FLOWERY BRANCH — When the Falcons are on defense, inside linebacker Kaden Elliss has the green dot on his helmet.
The sticker identifies Elliss as the signal-caller, and his job requires that he relay the alignments and calls to the rest of the defense.
Ellis, who in his second season with the Falcons, is off to a strong start with 33 tackles and will play a central role when his team faces the Buccaneers (3-1) at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Just trying to keep taking steps forward, keep learning and growing,” Elliss told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution when asked about his fine early-season play. “I just want to make more plays and help this team get some wins.”
As the Falcons offense is working to become more consistent, the defense has been on the field for 15 drives of 10 plays or more. The opposition has scored 11 times (six field goals and five touchdowns) in those drives.
The Falcons’ defense has force three turnover-on-downs and ended a 17-play drive against Kansas City with an interception by safety Justin Simmons.
“I think it’s just a testament to how hard we play, that we never give up,” Elllis said. “And at the end of the day, we’re playing pretty good when we get to our side of the field.”
The Falcons know they need to improve against the run.
“Personally and as a defense, when we look at ourselves, we’ve got to improve on (stopping the run),” Elliss said. “It’s just our first- and second- down efficiency, stopping the runs, stopping them on first- and second-down.”
The Falcons’ pass rush hasn’t taken off in part because they haven’t be able to force many pass-rush situations.
“Making them get second-and-long, third-and-long,” Elliss said. “That’ll help us get off the field a lot quicker. But I spent a lot of short yardages on third down, so you know me as a linebacker and Troy (Andersen) and our (defensive) line and all the (defensive backs) that are fitting with us, we got to come up. We’ve got to stuff that run so we can get off the field a little quicker.”
Simmons’ interception has been one of the highlights for the defense this season.
“It would be nice if it was seven plays (instead of the 17) and then an interception,” Elliss said. “So, we’ll keep working on that because that also will help us keep our offense on the field, get them in rhythm. So, this is something that we’re working on and we’ll get done.”
So, if the defense can get stops sooner, they would also help the offense get more possessions.
“We’ve got to get them on the field a little more and get off quicker,” Elliss said. “I’ll take the stop always in forever, but if I can take it a little bit faster, that’s what I want.”
Elliss believes the defense, under first-year coordinator Jimmy Lake, is coming together. The losses were to the Steelers and Chiefs, who are a combined 7-1. The wins were over the Eagles (2-2) and Saints (2-2)
“I think it just goes to show that we’re playing well against the best teams,” Elliss said. “Been one-possession games all the way through. We found a way to win (two) of them. We got to find a way to win some more.”
Elliss believes the defense will continue grow and play better together.
“I do think these type of tests, early in the season, are going to be great for us as we go down the road,” Elliss said. “They’re going to be great for us and our culture great for us as we unify. At the end of the day, we get where we want to go. (Playing in) important games at the end of the year.”
The defense hasn’t been perfect. There are some issues to correct.
“Our defense continues to get better,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “With a couple of corrections, things can happen for us.”
Morris wants the defense to eliminate the “leaky yardage” in the run game. He likes that they have limited explosive plays. He also noted that they need to get better on third downs.
“We are talking about those team stats, things we can do a little bit better,” Morris said. “They fire me up about where they are right now, and he’s the leader of it.”
Lake also is an Elliss supporter: “He runs the defense, communicates at a high level. He’s tackled really well. He’s pressured the quarterback, had a nice pressure last week against (Chiefs quarterback) Patrick Mahomes to force the interception to Justin Simmons. … Kaden’s playing at a high level right now.”
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
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