For years, A.J. Terrell has been the anchor of the Atlanta Falcons' secondary, but he's finally trending in the wrong direction. The sixth-year cornerback was locking WR1's down earlier this season, but has been exposed by two of the best receivers in the NFL across the last two games for the Falcons.
Terrell surrendered two touchdowns and a season-high 81 receiving yards when in coverage against Jaxon Smith-Njigba in Week 14, and Week 15 was worse. The 27-year-old was targeted five times, which resulted in four catches for 56 yards which mostly came courtesy of Bucs' wideout Mike Evans.
Yes, Evans is one of the best receivers in the NFL, but he missed their last seven games due to a broken clavicle. Yet he was still able to go over 100 receiving yards on primetime by catching six passes for 132 yards while drawing coverage from Terrell and undrafted rookie Cobee Bryant.
A.J. Terrell has been a massive liability for the Falcons' defense
The Clemson product kept Evans in check when the two teams matched up back in Week 1, but an injury to Mike Hughes forced Jeff Ulbrich to move him around the formation to cover first-round rookie Emeka Egbuka as well as Evans against a healthy-at-last Tampa Bay receiver room.
However, a Bucs' collapse resulted in a hilarious Falcons' comeback win, but Terrell certainly wasn't the reason Atlanta reigned victorious.
While his lackluster pass coverage left a lot to be desired, it wasn't even his biggest issue. While the Falcons were called for a franchise record 19 penalties, the All-Pro cornerback was responsible for five of those flags, and Tampa Bay only accepted two of those calls.
Terrell was flagged three times for defensive holding, once for illegal contact, and once for pass interference, which saw the Atlanta defense struggle. He entered last week yet to allow a touchdown , but has turned into a complete traffic cone amid what many deemed the worst game of his career.
According to Pro Football Focus, Terrell's 29.0 PFF grade and 27.8 coverage grade both marked season-lows, which is pathetic given he logged a 31.0 PFF grade and 40.7 coverage grade against the Seahawks last weekend. And these last two weeks are certainly the lowest point of his career.
Something worth noting is that the Hughes injury affected the game plan, but that doesn't excuse the fact the Falcons' secondary has gotten worse throughout the season. Fans finally got the offensive performance they were waiting for, but it took an implosion from their best defender to get there.