The Falcons’ defense treads on from the shutout loss to the Panthers on Sunday to face Jaguars’ quarterback Blake Bortles and his offensive arsenal.
The Jaguars, who are scheduled to meet the Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday at EverBank Field, scored 90 points in their past two games, the most in the NFL.
Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett made the first start of his professional career Sunday, replacing nose tackle Paul Soliai who was ruled out with a calf injury. Soliai who did not participate in practice all last week, but was listed as a limited participant this week in practice Wednesday and Thursday.
Jarrett, a fifth-round 2015 draft pick out of Clemson, racked up six tackles Sunday, but knows that as a rookie, he must improve.
“I missed a sack opportunity,” Jarrett said. “I had a nice move to get there, so I’m kind of down about that.”
Jarrett wasn’t the only lineman who missed tackles or a sack opportunity Sunday against the remaining unbeaten team in the NFL. After watching the defense allow 21 points in the first quarter, defensive coordinator Richard Smith has preached limiting the mistakes that have plagued the defense in the past few weeks.
“What we’re trying to do on defense is not have missed opportunities,” Smith said. “If you look at last week, even though we did not play well, we had (Panthers quarterback) Cam (Newton) on the run. How many times did a guy (come close to) a sack, (and Newton) scrambles and throws the ball (out of bounds)? That happened several times.”
The Falcons’ pass rush against Bortles will be just as important as it was against Newton. With 3,524 passing yards and a long of 80 yards, Bortles’ long passes to his receivers and tight ends make him an even bigger threat if the Falcons can’t force quick passes.
“The deep shots that are taking place, that part of (Bortles’) game you can tell is totally on point. When they’re connecting on big explosive plays, they’re near the top of the league in terms of explosiveness,” coach Dan Quinn said. “The thing that we talk about the most is can you get the quarterback off the spot. You look at some of the passer rating of when (Bortles) is affected and when he’s not, I think that’s a real factor, especially this week.”
The Jaguars rank fifth in the NFL in sacks allowed, with Bortles having been sacked 39 times. The Falcons’ defense ranks last in the NFL in sacks (15) and is tied at 23rd in forced fumbles (8).
“Of course, you’d like to be No. 1 in the league in that kind of thing, but more importantly, what we’re trying to do is try to get everything better. We’re trying to win football games, not trying to be first in sacks,” Smith said. “In some of the games we haven’t been playing well defensively, what was happening was people were able to run the ball on us. We’re an eight-man-front team. You shouldn’t be able to run the ball on us.”
As with Newton, Bortles’ legs pose a threat, making an effective pass rush even more vital. Bortles is the second-leading rusher on the Jaguars’ roster (261 yards and one touchdown) behind running back T.J. Yeldon (740 yards and two touchdowns).
“(Bortles) does the same stuff kind of like Cam did last week,” Smith said. “If it’s not there, he’s got the arm strength to throw it downtown. … Also when it’s not there, you have to defend him as a scrambler. He’s one of the top guys in terms of scrambling.”
With 22 tackles and one sack this season, Jarrett’s focus when he’s on the field Sunday will be to force Bortles to throw.
“They’re athletic up front and have really athletic linemen to get to the next level,” Jarrett said. “We can’t give (Bortles) that time to make those long throws, so we just have to be on the up front as long as rushing the passer.”
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