Atlanta's Defense

[JMC00]

Don't get me wrong, NE played a good game two years ago in the super bowl, but Seattle's defense didn't lose them that game. Their decision to throw it on 1st and goal from the 1 yard line

Oh Seattle's defense absolutely lost them that game. They just got bailed out by Kearse making a ridiculous catch and the whole not running it thing.

A defense that was talked up like they have been for the last 4 years can't be having a 24-14 lead with 10 minutes to go and allow 2 TD drives of 70 yards

 

[yopats]

Mike Lombardi on Seattle's Def

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

In every single traditional statistic rate, the Falcons have become a better defense since the Week 11 bye week. They are allowing fewer yards, scores, and first downs on a per-play basis, not to mention generating stops and turnovers. Overall, they seem to be trending in the right direction

 

[FourierSeries]

In every single traditional statistic rate, the Falcons have become a better defense since the Week 11 bye week. They are allowing fewer yards, scores, and first downs on a per-play basis, not to mention generating stops and turnovers.

They seem to be trending in the right direction

So were Houston and Pittsburgh. Hell, so is NE.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Not buying it.
Those numbers don't show improvement as much as they show half the games were against LA SF and a Carolina team that checked out.

Can't have your cake and eat it, too. You've been the king of "Points allowed is the only thing that matters! The NE defense can only play the teams in front of them! Etc.!" when it comes to discussions of the NE defense. Try picking a side of your argument and sticking with it, please.

 

[Ring 6]

Can't have your cake and eat it, too. You've been the king of "Points allowed is the only thing that matters! The NE defense can only play the teams in front of them! Etc.!" when it comes to discussions of the NE defense. Try picking a side of your argument and sticking with it, please.

My argument is consistent.
The Patriot defense has played well all season long.
The Falcon defense has played poorly all season long, but had a couple of games that they played better against poor teams.
Cherry picking those games vs AN ENTIRE SEASON is not the same thing.

If the Patriot defense sucked but played well vs SF, LA and Carolina after they had given up, I would not be using those 3 games to diminish what happened on the field in the other 15.

 

[Kid~Brady]

"Average" is generous.

Same thing I was thinking.

 

[Kid~Brady]

Defense wins championships.

 

[yopats]

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

In every single traditional statistic rate, the Falcons have become a better defense since the Week 11 bye week. They are allowing fewer yards, scores, and first downs on a per-play basis, not to mention generating stops and turnovers. Overall, they seem to be trending in the right direction

Howe sums up how I feel perfectly.

Falcons defense has some great pieces. Mostly young and unfortunately their best defender in Tru is out.

I thought Seattle's secondary would explode and if Falcons add another guy or two they will too. In 2018-19.

Their defense is capable but I really don't see them being able to put anything "new" together being so young and not a ton of chemistry.

When the bullets fly their reverting back to what they know best. Unfortunately for them Brady could teach that collective defense a thing or two about what they don't know and surely will see next Sunday.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Brady in a dome/retract is dominant.

20 games
68% comp
270ypg
42 TDs
104+ Qb rating

 

[EddardSnow67]

Total disagree. A prevent D is designed to stop the quick score. The over the top 50 yard bomb. When you are up 20+ points on a team going into the 4th quarter the number one thing is don't get beat deep. The under stuff is open all day. Atlanta D ranking by Quarters
1st Q 10th
2nd Q 17th
3rd Q 11th
4th Q 31st
So the 27th ranked D is very misleading is all we are saying.

You literally just repeated what he said.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

NFL1000: Tom Brady's Experience, Play-Calling Give Patriots Big Super Bowl Edge

[Click Here For Full Entry]

Some have opined that Brady won't have as easy a time against Atlanta's defense for a number of reasons. The Falcons are faster and more athletic than the Steelers, they play more aggressive press coverage at the line in both man and zone defenses, and they like to knock receivers off their point from the first step.

These things are all true. However, you may remember Super Bowl XLIX, when the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks. Quinn was Seattle's defensive coordinator at the time, and his modus operandi was similar—the Seahawks are notoriously aggressive, especially at the line of scrimmage. The Patriots countered this with quick angle routes. They're the best option-route team in the NFL, because their receivers so perfectly understand how to take a defender's leverage and use it against him.

Edelman and Amendola each caught touchdown passes in the second half of Super Bowl XLIX by abusing Seattle's aggressive cornerbacks with quick angles against leverage.

And it's something the Falcons need to worry about, because as good as their defense is at covering space in a big hurry, their young defensive backs are still learning how to avoid getting faked out by the first steps of more experienced receivers. We saw this on the first two Packers touchdown passes, and even though they meant little in the scope of the game, they play perfectly into the Patriots' hands.

