After losing to only field goals in week 1, the Falcons got back on the right track in week 2 winning a stunner in Philadelphia. Since we’ve seen this offense and defense in action over two weeks, let’s grade aspects of both sides of the ball.
Atlanta Falcons fans everywhere are still riding high off their Week 2 win against a tough Philadelphia Eagles team. After losing what many thought would be a straightforward winning game against the Steelers at home, fans and experts alike didn’t have high hopes for Atlanta heading into one of the most hostile environments in the NFL. This, coupled with our franchise quarterback’s current primetime record, all the factors were working against the Falcons leading into week 2.
To a great deal of surprise, the Falcons stole a win on the road and now head into week 3 on the highest of notes. Led by Kirk Cousins, the Falcons pulled off an improbable 70-yard touchdown drive to stun the Eagles at home.
Throughout the first half and beginning of the second, the Falcons failed to capitalize on touchdown opportunities, as their first three scores were field goals. During majority of the second half, especially the final drive, the offense found their rhythm and moved the ball how we expected them to coming into the year. While it took a final fourth quarter touchdown drive to ultimately win the game, the Falcons improved tremendously from their disastrous home opener. As Atlanta’s much anticipated Week 3 matchup against the Chiefs approaches, let’s grade how well (or poorly) different aspects of this team are performing thus far.
Defense
Secondary: B+
Before the season, the Falcons’ secondary hype was through the roof, mainly due to the acquisition of safety Justin Simmons in free agency, and the finalizing of A.J. Terrell’s four-year, $81,000,000 contract extension that keeps him in Atlanta through 2028. With proven talent across the board, this secondary was shaping up to be one of the best in the league. So far through two weeks, I believe this secondary has at least met expectations, and they should continue to get better as the year progresses.
They currently rank in the top 10, sitting at seventh for passing yards allowed with a meager 156 passing yards per game. While they’ve played Justin Fields and Jalen Hurts so far, two quarterbacks that are more so praised for their dual threat ability than their pure passing production, both are talented quarterbacks and Hurts threw for nearly 300 yards in Week 1 before being limited to 183 against Atlanta. This next stretch of quarterbacks will only challenge them even more, facing the seemingly always accurate Patrick Mahomes, a very effective and confident Derek Carr, and arguably the most improved quarterback over the past two years in Baker Mayfield.
Simmons and Jessie Bates have largely patrolled the deep zones, and I imagine this duo will generate more turnovers as they get more comfortable in this defense. Terrell, on the other hand, has given up a couple of sizable plays to George Pickens and Devonta Smith. We’d like to see him play much tighter coverage in the coming weeks, especially when he lines up against Mike Evans in week four, a receiver he’s had trouble locking down since his rookie year. The ability is there.
Pass Rush: C
The Falcons pass rush has been pretty average through the first two weeks. The acquisition of Matthew Judon has already been paying dividends, as he’s been a force coming off the edge. Grady Jarrett also hasn’t missed a beat coming off a season ending injury from a year ago, already having 1.5 sacks and 6 quarterback hits. While the stats look decent heading into week 3, the pass rush seems a bit inconsistent.
The Falcons haven’t blitzed much so far, typically rushing four and blanketing the field on the back end, but when the team does, the blitzes don’t seem to get home as fast as they should. Several times in Week 2, the Falcons sent five defenders after Hurts and he still had three to four seconds to survey the field, which is all the time a quality quarterback needs to punish a defense even with a diminished receiving corps.
What also needs improvement is the containment. While we did face dual threat quarterbacks in back to back weeks, too many times it seemed like Hurts and Fields got outside the pocket and either ran for chunk plays, or bought time by scrambling and finding an open receiver downfield. With several veteran pass rushers on this team, rushing lanes and contain assignments should be very precise and well-executed. Facing Patrick Mahomes in week 3 will only challenge this pass rush even more, with Mahomes’ ability to make something out of nothing at the drop of a hat.
Run Defense: C+
Much like the pass rush, the run defense has been average at best. While the Falcons haven’t gave up any big touchdown runs, running backs and quarterbacks have routinely exploited the teams interior. The Eagles especially frequently opened holes inside, with a guard quickly chipping our defensive tackles and easily making his way to the second level to take a linebacker out of the play. Barkley benefited from these holes all game in week 2, finishing with 95 yards on 4.3 yards per carry, while Hurts also hurt them badly.
