Atlanta Falcons Defense Looked Atrocious Versus the Vikings
Coming into this game, it appears the Falcons were visiting the Minnesota Vikings at the best time to get an easy win. Adrian Peterson is out with legal issues, Teddy Bridgewater was making his first start as a true rookie in the NFL, and the Vikings lost their starting middle linebacker Chad Conway to injury. It just felt like a lot of misfortune for the Vikings would lead to a Falcons win.
Not so fast my friend.
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The Vikings offense was clicking on all cylinders which may become a re-occurring thing for offenses facing Atlanta’s defense this season.
Teddy Bridgewater went 19/30 for 317 yards and a rushing touchdown. Jarius Wright set the Falcons secondary on fine to the tune of 8 receptions for 132 yards making big play after big play. In addition to the passing game being efficient their running game got a boost from rookie Jerick McKinnon who had 18 rushing attempts for 135 yards. His backfield counterpart Matt Asiata had three rushing touchdowns.
It was pretty ugly for the Falcons defense.
“It was bad. They did whatever they wanted to on offense,” Mike Smith
How did the Falcons pass rush fare against the rookie quarterback? Well the pass rush that we were told would come from numerous players actually came from none of the players. Bridgewater stood in a clean pocket the entire game as the Falcons failed to register a sack in a game for the third time this season. That stat sounds worse when it is stated the Falcons have only registered sacks in 1 of their 4 contest this year. Ouch! Right now the pass rush is non-existent. I’m not even sure if it will get any better this season. We just simply cannot pressure the passer. Even when we blitzed against the Vikings we failed to rattle the rookie Quarterback. This has to be worry-some for the dirty birds.
The Falcons defensive performance was just awful. Not one player stood out. No pass rush, no turnovers, no big hits this was one of the worst performances by a defense under Mike Nolan that I have ever seen. Last time they had a bad game in Cincinnati they didn’t look at the film. Well, they need to watch this film. They need to see that they laid an egg for all of the NFL to see.
This defense just does not put any fear in opponent’s offenses. Teams feel that they can do what they want to against them. There are no big hitters, there are not pass rushers, there are no playmakers. They have to turn things around real fast or they will be the reason the Falcons are sitting at home in January.
How do you feel about the Falcons defense? What changes need to be made? Please comment below to join the discussion.