Falcons' defense shaky in loss to Lions

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DETROIT — The Falcons flashed a glimpse of their rebuilt defense Saturday.

Attempting to replace five starters never figured to be an easy task, but it’s clear from the first exhibition game, a shocking 27-26 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, that it’s not quite time to remove the “under construction” sign.

“There are going to be some growing pains,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “There are a lot of new pieces on the defensive side of the ball. I thought, for the most part, for their first exposure together, they did some good things, but we’ve got a long, long way to go.”

A litany of penalties, miscues and a missed extra-point attempt allowed the Lions, who were 0-16 last season, to hang around and win the game on a 47-yard field goal by Jason Hanson as time expired.

But what was perhaps more alarming was how the game started.

On the first drive of the game, with Detroit playing its starters against the Falcons’ top unit, the Lions rammed the ball down to the Falcons’ 2-yard line before a sack by defensive tackle Thomas Johnson, a surprise starter, forced them to kick a field goal.

“We bent, but we didn’t break,” Smith said. “We had some breakdowns, but in the red zone and inside the 10, we were able to make some plays.”

Defensive end Jamaal Anderson had a tough time with Lions right tackle Gosder Cherilus and spent too much time on the ground.

Covering running backs out of the backfield was a problem last season, but with faster linebackers they had hope to tighten things, but the big play in the first drive was a screen pass to running back Kevin Smith for 16 yards.

Another concern is whether the Falcons will be strong enough to stop the run after letting hefty defensive tackle Grady Jackson leave during free agency.

Veteran defensive end John Abraham put the first-unit’s play in perspective.

“We didn’t give them a touchdown, but we definitely have to work on stopping them from getting down the field like that,” Abraham said. “We are going to work on it.”

When the regular season arrives, the Falcons will have at least five new starters on defense and depending on cornerback Chris Houston’s hamstring, possibly six.

Continuity is an important factor.

“We are a young defense, and we’ve got a lot of new faces and a lot of people doing things they didn’t do last year,” Abraham said. “We just have to get it together and get everybody on the same page.”

It was more than just that first drive. Smith was not too pleased with his team’s five penalties, for example.

“Way too many penalties on both sides of the ball,” Smith said. “You can’t miss an extra point. Usually when you miss an extra point, there is a chance that it will come back and haunt you. It most certainly did in this game.”

There were some bright spots for the Falcons, including the play of Johnson. He started at nose tackle before being replaced by Peria Jerry, the Falcons’ first-round pick, on the second series.

Also, quarterback Matt Ryan and the first-team offense crafted a nice touchdown drive, which ended with running back Michael Turner scoring on a 40-yard touchdown.

“I thought we did a pretty good job,” Ryan said. “We were a little bit rusty, but that’s what the preseason is for, come out and knock some of the cobwebs off.”