FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons defensive tackle David Onyemata believes the defense is coming along.
“It’s great,” Onyemata said about having a 2-0 record. “The biggest thing is going in there and doing the adjustments. Seeing things we could have done better in the game. It’s a great feeling. Regardless of the feeling you always have to come in the day after the game and make the adjustments and see the things that you could have done better.”
The Falcons (2-0) are set to face the Lions (1-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit. They have started their preparations.
“You kind of see certain things on film,” Onyemata said. “You study the tendencies that you see on film, and then you go over them. Then our coaches put us in the right positions in practice throughout the week, and you see the same looks. By the time you get into the game, it kind of slows down a lot. That kind of helps you make the right decisions.”
The Falcons replaced seven starters on the defense, and Onyemata is one of the new players. Also, defensive coordinator Ryan Neilsen is in his first season after coaching with the Saints. The film study is important for the unit.
“It could be how the team is aligned,” Onyemata said. “It could be were someone is aligned or where another person is. It’s a lot of different things. You start on Mondays, you start watching the film and you see certain tendencies. Things you just kind of keep going back to.”
The breakdowns have specific patterns throughout the week.
“Usually, you watch the whole game on Monday,” Onyemata said. “Then as your week goes you go to first and second down, third down, short yardage and what they like doing in short yardage or red-zone situations. Then you go off of the keys.”
The Falcons’ defensive players communicate in person, but also through a group chat.
“We have a group chat, but when we come in to the building we communicate as well,” Onyemata said. “It could be as simple as where you hand placement is on the reach or where certain things are. Teams are different. Certain coaches are different, they coach things differently. For us, the great thing is that we communicate really well together.
It’s not all work stuff in the group chat.
“It’s all of it,” Onyemata said. “We’re all active in it. … If you don’t have your notifications on, you can kind of just go in there whenever and just see it.”
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