Falcons coach Mike Smith and his assistants took a deeper look at their struggling, injury-riddled defense during the bye week and decided some things had to change.
No more shying away from using young players. No more of coordinator Mike Nolan trying to talk to his players from the press-box level. And no more playing it safe on third downs.
Smith said those adjustments helped the Falcons (2-4) end a three-game losing streak with a 31-23 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday. The Cardinals (3-4) figure to be a tougher challenge Sunday, but at least the Falcons have a victory as evidence that the changes were good.
“You are not just going to continue to to do the same thing when are not getting the results that you want,” Smith said. “That (change) is what coaching is all about. That’s what we do as coaching staff. I think we did a nice job during the bye week. I thought our guys came back with right mental attitude, practiced with a lot of energy.”
The Falcons played their young defensive ends more than they had all season, and Nolan coached from the sidelines for the first time in his two-year Falcons tenure. More noticeable than those subtle changes were Nolan’s aggressive calls on third downs to jolt a unit that ranked the worst in the NFL in opponent conversion through its first five games.
The Falcons sent at least one extra rusher on 11 of Tampa Bay’s 17 third-down plays. The Falcons blitzed Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Mike Glennon 18 times on 47 drop-backs.
They sent five rushers eight times, six nine times and seven on the first third down of the game. The seven-man rush resulted in safety William Moore’s sack and forced fumble that led to safety Thomas DeCoud’s 30-yard touchdown.
In total, the Falcons’ 18 blitzes produced seven quarterback pressures and two sacks, and Glennon was 6-of-14 passing for 113 yards with a touchdown. Tampa Bay was 5-for-17 on third down.
When the Falcons didn’t get to Glennon with blitzes, the secondary generally was tight in coverage and either forced Glennon to hold the ball or made plays on his passes.
“We were attacking the football,” Smith said. “We were being aggressive across the board.”
Young players factored heavily in the strategy. Rookie linebackers Paul Worrilow and Joplu Bartu were the primary blitzers with a combined 21 pass rushes; Nolan said they “were about 50/50” in their effectiveness.
Rookie defensive ends Malliciah Goodman (35 snaps) and Stansly Maponga (22 snaps) each played a season-high in snaps. Pro Football Focus credited Goodman with two quarterback hurries in 20 rushes, while Maponga got no pressures in 17 rushes.
“I was pleased,” Nolan said. “Hopefully we just keep getting better, though, because if it stays like it is, it’s not good enough.”
Nolan said he would remain on the sideline Sunday after his debut there went well.
Nolan said he thinks he can better communicate with players when on the sidelines. He said when he coached from the booth, he typically talked to players only 15 or 20 percent of the times he wanted to because he was mindful of leaving players alone to have a breather instead of being summoned to the phone.
It was one of the changes that worked for the Falcons’ defense. Now the challenge is getting similar results on the road against a better team.
The Falcons rattled Glennon, but Arizona has veteran Carson Palmer at quarterback. They could take a greater risk if they rush Palmer as aggressively.
“You could say there’s more risk, but you can either try to win or try to keep from losing,” Nolan said. “I’d rather try to win.”
Roster moves: The Falcons signed linebacker Thomas Howard on Tuesday and released linebacker Jamar Chaney.
The Raiders drafted Howard in the second round of the 2006 draft and he played five seasons in Oakland. Howard played for Cincinnati in the 2011, when he led the team in tackles, and for one game in 2012 before a knee injury ended his season.
The Falcons signed Chaney on Sept. 17. He played in one game, Oct. 7 against the Jets.
The Falcons also signed safety Sean Baker to the practice squad.
