With James Pearce Jr. facing an eight-game suspension and Jalon Walker out for the season after tearing his ACL, the Atlanta Falcons' pass-rush looked awfully thin. And since the in-house options weren't going to cut it, the Falcons signed Za'Darius Smith just weeks before the season started.
But not only did the Falcons sign the three-time Pro Bowler, they signed him out of retirement after he called it quits midway through 2025. He spent the last few weeks in his acclimation process and re-adjusting to NFL life, but based on Smith's performance in Atlanta's season opener, you wouldn't know they signed him off the street or that he was dealing with a shoulder injury this past week.
In the Falcons' 20-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the pass-rush held its own--and Smith was the main reason why. He notched two sacks of his former teammate Aaron Rodgers on just 16 defensive snaps (23.9% snap share), so even in limited role, he made a major impact on this defensive line.
Za'Darius Smith has been everything the Falcons expected and then some
Kevin Stefanski knew Za'Darius Smith well from their overlapping time in Cleveland together, so he went out on a limb because he knows the type of player (and person) he is. And he realized that Cameron Thomas, Samson Ebukam, and Jared Ivey (plus Brandon Dorlus) wouldn't cut it at EDGE.
I know most Falcons fans were hoping he would making an instant impact, but nobody was expecting it to play out the way it did. He's currently tied with five other players (including Aidan Hutchinson and TJ Watt) for the league lead and sacks, and I know that it's only one week but that's very impressive.
The story is incredible. This is a 34-year-old pass-rusher who only retired because of some horrible personal circumstancs. He did so to spend time with his terminally ill mother, who later passed away, and then he later lost his father and grandfather, so Smith admitted he was in a pretty dark place.
He admitted he never wanted to retire, so he was itching to return to the field when he was able to--and made the most of it. He was the most impactful pass-rusher who took the field for Atlanta in this matchup, and he proved that age is just a number and he can still get to the QB with the best of them.
The good news here is that once Pearce returns, the Dirty Birds will have two stud pass-rushers that can wreak havoc on an opposing backfield--plus Brandon Dorlus and Gervon Dexter inside. So as long as Smith keeps up this level of production, that's a four-man front that'll be hard to contain.
Za'Darius Smith turned back the clock with a two-sack effort in the Falcons' Week 1 loss, and even though he didn't see the field a ton, he still proved that he was everything this edge room was desperately searching for.
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