The numbers are still ugly overall. On defense, the Falcons rank 22nd or worst across 13 of 17 statistical categories tracked by the NFL.
“The stats will keep you up at night if you look solely at those,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
Instead, the Falcons (8-5) look at the video of their games over the past few weeks and see tangible improvement. The numbers over that span confirm it.
Their opponents over the past three weeks — Cardinals, Chiefs and Rams — couldn’t do much of anything on offense against the Falcons. The Eagles had to settle for field goals on two of four red-zone trips. The Falcons held the Buccaneers to only two touchdowns while the game was still competitive.
It’s true that among those five opponents, only the Buccaneers and Chiefs are average or better on offense. The Falcons on Sunday will face the 49ers (1-12), another opponent with a struggling offense that they should be able to handle.
But the way the Falcons see it, the defensive improvement is a result of an inexperienced group starting to figure things out.
“Oh, yeah,” Falcons safety Ricardo Allen said. “It’s getting much better. Yeah, you wanted this to be earlier in the season but, man, we’ve got a lot of youth out there, a lot of young players, still including myself. We are just growing weekly and it’s starting to come along.”
The Falcons had one of the worst defensive units in the league in 2014 and saw modest improvements in 2015, Dan Quinn’s first as head coach. The Falcons have focused on adding young players to their defense with the goal of improving speed and physical play.
Pass rusher Vic Beasley and cornerback Jalen Collins were the first two picks of Quinn’s 2015 first draft. Safety Keanu Neal and linebacker Deion Jones went 1-2 in the 2016 draft. Later-round picks were used to select defensive tackle Grady Jarrett in 2015 and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell in 2016.
To that mix the Falcons added Allen, who had been on their practice squad in 2014 before becoming a starter last season. Rookie cornerback Brian Poole, a college free agent from Florida, has been the nickel back.
Allen, Neal, Jones, Poole, Beasley, Jarrett and Campbell all have played at least half the defensive snaps. Collins has started the past four games in place of Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant, who is out for the season following surgery.
Those young players have helped the Falcons get faster and, especially in the case of Neal, more physical. Quinn said all of them have the competitive mindset that he seeks.
The downside of relying on so many young players are the inevitable rough moments, especially early in the season.
“We knew there would be certain growing pains that you have to go through,” Quinn said. “It really starts with communication. How good can you get at that, where not only do you know your own assignment, but you are able to share that information pre-snap? And that over the last few weeks I’ve seen that ramp up.”
The improvement for the young players has started to show in their production.
Beasley had three sacks against the Rams on Sunday, including one for a forced fumble, recovery and touchdown. His 13.5 sacks are tied for the league lead and his six forced fumbles are the most in the NFL.
Jones made an instinctive and athletic play on his interception return for a touchdown against the Rams. Neal and Jones combined for 13 tackles and three passes defended in that game.
Quinn credits Allen with helping to organize the defense. Allen had an interception against the Rams on the first drive after he’d said the Falcons’ defense was too tentative while allowing a TD on the opening drive of the previous six games.
“We are just starting to understand the defense and what people are trying to do against us,” Allen said. “Getting deeper into our communications and deeper into our studies. And at the end of the day, (the coaches’) biggest thing is ‘run and hit’ and that’s what we have been doing. When things go bad now, it’s not like we are playing slow. When things go bad, we play fast and hit our way out of it.”
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