The Falcons’ bifurcated defensive play-calling system will be tested against 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, one of the most respected play-callers in the NFL, when the teams meet at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
After starting the season with head coach Dan Quinn calling the defense, the Falcons switched to linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich calling the alignments on first and second down. Defensive backs coach Raheem Morris calls the plays on third downs.
“First from and X and O standpoint, I’m very familiar from the standpoint that we faced that offense for (two) years when Kyle was our offensive coordinator,” Ulbrich said. “So, there is something there that is familiar for them. From a personnel standpoint, we’ve got a lot of problems.”
The 49ers have a fleet of running backs, a fullback and a tight end in George Kittle, who’s the leading receiver. Shanahan stresses diversity, much like he did in 2016 while leading the Falcons’ record-setting attack.
Overall, the 49ers have 12 players who have caught touchdown passes and three running backs over 450 yards rushing.
“We are very familiar with Tevin (Coleman) and I was thinking that he was going to be the speed back and the other ones would be the option runners, but they are all Tevin,” Ulbrich said. “They are very similar versions of Tevin. They are very fast.”
Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida, who played at Georgia Southern, are the other running backs.
Under the Falcons arrangement, the defense gave up 31.2 points per game while going 1-7. After the bye week and Morris moved from wide receivers to defensive backs coach, the defense is giving up 18.6 points per game.
“I see a defense that’s been turning it on these last five weeks,” Shanahan said. “It’s not a surprise, when you watch the tape, that they’ve won three of their last five games. They are getting sacks, they are getting turnovers and they putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”
The Falcons have cut down on their blown coverages and missed tackles in the second half of the season.
“It’s a great challenge,” Ulbrich said. “He has his team playing really well and they have some really good players.”
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