Falcons defense led NFL in two major stats during preseason

There will always be the debate about how much stock can be put into the NFL preseason. It is a time when half of the roster is auditioning for a roster spot which means the best players are not on the field for a majority of the time.

However, for those of you who think it means something, you will be glad to hear that the Atlanta Falcons had one of the best preseason defenses in the entire NFL—maybe even the best, according to two significant stats.

The Atlanta Falcons had some promising defensive stats during the preseason

With so many advanced statistics and analytics, it can be hard to discern a good defense from a bad defense on paper. With that being said, there is one stat that says everything—points allowed per game. During the NFL preseason, no NFC team allowed fewer points per game than the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons defense allowed just 13.3 points per game during the 2023 preseason, which is the fewest in the NFC.

That does say something because the Falcons did not play their starters almost at all. These were the backups that were stepping up and making plays. The other factor of this is that most of those points came against the Steelers starting offense who diced up the backups.

The other impressive stat is that the Falcons were the only team to allow zero passing touchdowns in the preseason.

Putting stock into preseason numbers is a lot easier on the defensive side of the ball. Energy and effort are what drive good defenses, so it appears like this is a different unit for the Falcons.

Obviously, we will have to wait just under two weeks to know for sure, but things are looking up for the Atlanta Falcons.