Atlanta Falcons: Jeff Ulbrich deserves a game ball tonight
Atlanta Falcons defense looked as good as ever Thursday night against the Panthers.
The Panthers came into the game against the Atlanta Falcons without a win since these two teams met in Atlanta a few weeks ago. They now have a three-game losing streak and the Falcons improved to 2-1 under Raheem Morris.
When Morris gives away game balls in the locker room tonight, hopefully, he gives one to defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich as he had this defense focused for the first time in years. Sure, they looked good for a half against the Vikings a few weeks ago, but tonight they played a full four quarters of football.
Yes, the tripping play by Dante Fowler Jr was ridiculous and the ejection of Charles Harris was nothing more than embarrassing but otherwise the defense played near-flawless football for most of the night.
Atlanta Falcons stuck to their defensive game plan.
Late in the fourth quarter of nearly every game this season, with the team clinging onto slim leads, the Falcons would go into a prevent defense and ultimately give up the game-winning score. During this process, they completely abandoned the blitzing and pressure that had held offenses in check for three quarters.
Ultimately last week, that is why they allowed the Lions and Matt Stafford to go 76 yards in 60 seconds. Tonight, the Atlanta Falcons stuck to what allowed them to be successful and chase Teddy Bridgewater out of the pocket all night long.
The final three minutes of the game tonight saw the Falcons stay after Bridgewater and make him very uncomfortable and ultimately force him into the game-ending interceptions 30 feet away from the endzone.
dark. Next. Raheem Morris barometer Week 3: Undisciplined play is an embarrassment
Not every win is going to be pretty and this team damn sure needs to start taking care of all the small details they seem to forget on a weekly basis, but for tonight Jeff Ulbrich deserves a game ball as the Falcons enjoy a much needed 10 days off.