The Falcoholic
What a difference a week can make. The Atlanta Falcons are back to .500 after an outpouring of production from the offense. Zac Robinson won’t be allowed up in the booth for the foreseeable future, and this defense gets the quarterback on the ground. Here are the Week 4 snap reactions:
The Falcons are tied for a league-leading eight sacks in the first half of games played. Veterans Kaden Elliss and Leonard Floyd are leading the way, and young players like Zach Harrison are realizing their potential. Atlanta has continued to get to the quarterback with a variety of players in a variety of ways.
Nate Ollie deserves a lot of credit for getting production out of both his starters and second-wave players. The defense would probably like to be generating more pressure overall. It was a quiet day for James Pearce Jr., but Jalon Walker did draw a hold and record a QB hit. While consistent pressure is ideal, sacks end plays, and the Falcons have been effective at converting pressures into sacks.
The first drive of the game looked all too familiar. The Falcons drove the ball down with ease before stumbling and settling for a field goal. Only this time, when Penix came to the sideline, his offensive coordinator would be waiting for him, and the very next drive, the Falcons drove down the field for a touchdown, and that was the theme for the day.
There was a play-action pass out of pistol in the red zone, but the offense’s scheme didn’t fundamentally change; the execution was night and day from what we had seen in the first three weeks. The Falcons had to produce results after the firing of Hilliard and the relocation of Zac Robinson, and they did. It’s too early to say whether today’s success will be sustained, but it is a promising development, at the very least.
This was noticeable last week, but there were bigger fish to fry. This defense has been getting moved in the run game, and teams are starting to catch on. The Commanders were grinding out tough runs and popping off explosive ones; the Falcons also neglected to account for Marcus Mariota’s legs on one particularly costly scramble. One of the pitfalls of the defensive fronts’ get vertical’ approach is that it is susceptible to gap schemes, which can exploit how this defensive front wants to operate.
Offensive lines use angles and momentum to create lanes off the line’s aggressive approach. The line will need to be more disciplined with gap integrity and not running themselves out of plays. Jeff Ulbrich also needs to consider using Devine Deablo as a QB spy more often.
Michael Penix Jr. bounced back and played a nearly flawless game outside of one aggressive interception. Drake London finally broke out of his slump and made big-time plays for the offense. Bijan Robinson is...
