Fixing Putrid Pass Rush Must Be Falcons' No. 1 Offseason Priority
Thanks to the sorry state of the NFC South, the 5-8 Atlanta Falcons can still hope to host a playoff game.
Even if the Falcons do win their division, it is difficult to envision this team making any sort of meaningful postseason run. The Falcons proved during Monday Night's 43-37 loss to the Green Bay Packers that their offense can match blows with anyone, but that their defense is a major liability.
The Falcons surged back from a 31-7 halftime deficit to pull within one score by the fourth quarter. Quarterback Matt Ryan blasted the Packers defense for 375 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Julio Jones was responsible for one of those touchdowns and 259 yards.
The offense did nearly everything it needed to to to best the Packers on Monday night. The problem was that when the defense needed to stop Green Bay, it couldn't.
Not being able to stop the run late in the game certainly hurt (Green Bay rushed for 179 yards total), but allowing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense to put up 31 first-half points hurt even worse.
The inability of the Falcons to stop opposing quarterbacks is not a new problem. Atlanta allowed an average of 284.9 yards per game (worst in the league) in 2014 before Monday night. Rodgers and Co. amassed 323 yards net yards against the Falcons.
Rodgers of course, is one of the best quarterbacks in the game, and few teams have been able to contain the Packers offense this season. The concerning fact is that the Falcons have been dominated this year by the likes of Jay Cutler, Andy Dalton and Brian Hoyer.
The reason for this is fairly straightforward. If you give a quarterback time to survey the field, he is likely to find a way to beat you. The Falcons have not been very good at generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
2014 sacks; J. Houston (16.0), E. Dumervil (16.0), J.J. Watt (14.5), #Falcons (14) #NFL #Packers #MNF
- Russell S. Baxter (@BaxFootballGuru) December 8, 2014
The Falcons' one sack on Rodgers Monday night brings the team's season total to 15. No single player on the team has notched more than 3.5 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), only three teams are worse at rushing the passer in 2014.
No team has fewer sacks.
Atlanta took steps to address their ailing run defense (signed free agent Paul Soliai, drafter Ra'sede Hageman) last offseason, but did very little to add to its pass-rushing capabilities.
Aging veteran Osi Umenyiora was brought in two offseasons and produced 7.5 sacks in 2013. Perhaps the Falcons were counting on him to be more productive this season (2.5 sacks so far in 2014), but the results of ignoring the pass rush speak themselves.
For a team that resides in the ultra-competitive NFC, this is a major problem. Therefore, it only makes sense for the decision-makers in Atlanta to make it an offseason priority to find a high-level pass-rusher or two.
The good news is that there might not be a better time for the Falcons to be in the market for sack-artists than this coming offseason.
Guys like Justin Houston, Ndamukong Suh, Jason Pierre-Paul and Jabaal Sheard are scheduled to hit the open market, which could make for a very deep pool of free-agent pass rushers. The Falcons should make a move to acquire at least one player capable of bringing pressure even if the team plans to target a pass-rusher in next year's draft.
The draft, meanwhile, is likely to be chock full of elite pass-rushing prospects, which means that grabbing one in the first or second round (or both) should be another goal for the Falcons. According to Bleacher Report Lead Draft Analyst Matt Miller, pass-rusher may be the deepest position in the entire draft.
Pass rushers. RT @charger_toffee: What is the deepest position for the 2015 draft?
- Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) December 9, 2014
The Falcons should strongly consider targeting the likes of Randy Gregory from Nebraska, Missouri's Shane Ray, Washington's Shaq Thompson and Vic Beasley of Clemson in the first round next year. Trading up may not be a necessity due the the amount of depth in next year's draft, but targeting a pass-rusher is a must.
If the Falcons can begin to fix their defensive problems during the next offseason, there is no reason to believe that this can't be a true contending team (and not just in the NFC South). Fixing the defense must start up front with the pass-rush and it simply isn't going to happen with the players currently on the Falcons roster.
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