such a resurrection should help the Falcons snap their five-game losing streak this weekend against the New Orleans Saints, in the hopes of reversing the downward spiral that is the 2025 Falcons season.
Deablo suffered a broken forearm early in the Falcons’ Week 7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, prompting him to miss the better part of five games. That absence has sparked a massive production downturn for the Falcons over the past month.
During the Falcons’ first five games with a healthy Deablo in the lineup, the defense ranked fifth in expected points added (EPA) allowed per play, according to the website Running Backs Don’t Matter. Since then, the defense ranks 27th. That drop in performance has been directly due to a decline in the team’s pass defense, since the Falcons’ run defense was already on the struggle bus before Deablo’s injury. The team’s EPA allowed per dropback with Deablo in the lineup ranked fifth, also, but 25th since. According to TruMedia, cited in a recent Locked On Falcons podcast, opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 76.7 with Deablo on the field versus 111.2 without him.
Clearly, the Falcons sported one of the NFL’s most dangerous defenses with a healthy Deablo earlier this season, and expectations are that it’ll return to that level for a stretch run in which the team will face some of the NFL’s top passing attacks. That won’t be the case this Sunday against the Saints, but subsequent opponents like the Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, and even the Arizona Cardinals sport passing attacks that rank in the upper half of the NFL in EPA per dropback. Restoring an elite pass defense could give the struggling Falcons a chance to compete against those teams and others during the final seven games, with quarterback Kirk Cousins back at the helm.
As the Falcons’ defense has slumped with Deablo out of the lineup, the team’s offense has also flopped with Cousins under center. Cousins has stepped in for Penix thus far on 18 offensive series, with the team scoring a total of 16 points (three field goals, one touchdown). That means the Falcons’ scoring rate is 22 percent, and they’re averaging 0.9 points per drive with Cousins under center. That puts them firmly at the bottom of the NFL’s scoring offense, with the Cleveland Browns’ scoring rate of 26 percent and the Tennessee Titans’ 1.1 points per drive currently ranking last according to Pro Football Reference. Those figures represent a massive dropoff from 2024, when the predominantly Cousins-led Falcons offense ranked 15th in scoring rate and 14th in points per drive.
Perhaps with Cousins getting more practice reps in the coming weeks, it will lead to another resurrection on that side of...