None of this is to say that Atlanta's defense doesn't have a chance—it's in a good position to test Brady in ways he doesn't like, especially with pressure up the middle. But this is a quarterback who has feasted on young defenders for years, and given McDaniels' implicit understanding of schematic advantage, Atlanta's defenders will have to grow up in a big hurry.​

 

[JMC00]

lol the side twitter feed. Zolak saying the two 2-6 98.5 douchebags are talking the Falcons up like they are the '85 Bears. Not surprising at all.

 

[patriot1136]

Respect the clock, run the ball!

 

[mgcolby]

Their defense reminds me a lot of the 2011 Pats defense. As are a lot of the excuses for the poor yardage, playing with leads, garbage time etc... The 2011 team caused 34 turnovers, Atlanta has caused 22. NE allowed 21.4PPG Atlanta is giving up 25.4. Atlanta is the worst red zone defense in the league allowing TD's 72.13 percent of the time....let that sink in....nearly 3 out 4 red zone trips by their opponents result in a TD. That is insane!

They are going up against the 3rd highest scoring team in the league, in 2011 we went up against the 9th ranked offense averaging 24.5 PPG and we could not get a stop when it mattered. And allowed them to score slightly below their season average.

Lots of talk about points allowed in the 4th quarter by Atlanta apologists. Well if you give up a lot of garbage time points in the 4th quarter then what gives them confidence that they can get a late stop if needed, with the game on the line?.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Their defense reminds me a lot of the 2011 Pats defense. As are a lot of the excuses for the poor yardage, playing with leads, garbage time etc... The 2011 team caused 34 turnovers, Atlanta has caused 22. NE allowed 21.4PPG Atlanta is giving up 25.4. Atlanta is the worst red zone defense in the league allowing TD's 72.13 percent of the time....let that sink in....nearly 3 out 4 red zone trips by their opponents result in a TD. That is insane!

I agree with most of what you're saying. But the Falcons defense is playing significantly better than their season rankings. To get a sense of the level where they are playing now, just compare their numbers before/after their Week 11 bye:

Pre-bye (10 games)
- 28.3 points allowed
- 385.9 yards allowed
- 6.58 Pass Yd/Att
- 11 turnovers (1.1 per game)

Post-bye (8 games)
- 20.5 points allowed
- 344.5 yards allowed
- 6.13 Pass Yd/Att
- 15 turnovers (1.9 per game)

Since the Nov. 20 bye week and into the postseason, they have won seven of their last eight games, and allowed 21 or fewer points six of those eight outings. In that stretch of eight games, Atlanta has also forced 15 turnovers?—?four more than it managed over the first 10 weeks of the regular season. The post-bye 1.9 turnover rate would place them in the top-5 for the season had they maintained that pace all year, their yards allowed would put them in the top-16, and their points allowed per game would have them inside the top-12, above the league defensive average for 2016 (22.84 points allowed per game).

Also, from Week 1 to Week 9, the Falcons were 23rd in pass defense DVOA; but from that point on, they were 11th (ending at 19th on the season) and their defensive passer rating had fallen from nearly 101 to under 78.

The only area where they have regressed is their run defense (going from
4.16 Rush Yd/Att to 5.17!) Part of this may be due to sitting back in coverage more and taking away opposing passing games, which allows running backs to carve up short yardage easier.

But by the same token, New England has also outscored in opponents and protected late leads while playing prevent....but we are still ranked the #3 Run D

 

[FourierSeries]

I agree with most of what you're saying. But the Falcons defense is playing significantly better than their season rankings. To get a sense of the level where they are playing now, just compare their numbers before/after their Week 11 bye:

Pre-bye (10 games)
- 28.3 points allowed
- 385.9 yards allowed
- 6.58 Pass Yd/Att
- 11 turnovers (1.1 per game)

Post-bye (8 games)
- 20.5 points allowed
- 344.5 yards allowed
- 6.13 Pass Yd/Att
- 15 turnovers (1.9 per game)

Since the Nov. 20 bye week and into the postseason, they have won seven of their last eight games, and allowed 21 or fewer points six of those eight outings. In that stretch of eight games, Atlanta has also forced 15 turnovers?—?four more than it managed over the first 10 weeks of the regular season. The post-bye 1.9 turnover rate would place them in the top-5 for the season had they maintained that pace all year, their yards allowed would put them in the top-16, and their points allowed per game would have them inside the top-12, above the league defensive average for 2016 (22.84 points allowed per game).

