Still need to pump the breaks on the Atlanta Falcons defense

The most shocking thing for the Atlanta Falcons during the first few weeks has been the defense outplaying the offense.

With Arthur Smith coming in many expected an uptick in production for the offense immediately, that has not been the case one bit.

The defense has been up and down but they have been more consistent than the other side of the ball, not to mention the fact that the only reason for the Falcons winning their first game was the defense. 

With that being said, it is way too early to call them good, and it might be a few weeks before we can definitively say what they are.

The Falcons defense has not shown enough to call them great just yet.

To reiterate it, the only reason Atlanta has a single win on the year lies solely on the defense — they stepped up big time. There is no argument to that fact, scoring 17-points for this offense is inexcusable.

This does not mean that fans can trust this same unit week in and week out. The Giant’s offense was decimated, they had numerous injuries during play, it was not the biggest test for the unit.

The week before when they took on the Buccaneers, they played awful to start the game. They looked like they had no players on the field to even challenge Tom Brady. They settled in after, they were able to get numerous stops on the high-powered offense. It is still concerning to think about what they looked like at first.

When you look to the future, the defense will not have a big challenge prior to the bye week. They take on Washington and the New York Jets.

Washington is not exactly known for their offense — especially after losing Ryan Fitzpatrick. Taylor Heinicke is simply too inconsistent, one week he plays great, the next he will show why he is not a constant starter.

The New York Jets are, well, the New York Jets — they are absolutely awful.

Their offense has yet to score more than 14 points on the season, and in the last two games, they have scored six points combined. Their rookie quarterback is not playing well, he gets no help, the team is simply horrible.

So the moral of the story, do not call Atlanta’s defense great just yet. It might take a few weeks to see what they really are. They should be able to dominate two struggling offenses before the bye week, however.