The Falcons' defensive backs had a hard time with Seattle’s wide receivers in the season opener Sunday, as all 35 of quarterback Russell Wilson’s throws were into non-tight (less than one yard) windows.
After that showing, the defensive backs are on the hot seat Sunday when they face the Cowboys, who have a much more talented trio of wide receivers in Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and rookie CeeDee Lamb.
Cooper caught 10 of 14 targets for 81 yards in the Cowboys' opening loss to the Rams. Gallup, who is from Monroe, caught 3 of 5 targets for 50 yards and Lamb caught 5 of 6 targets for 59 yards.
The Falcons attributed their lack of tight coverage to the fact that they were committed to stopping the run. The Falcons also said they were forced out of using their three-safety package because Seattle used double tight ends, which left Ricardo Allen off the field for 60% of the snaps.
He’s their best communicator, and they said the communication was poor.
“Defensively, I thought they were extremely active,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said. “They were flying all over the place. It looks like they’ve changed some from last year. We are just expecting to prepare and compare last year to Week 1 against Seattle.”
The Cowboys will test rookie cornerback A.J. Terrell and third-year cornerback Isaiah Oliver, who was having a strong game until he gave up a 38-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-5 against Seattle.
“If you look at the whole body of work, we have a perimeter group that we really like,” McCarthy said. “Really, it’s about giving them matchups and matchup opportunities. However Atlanta decides to match up and play us and align, at the end of the day we’re going to run our concepts and do the things that we feel put us in position to be productive on offense.”
Whether they are committed to stopping the run, the secondary has to play better in coverage.
“I think with the defense, and you may have heard me say it before, it’s something that both Isaiah, A.J., all of the corners really, is you want to stay down as long as you can when you’re to a single-receiver side because making the player have to work through the release is challenging,” coach Dan Quinn said. “On that particular play where he kind of gets back and gave (Seattle’s DK) Metcalf a freer release than Isaiah would have liked.”
Free releases to Cooper, Gallup or Lamb, will likely have a similar result.
“So, for both A.J. and Isaiah, that’s one of the things that (they are) constantly working at, to get your groove right, get your footwork and your hands right,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “So, line of scrimmage play for a corner is different than line of scrimmage play for an inside guy, but the ability just to stay out as long as you can and challenge the guys at the line of scrimmage.”
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