FLOWERY BRANCH — After a fine showing Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, the Falcons’ defense moved into the top 10 in the NFL in two key categories.
The run defense held the 49ers to 50 yards rushing on 16 carries, and that lowered the Falcons’ yards rushing allowed per game to 104, which ranks ninth.
Also, the Falcons won the turnover battle, 3-0, to push their margin to plus-2 (10/8) on the season, which is tied for seventh with Seattle.
Continued strong run defense and forcing some turnovers will be key when the Falcons (3-3) face the Cincinnati Bengals (3-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
“The difference is that our guys are playing faster,” Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees said about the takeaways Thursday. “Whenever you play faster. ... The faster you play, the bigger the hits.”
While the defense has given up yards, the equalizer has been the turnovers. The defense has given up 385.2 yards per game, which ranks 28th in the league.
“It’s just guys playing really well within the scheme,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “A credit to a lot of our players, but there are a lot of the plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet.”
A lot goes into creating turnovers.
“I thought (outside linebacker Arnold) Ebiketie rushed really well, making a guy move off the spot,” Smith said. “Sometimes it makes them sail a throw. You’re able to get hands on the ball, and maybe the ball gets tipped.”
Safety Jaylinn Hawkins had an interception after Darren Hall tipped the ball in the air.
“Those are the little things that I think are starting to add up that may not go down – like the pressure, moving them off the spot and not letting them get set helps,” Smith said. “I think (inside linebacker) Rashaan (Evans), that third-and-1, being in tune, being able to get the ball out, and obviously, it takes funny bounces, but guys running to the football, you’re rewarded for that as well.”
When Evans forced 49ers running back Jeff Wilson to fumble, the ball was scooped up and returned for a touchdown. That helped ignite the Falcons’ victory.
“Everybody being able to have the opportunity to get the ball out. Obviously, the turnover margin in today’s game (is important),” Evans said. “The team that has the most turnovers and the least turnovers, as far as getting back to offense, is always going to win. We understand that, and we’ve been trying to emphasize that every week. Hopefully, we can keep doing that in the near future.”
Hall had a big forced fumble and recovery against the Rams on Sept. 18. He stripped wide receiver Cooper Kupp and then tracked down the ball.
“We harp on turnovers every week, trying to get our offense the ball so they have more possessions to go out there and score,” Hall said. “Turnovers margin is a big deciding factor for wins, for the most part. Going out there to get our offense the ball as many times as we can to help us win.”
Linebacker Mykal Walker had an interception against the Rams while playing in zone coverage.
“We stress playing hard,” Walker said. “Anytime that you run and play really hard, turnovers happen. We always say that turnovers happen in bunches. When you see one coming, then the next one comes, and that’s something that we’ve got going on because we are playing hard.”
The Falcons’ turnover ratio, even though it’s from a small sample size of six games, has caught the attention of the Bengals, who are even (eight takeaways/eight turnovers) and ranked 17th in the league.
“We always count how many times we’re pounding at the ball, regardless of the team that we play against,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor told the Cincinnati media Wednesday. “And that’s always been a big point of emphasis. There have been games where we’ve gotten them out after the whistle. You know, we’re real close.”
This matchup of contrasting styles could be decided by the turnover battle.
“You need to win the turnover battle in games like this one where the possessions may be limited,” Taylor said. “When the ball is in the air, if you can get some tips and overthrows, you have to capitalize on those.”
Taylor was aware of Evans’ forced fumble that ended with A.J. Terrell scooping it and running it to the 1 before he fumbled. Hawkins recovered it in the end zone.
“They fed off of that,” Taylor said. “There have been games we’ve really fed off that. That’s going to be a critical point in this game, who’s going to win the turnover battle.”
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The Bow Tie Chronicles
Atlanta Falcons 2022 schedule
Sept. 11: Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18: Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Oct. 30 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
Nov. 6 vs. Los Angeles Chargers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 10 at Carolina, 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 20 vs. Chicago, 1 p.m.
Nov. 27 at Washington, 1 p.m.
Dec. 4 vs. Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 at New Orleans, TBD
Dec. 24 at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Jan. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, TBD