Also, from Week 1 to Week 9, the Falcons were 23rd in pass defense DVOA; but from that point on, they were 11th (ending at 19th on the season) and their defensive passer rating had fallen from nearly 101 to under 78.

The only area where they have regressed is their run defense (going from
4.16 Rush Yd/Att to 5.17!) Part of this may be due to sitting back in coverage more and taking away opposing passing games, which allows running backs to carve up short yardage easier.

But by the same token, New England has also outscored in opponents and protected late leads while playing prevent....but we are still ranked the #3 Run D

What teams don't get better towards the end of the season? Barring injury, every team will improve as the season goes on. Even the Browns did, as they finally got a win in week 16.

Those numbers still aren't very impressive given their level of opponents.

 

[mgcolby]

I agree with most of what you're saying. But the Falcons defense is playing significantly better than their season rankings. To get a sense of the level where they are playing now, just compare their numbers before/after their Week 11 bye:

Pre-bye (10 games)
- 28.3 points allowed
- 385.9 yards allowed
- 6.58 Pass Yd/Att
- 11 turnovers (1.1 per game)

Post-bye (8 games)
- 20.5 points allowed
- 344.5 yards allowed
- 6.13 Pass Yd/Att
- 15 turnovers (1.9 per game)

Since the Nov. 20 bye week and into the postseason, they have won seven of their last eight games, and allowed 21 or fewer points six of those eight outings. In that stretch of eight games, Atlanta has also forced 15 turnovers?—?four more than it managed over the first 10 weeks of the regular season. The post-bye 1.9 turnover rate would place them in the top-5 for the season had they maintained that pace all year, their yards allowed would put them in the top-16, and their points allowed per game would have them inside the top-12, above the league defensive average for 2016 (22.84 points allowed per game).

Also, from Week 1 to Week 9, the Falcons were 23rd in pass defense DVOA; but from that point on, they were 11th (ending at 19th on the season) and their defensive passer rating had fallen from nearly 101 to under 78.

The only area where they have regressed is their run defense (going from
4.16 Rush Yd/Att to 5.17!) Part of this may be due to sitting back in coverage more and taking away opposing passing games, which allows running backs to carve up short yardage easier.

But by the same token, New England has also outscored in opponents and protected late leads while playing prevent....but we are still ranked the #3 Run D

I'm not sure I'm buying into that a whole lot. In that span they allowed KC and NO to hang 29 and 32 respectively. Arizona, LA, SF and Carolina they held into the teens credit to them for that.

 

[pazrul72]

Great discussion with actual input from falcon fans that is more then just insults and we're the best you suck...more please! My opinion has definitely changed from the falcons d blows and we will score at will to they are young fast and improving but not quite there yet. Probably more of an average D then worst in the league but lots of speed makes them interesting.

There are two ways to counter someone faster then you and the pats being excellent at both gives me confidence they will at least have their average 24+ point game. Power can beat speed if you make them go where you want. Yeah you can get around blocks with speed but if you bunch up the formation and run strait at them it negates that advantage. I expect to see a lot of 2 TE power I looks with Blount getting 20-25 carries. Probably not a ton of yards at first but tiring them out, by the 4th quarter they will have nothing left to tackle the big man, and that is when Blount is at his best. If there is 4 mins to go and the pats have the lead I think the game is over.

The other great thing about speed is how well it works when you are decisive and attack. If you have to think about what you are seeing and take a step right before you go left that advantage is gone. Tom Brady has been playing for a long long long time and can switch to the best protection or adjust routes on the fly like no one has ever seen. It's one thing to hear about it and it's another to see it in person. Just last week Tuitt was talking about how fast things got changed and how unprepared for it he was. He marveled at Tom's ability to manipulate the offense in seconds to attack a weakness the defense was giving him. Young fast defense says to me make them guess at what they are seeing throw 100 formations and personal groupings at them change it up and go fast when you have them in a personal disadvantage. Then go back to hammering them with Blount.

I don't think this game will be high scoring. I honestly see a 27-20 kind of game where both offenses go on long time consuming drives and put up big stats difference being the pats end more of them in the end zone. From what I have seen Atlanta feasts on ****ty tackling and not having to go on 70,80,90 yard drives. The pats offense very rarely puts their defense in a bad spot and the rarely discussed third team, you know the special ones, are another advantage for the pats with excellent coverage of punts and kickoffs. If this is the average game for both teams with no sloppy turnovers or shoddy who gives a F tackling then while I think Atlanta goes 40-50 yards every drive they don't get a lot of points because the pats win TOP and field position decisively.