On several possessions, the Eagles methodically marched down the field using their rushing attack, and consistently picked up five to six yards a carry each run. If Atlanta wants to contend, they have to be able to shut down the run early and often, as it’ll lead to more long yardage downs and more stops for a defense that will need them.
Offense
Rushing Attack & Run Blocking: A-
This aspect of the team is arguably the most improved from last season. The Falcons are running the ball a lot more effectively through these first two games, and are utilizing different run schemes and formations to get the most out of our backs. While it’s still early, Bijan Robinson is sitting at 5.2 yards per carry, a .6 jump from his 4.6 yards per carry he finished with last season. He did start off with a 6.2 yards per carry average through the first two games of 2023; however a lack of variation in run play calling and the collapse of the passing game led to some inconsistent efforts for Robinson in later weeks, which dropped his average.
As far as Tyler Allgeier goes, his efficiency is significantly up from last season, averaging 6.2 yards per carry compared to his 3.7 he finished with in 2023. What has decreased is his touches, as he’s carried the ball only 12 times this year compared to his 31 carries through two weeks a year ago. For Falcons fans like me who are familiar with the talent Allgeier possesses, we’d like to see his role within this offense elevated. At least he has made the most of his touches so far.
The run blocking has, unsurprisingly, been extremely effective aside from some hiccups against Pittsburgh. With Zac Robinson at the helm of this offense, it seems like developing this run scheme was a key focus over the offseason and it’s producing positive results early on.
Passing Attack: B
Gone are the days of holding our breath every time the ball leaves our quarterback’s hands. Gone are the days of shaking our heads watching the offense jog back to the sideline after yet another failed third down pass play. Gone are the days of forcing throws into triple coverage because the first and second read wasn’t open. Falcons fans we might finally be free from the shackles of quarterback purgatory. I’d be mistaken if I said this passing game didn’t have a rough start, but it seems like they may have found their groove.
In the home opener, Kirk Cousins made a handful of great plays, dialing up several passes that netted 15 or more yards. However, he also committed some costly turnovers that we frankly haven’t seen from him much over the past few seasons. He also looked pretty immobile, especially when it came to the play action, leading fans to think he wasn’t 100% healthy.
He mostly dispelled those rumors, getting his top targets Darnell Mooney and Drake London involved and picking apart the Eagles secondary with several deep throws in Week 2, including a 41 yard pass to Mooney to give Atlanta the lead. While it hasn’t always been pretty, this passing attack is significantly better than the past two seasons and hopefully will only get better with time. I like the way this pass game is trending and I think if they could get Kyle Pitts a little more involved and Cousins starting a little faster, they’ll unlock even better results.
Pass Protection: B-
Last but not least, it’s pass protection. At times Cousins has looked like the most well protected quarterback in the league, and at others, it seems like he’s getting hit as soon as he drops back. Cousins has only been sacked three times, which is quite a small total compared to Gardner Minshew and Caleb Williams nine times, however he’s right outside the top 10 for knockdowns taken with six. The Steelers also had a pair of would-be sacks by T.J. Watt, but they were called back due to penalties. Getting hit as a quarterback is sometimes inevitable, however you can’t help but think what kind of strain these hits are having on the body of a 36-year-old, 13 year veteran who’s coming fresh off an Achilles tear.
Cousins also doesn’t particularly take deep drop backs and is far from the most mobile quarterback in the league, which could make it appear that defensive lineman are getting to him quicker than they should. Despite this, he’s historically been comfortable in the pocket and has delivered some great passes after taking big hits, something we’ve already seen him do in these first two games. Given the massive improvement in pass protection in Week 2, I’m grading them higher here. The Eagles didn’t blitz much and their initial four man rush wasn’t getting home quickly enough to arise concern, but I imagine this could change when the Falcons face the likes of Chris Jones and Cameron Jordan in the next two weeks.
We’ll see how well the line continues to hold up through the season. How would you grade the Falcons on both sides of the ball?