While calling it “championship-caliber” may still be
somewhat of a stretch, the Atlanta Falcons’ defensive unit is playing much
better this year than it had the first four years of Mike Smith’s coaching
tenure.
You probably couldn’t tell by looking at the statistics
though. The Falcons rank 23rd defensively and have given up a lot of
yards this season.
Yards-allowed really isn’t the best statistic to judge a
team by anyway. I mean the Pittsburgh Steelers have the league’s number one
ranked defense and won’t even make the playoffs this year.
No, the best way to judge a defense’s effectiveness is to
look at how hard they are to score against and right now the Falcons are the fourth
stingiest defense in the league in terms of points-allowed this season.
The Falcons have been here before though. During Mike
Smith’s tenure, they have usually been among the league’s best defenses in
terms of not giving up points.
This year has been different though. Atlanta’s defense seems to have a swagger
that they didn’t have in times past.
As a matter of fact, they seemed to have a swagger now that
they didn’t have earlier this season.
If you watched how Atlanta’s defense handled both the
New York Giants and the Detroit Lions over the past two weeks you can easily
see the high level of confidence this unit is playing with.
Atlanta’s game
against the Lions was especially telling of their newfound confidence.
Detroit made some huge plays but Atlanta’s defense responded
time and time again. Like when Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford burned
Atlanta’s defense, hitting receiver Calvin Johnson for a 49-yard gain.
In times past, Atlanta’s defense has had trouble regrouping
after big plays like that one but the Falcons didn’t come undone. Instead they
forced the Lions to turn the ball over on the very next play.
The Falcons forced the Lions to turn the ball over on a few
more occasions where they seemed to be threatening to score. And as timing
would go, it seems that the Falcons would always force a turnover the very next
play after the Lions had burned them for a big gain.
Watching the Falcons defend against the Lions high-powered
offense was almost as entertaining as watching the Falcons pitch a shutout
against the Giants a couple weeks ago. Both teams have very explosive offenses
so Atlanta’s recent defensive performances bode well for their playoff hopes.
I say that because all three of the Falcons’ last three
playoff appearances ended with a defeat at the hands of a team with a high-powered offense like the two teams they just faced.
As a matter of fact, the Giants were the team that sent the
Falcons home during last year’s playoffs which was probably the thing that most
motivated the Falcons during their shutout. Before that it was the Green Bay
Packers and the Kurt Warner-led Arizona Cardinals.
Hopefully the Falcons are up for the challenge because this
year’s playoffs will be just as challenging for Atlanta as their previous three
appearances. While the Falcons have earned themselves a first-round bye, they
will most likely face either the fourth or fifth seed in the NFC Divisional
Playoffs.
The fourth seed will be the NFC East division leader and that
will be decided by the winner of the Week 17 matchup between the Washington
Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys. It currently looks like the Seattle Seahawks
will be the fifth seed.
The Redskins and the Cowboys are playing pretty inspired
ball this year but neither team is having a season like the one the Seahawks
are having. Seattle has already dropped 50 points on two opponents this season
and scored 42 last week against arguably the league’s best defense.
If the Seahawks make it to the NFC Divisional game on a hot
streak, it may spell trouble for the Falcons.
But enough of the gloomy forecast, I’m sure the Falcons are
up for any challenge they may face this year. I mean it’s not like they’ve ever
let us down before.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at sportmentalist@yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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