Three takeaways from the first half of the Atlanta Falcons season

The Atlanta Falcons have never had a consistent defense in the Matt Ryan era.

Over the last two seasons especially, the defense has looked either great or terrible, there has been no in-between. It is actually pretty shocking how inconsistent the defense was under Dan Quinn during his tenure.

There would stretches of games where the defense wouldn’t be able to stop anyone, and then those games would be followed by stretches of the defense looking dominant.

So far this season, it has been the same story. The defense looked absolutely terrible through the first five games of the season, then the Atlanta Falcons fired Dan Quinn, and moved Morris to head coach and Jeff Ulbrich to defensive coordinator.

Since those changes, the defense has looked exceptionally better. It just doesn’t make any sense as to why the defense can’t perform at the same level consistently, regardless of who is coaching. Yes, most great defensives struggle at times, but to be this inconsistent over a six-season stretch is ridiculous.

Looking at the rest of the season and into 2021, the defense has to play better and more consistently for this team to accomplish anything.

The defense stepped up towards the end of 2016, and it brought the team to the Super Bowl. The defense stepped up on numerous occasions in 2017, and the team made it to the NFC Divisional Round.

If the Atlanta Falcons want to make it back to the post-season in 2021, the defense has to continue to play like they have over the last four games.