Looking for Falcons positives? Defense and run game a good start

PITTSBURGH — In the aftermath of an outing his third-string quarterback described as disappointing and not to the level he’d hoped, Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said the team needed to find ways to help Cooper Rush.

But collectively, the Falcons flashed several positives outside the quarterback position in Sunday’s 20-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

Despite facing heavier boxes because of a passing game centered on quick throws and minimal deep shots, the Falcons’ run game found success. Their pass rush hit Aaron Rodgers six times and sacked him twice. Their run defense, a problem point last season, held the Steelers to 58 yards on 21 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per attempt.

But perhaps it’s merely salt in the wound from a day where Rush went 12-for-22 passing and threw two interceptions, kicker Nick Folk — who missed three field goals total the past three years — pushed two attempts wide right and the team committed nine penalties for 96 yards.

“I like to look at it as big picture,” cornerback Mike Hughes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution postgame. “We win as a team, we lose as a team. So, it’s a lot of things we can do better on both sides. It really doesn’t count if we’re close. Wins and losses count.”

Stefanski, however, cared about another stat, too. The Steelers converted only three of their 13 third downs, which Stefanski feels is a byproduct of the Falcons’ success in coverage and rushing the passer.

The Falcons entered Sunday with the mentality of making the Steelers beat them underneath. Rookie cornerback Avieon Terrell told the AJC postgame the Falcons “weren’t concerned” about the Steelers’ receivers — more big and strong, less fast and quick — winning vertically.

The Steelers tried to attack the Falcons downfield. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Rodgers averaged 9.2 air yards per target, the most he’s recorded in 17 games with the Steelers.

But with help from a drop by receiver Roman Wilson on a difficult contested catch attempt and a pair of penalties on cornerback A.J. Terrell, the Falcons allowed only three passing plays that gained 20-plus yards. Further, Rodgers went only 4-for-12 passing on attempts 10-plus yards downfield.

The Falcons’ game plan? Force Rodgers to beat them underneath.

“We wanted to stop the quick game,” Avieon Terrell said. “Because (Rodgers is) good at it. He sees it’s open, he lets it go.”

Rodgers, however, had his way in that aspect. He went 20-for-24 passing on passes under 10 air yards, including 11 attempts thrown less than 2.5 seconds after taking the snap, according to Next Gen Stats.

Still, the Falcons held Rodgers to 24-for-40 passing for 221 yards and one touchdown. Excluding the 2023 opener, when he tore his Achilles after one pass attempt, Sunday marked just the third time in Rodgers’ 19 Week 1 starts where he completed less than 60% of his passes.

“I feel like we played decent,” Terrell said. “Could have been better, let up some third downs, some plays we gave up. But I like the effort we gave.”

Stefanski said the Falcons knew Rodgers would be difficult to pressure because he gets the ball out quickly, but the 42-year-old quarterback showed more patience Sunday. His time-to-throw average was 2.95 seconds, his third-highest mark as a Steeler.

The Falcons’ secondary forced Rodgers to hold the ball at times, and their pass rush benefited — but with a different cast of characters than last year’s record-setting 57-sack crew.

Playing without both of their 2025 first-round picks and two promising young edge rushers in Jalon Walker (torn ACL, out for season) and James Pearce Jr. (eight-game suspension), the new-look Falcons posted two sacks, four tackles for loss and six quarterback hits Sunday.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Hughes said of the team’s pass rush success. “We’ve got some guys that are hungry up front, and they showed it today. I think we can go beyond what we showed today.”

Za’Darius Smith, a three-time Pro Bowler who turned 34 years old Sept. 8, recorded both of the Falcons’ sacks to go along with three tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback hits in an impressive team debut.

“I thought Z gave us some good reps out there,” Stefanski said.

Defensive tackle Maason Smith sacked Rodgers, too, but a holding penalty on A.J. Terrell negated it. Outside linebackers Samson Ebukam and Cameron Thomas combined for three quarterback hits.

The Falcons rotated several bodies, and experimented with several different formations, up front. Each of their 11 defensive linemen and outside linebackers — including Za’Darius Smith, signed Aug. 18; Gervon Dexter, acquired via trade Aug. 30; and waiver pickups Yasir Abdullah and Jared Ivey — saw snaps on defense Sunday, as did practice squad elevation Bralen Trice, a 2024 third-round pick who made his NFL debut.

Stefanski said the Falcons are still “figuring out the roles” for several of their new players, but he’s proud of their effort in a variety of alignments. The front seven, largely pieced together over the past month, found considerable success despite such newness.

“It’s definitely a lot to build on,” Hughes said. “I think all the new faces did a good job of making their presence known, and now we know what we have. But it’s still early, so it’s a lot of things to clean up, man.”

The Falcons’ pass rush was one of the team’s biggest questions entering the season, in large part because of the turnover from last year. Internally, those doubts weren’t as extensive.

“Them boys have been grinding all camp,” Avieon Terrell said. “It was not surprising to me. I saw it coming.”

The Falcons saw their run game success coming, too. Running back Bijan Robinson said throughout training camp the offense found success on the ground, be it against the Falcons’ defense or the Indianapolis Colts in a mid-August joint practice.

Robinson felt the Falcons had answers for any defensive concept built into their run game. Sunday, with loaded boxes and more bodies around the line of scrimmage, provided a steep challenge.

The Falcons, by and large, delivered on the ground, but Robinson, who didn’t play in the preseason, sees room for more.

“I think we can even be so much better,” Robinson said. “This is just our first time running it together, but even just the creases the O-line made that we took advantage of, like, we still have so much more.

“We just got to keep on getting used to it and keep on running in practice so we can get it ready for the games.”

Moral victories can’t be a term in the Falcons’ vocabulary eight years removed from their last playoff berth, but there are reasons for optimism leaving Pittsburgh.

Folk has been the NFL’s most accurate kicker the past three years. Missing two field goals in one game? A bit of a stunner. The penalty issues? Stefanski’s Browns tied for 15th in the NFL in infractions last season and ranked 19th in penalty yards, and the Falcons were better in both categories.