After a meek 0-2 start, there is a sense of urgency for the Falcons heading into the third game of the season against the Chicago Bears (2-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who was credited with turning around the defense last season after moving over from wide receivers coach, has to fix the defense again.
“We have got to turn this thing around, now,” Morris said.
Because of salary-cap restraints, the Falcons lost their leading tackler over the past two seasons to free agency in De’Vondre Campbell and released their No. 1 cornerback in Desmond Trufant.
The revamped unit is off to a horrific start. Morris' defense gave up 570 total yards and 33 first downs to Dallas on Sunday. The defense is ranked last (32nd of 32) in points allowed (39 per game), 31st in yards allowed (476.5) and 31st in passing yards (372 yards).
Phil Simms, a former NFL quarterback who is an analyst on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,” called the Falcons' defense “horrendous.”
“The (0-2) team that maybe is the biggest surprise to me is the Atlanta Falcons,” said Simms, a two-time Super Bowl winner. “Their offense is unstoppable and on the defensive side, I watched both of their games, and my gosh, if somebody would just line up and cover some guys, they’re going to win the games. Their pass defense has been horrendous, and I think they can fix that.”
Morris, a Newark, New Jersey, native, is very familiar with Simms and his stellar career with the New York Giants.
“It’s not that we feel the coverage has been lacking,” Morris said. "We can play better. We have had two opportunities so far that we didn’t play our best football. We had an opportunity last week to really close out a game, and we didn’t get it closed. Those games didn’t get closed.
“I’m not going to say Phil Simms is wrong, but I’m not going to agree with him. We definitely can play better than we’ve been playing, there is no doubt about that.”
This attempted fix will be complicated as injuries have started to mount. After two games, the Falcons have six starters banged up and missing practice. Also, one potential starter missed the first two games because of injury.
Free safety Damontae Kazee (hip), free/strong safety Ricardo Allen (elbow), linebacker Foye Oluokun (hamstring), defensive end/linebacker Dante Fowler (ankle) and defensive end Takk McKinley (groin) missed practice time this week and may not be available against the Bears.
Also, cornerback Kendall Sheffield, who was competing for the troublesome right cornerback spot, has missed two games with a foot injury. Sheffield and Allen were declared out for the game on Friday.
Morris was trying to sell the “next man up” cliché.
“That’s the nature of our beast,” Morris said. "People go down every single week as you guys see in the National Football League. It was catastrophic with all of the injuries that people had (in Week 2).
“It’s about … preparing those guys to be ready.”
The Falcons are focusing on two major areas to get the defense on track: They must eliminate the opposition’s “explosive” passing plays and become a force in their red zone, inside the 20-yard line.
In the loss to Dallas, the Falcons gave up seven pass plays of 20 yards or more: gains of 58, 38, 37, 24, 24, 23 and 20. The week before against Seattle, they gave up four pass plays of 20 yards or more: gains of 38, 37, 28 and 20.
“There are too many, yes,” Morris said. “Can we fix those things, you don’t have to sugarcoat it, no doubt. We will do that.”
What’s the plan for the fix?
“It all starts up front,” Morris said. "In the first half, first quarter, we touched the quarterback, hit him on the first third down (against Dallas).
"In the second half, we weren’t able to provide enough pressure. We didn’t create enough problems for (Dallas quarterback) Dak (Prescott). It all goes back to our identity. Our identity is about affecting the quarterback, mentally and physically.
“In the second half, he was able to (make) unimpeded throws. He used the cadence to beat us a couple times. He did an excellent job. I don’t want to take away from Dak and what he was able to do, but we have to affect the quarterback in a better way.”
With Fowler and McKinley hobbled, the Falcons may have to turn to backups and possibly offseason acquisition Charles Harris, a former first-round pick they added after a trade with Miami.
Also with pressure up front, the Falcons need improved coverage in the secondary. Safety Keanu Neal took the blame for the 58-yard pass play. He was near the line of scrimmage trying to disguise a coverage.
Neal was supposed to race back to his safety spot in a Cover-2 zone, but did not drop fast enough, he said.
If the Falcons give up the long-gainers, they want to regroup and stand their ground in the red zone. Teams have scored touchdowns in seven of the eight times they have entered the Falcons' red zone. Dallas scored in all four red-zone trips in the second half.
“The explosive plays are the things that have allowed them to get down there,” Morris said. “Those are the things we have to stop. That’s a part of our winning formula here, limiting explosive plays and our offense getting them. We had it rolling in that first half. That is what you want it to look like. That second half, (was) not.”
Neal believes the defense can play better in the red zone.
“We just have to hold them to field goals,” Neal said. “Either get the ball or hold them to field goals. That’s the biggest thing. It comes down to execution and details.”
Despite giving up all of the yards and points, Neal believes the defense can rebound.
“The mentality has been great,” Neal said. “We went into practice ready to roll. The last two games happened. Now, our focus is Chicago. If we beat Chicago, we’re 1-0. That’s what we are thinking.”
Morris is hoping the unit can put a full game together Sunday.
“I think these guys will come out and be ready to play,” Morris said. “They played better than they did the first week in the first half (against Dallas). We did not play as well as w needed to play in the second half. We have got to turn this thing around now. We’ve got 14 games to go guaranteed. Let’s go out there and play these games one at a time.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
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