The Atlanta Falcons were given the unique opportunity to play in primetime against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, and their dominant effort is finally bringing attention.
Their defense was able to dominate Kevin O'Connell's offense—no easy feat. They forced four turnovers, sacked J.J. McCarthy six times, and only allowed six points. And this all came a week after they did a fairly good job against the Buccaneers' offense.
ESPN Insider Dan Graziano is one of many to take note, saying he has completely changed his tune about Jeff Ulbrich's unit.
Dan Graziano is quickly believing in the Atlanta Falcons' defense
It is impressive what the Atlanta Falcons have done on defense through two weeks. They made Baker Mayfield look bad for most of the Week 1 game and made J.J. McCarthy look terrible in his home debut.
And they are doing it with four rookies leading the charge, something that is reminiscent of the 2016 Super Bowl team.
In a weekly piece done by Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, they were asked, "What is one thing you have changed your mind about since the start of the season?" Graziano immediately pointed to the Falcons' defense.
Graziano mentioned how Jeff Ulbrich told him, "I wouldn't want to play us the first couple of weeks of the season" during training camp. And right now, his assessment was spot on.
It is interesting that Ulbrich would say "the first couple of weeks." It points to the trust he has in the team's 2025 draft class. They knew they had to rely on four rookies, and to think they could come out of the gate with this type of impact is incredible.
It often takes a year or more for players to get fully comfortable, especially at edge rusher and defensive back—two of the hardest positions. Yet the maturity that James Pearce Jr., Jalon Walker, Xavier Watts, and Billy Bowman Jr. are showing is rare.
Without those four guys, the Falcons probably wouldn't have won their Week 2 game. Both edge rushers got to he quarterback, while both defensive backs picked off their first NFL pass.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, this has the same feel as the 2016 Super Bowl team. Dan Quinn's unit relied on four rookies, Keanu Neal, Deion Jones, De'Vondre Campbell, and Brian Poole. Unfortunately, it is unlikely they will find the same success on offense—Kyle Shanahan isn't walking through the door anytime soon (which is probably a good thing).
However, the unit's test will come in Week 3 against Bryce Young and the Panthers. And with Carolina missing two starting lineman in Austin Corbett and Robert Hunt, expect the pass rush to shine once again.