Falcons coach Dan Quinn didn’t hesitate when asked in what area the defense needs to improve.
“The biggest thing is missed tackles,” Quinn said. “That’s the No. 1 thing we can work on.”
Pro Football Focus charged the Falcons with 23 missed tackles through three games. Quinn said the Falcons have missed at least 29 missed tackles by the team’s internal count. Using the team’s numbers, the Falcons have missed a tackle on 16 percent of 182 plays run by opponents.
“It’s such an important part of what we do,” he said. “We’re just going to try like crazy to be one of the best fundamental teams that we can. To have those kinds of misses is something that we know we can get fixed.”
Pro Football Focus charged linebacker Justin Durant with six missed tackles, safety Ricardo Allen with five, linebacker Paul Worrilow with four and three players with two each: linebacker O’Brien Schofield, safety William Moore and nickel back Phillip Adams.
“No doubt about it, (tackling) is our No. 1 emphasis,” Moore said. “We had that emphasis in the off season and now we are talking about flying bullets, full game speed, so it’s the real thing. We definitely need to tighten down those, speaking for myself on the back to the entire defense and special teams.”
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