Atlanta Falcons: The One Bright Spot on the Defense

There was one bright spot for the Atlanta Falcon defense on Sunday after giving up 41 points to rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and allowing a pair of packs to gash them for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns, neither named Adrian Peterson.

Cordarrelle Paterson had a measly 2 catches for 38 yards however Jarius Wright had 8 catches for 135 yards.

Coach Mike Smith stated in the post game conference that the Vikings pretty much did whatever they wanted to against his defense. If the Falcons were to take any positives away from a dismal defensive performance when they watch the film it will be the fact that Kemal Ishmael came to play.

Ishmael entered the game after William Moore went down with a shoulder injury and played exceptionally well. He totaled 7 tackles which is not a huge number but the film shows that he was in the right place at the right time and did not miss tackles. In fact, he was by far the hardest hitter on the field for the Falcons.

The Dirty Birds may have something in this kid. After being drafted in the seventh round in 2013, it seems as if he developed into his potential that the scouts saw. So far in 2014, he has one pick and 16 tackles, and seems as if he is always making sure that runners do not get any extra yards once making contact.

On a day when not much went right for the Atlanta Falcons on defense, they can find some solace that while William Moore has been placed in the IR designated to return list, Kemal Ishmael is more than capable of holding down the strong safety position.

How do you think Kemal played on Sunday? Will he be able to fill the shoes of William Moore?