How the Falcons pass rush caught fire

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – If you look at the Falcons’ defense from the start of the season to now, it might seem like a tale of two pash rushes.

Atlanta had just 10 total sacks in the 11 weeks leading up to the bye week, the fewest in the league. While the Falcons still have the lowest total this season, their 16 sacks since Week 13 are the second-most in the NFL. Even when the sacks weren’t coming at the current pace, Atlanta’s coaching staff had a strong belief that things were moving in the right direction.

“That’s because the work was put in. There were some games where, again, you should look at the stat sheet and everyone saw zero sacks, but we made an impact on the quarterback,” Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said after Week 15. “We got him to to intercept from the point and throw it out of bounds and they have to punt. Even if we don’t have the direct result on the stat sheet, the work they did paid off. And now it’s obvious that we’ve achieved a lot in the last three weeks and it’s a nice reward for all the work they’ve put in.

There were indications that a blessing was possible.

Against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9, the Falcons sacked the quarterback three times, their highest total ever. However, this game remained an outlier. That quickly changed after their bye in Week 12. In their first game back, they recorded a season-high five sacks against the Los Angeles Chargers. They followed that game with two four-sack performances and most recently sacked Giants quarterback Drew Lock three times, including a strip sack that was recovered for a turnover.

The bye week allows for a higher level of self-scouting, which has become a weekly necessity in the NFL, and the pass rush evaluation has paid off. Lake said Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was “instrumental” in providing insight because of his experience on both sides of the ball. In addition to gaining more than a decade of experience coaching defense, Morris also worked with the Falcons’ offense for four years from 2016 to 2019.

Although Morris and his staff didn’t stick to the surface with their specific findings, they pointed to improved run defense as one explanation for the increased pass-rush production.

“Our rush defense was the best in the last month. And that’s what opens up (opportunities) for us to pursue the passer,” Lake said. “So first and ten, if we stuff the barrel in; second and ten, here we go – we can put our ears back and then all of a sudden we’ll stuff them there.”

Since the bye week, Atlanta has allowed just 70.3 rushing yards per game, the second fewest in the league. They previously ranked 17th in average rushing yards allowed (127.2). Overall, the Falcons were a stronger defensive team. Take a closer look at the numbers before and after the bye week.