It took one half for Cobee Bryant to make Falcons fans' worst fear come true

With Mike Hughes sidelined, the Atlanta Falcons' secondary has suffered once again. At halftime, the Falcons are tied with the Arizona Cardinals 16-16, which is in spite of the pass defense. A.J. Terrell has been horrible, and the lack of depth in the secondary certainly hasn't made his job any easier.

Hughes suffered a sprained ankle last week against the Bucs, which saw them turn to rookie corner Cobee Bryant in his absence. Unfortunately, Bryant struggled in containing Mike Evans last week and has struggled once again, as Michael Wilson mossed him on a beautiful 32-yard touchdown catch.

In hindsight, it was hard to play that better than the 24-year-old did, especially given Wilson is one of the bigger X receivers in football. But this is exactly why Evans gave him problems last Thursday night on primetime, because he doesn't have the size or ball skills to keep up with the best of the best.

Falcons benched Cobee Bryant at halftime in favor of C.J. Henderson

Things got so bad that DC Jeff Ulbrich opted to bench the undrafted free agent in favor of former first-round draft bust C.J. Henderson. There were high hopes for Bryant with the Dirty Birds after an impressive summer, but his first half performance was proof he's still very much a work in progress.

The Kansas product was promoted from the practice squad a few weeks back, but was permanently signed to the active roster prior to the Week 12 matchup with the Saints. But with Hughes and Billy Bowman Jr. sidelined, the Falcons have no choice but to trust their youngster to play a pivotal role.

As for Henderson, he hasn't appeared in-game since the 2023 season, which is an unfortunate development for Bryant. He was only promoted to the active roster yesterday after spending the season on the practice squad, which is a testament to their desperation for difference-makers at CB.

In coverage on Wilson, the All-Big 12 cornerback surrendered two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown in one half, which is genuinely pathetic. You would expect there to be growing pains in his first real taste of NFL action, but it's starting to become a massive liability to Ulbrich and this defense.

While Kirk Cousins has thrown two touchdowns amid an up-and-down opening half, it's came with the same story as last week. Dismal cornerback play has wasted another offensive performance, which both Terrell and Bryant are primarily at fault for. Here's hoping they adjust to open the second half.

Fans were expecting him to thrive after being entrusted with the expanded role. but unfortunately, he and the defense let them down against a pass-happy Arizona offense.