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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterOct 21, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
ATLANTA — Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris joked last week that Carolina Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton looked like Michael Vick on one play, spinning away from Falcons defenders en route to a big gain on the ground.
It was easy for Morris and Falcons fans to laugh after a blowout win over the struggling Panthers. But there wasn’t much humor coming a week later, after Atlanta’s 34-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, when the team’s lack of a pass rush stood out again.
Morris said after the game the Falcons came out “flat” without “the energy required to win,” and that things weren’t clicking on offense, defense or special teams. He wasn’t wrong, but that hasn’t always been the case for Atlanta this year. The Falcons are 4-3 and have had ups and downs in what has mostly been a positive season.
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The one thing consistent through seven weeks, though? It’s the pass rush. Or lack thereof.
The Falcons have a league-worst six sacks, and their pass rush win rate (34.4%) is the sixth-worst in the NFL. Dalton could only do so much evading Falcons would-be tacklers. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith was able to do much more.
Going into the fourth quarter, when the game was still on the line, Smith was actually pressured on 12 of his 27 dropbacks (44%). But the Falcons mustered only a single sack, by edge rusher James Smith-Williams, who specializes more in run stuffing. Smith was 6-of-9 for 92 yards and a touchdown when the Falcons got pressure. He was able to avoid the rush and make big plays.
“We’ve gotta hit the quarterback in a timely fashion,” Morris said in his postgame news conference. “We’ve gotta get him on the ground when we send people, can’t let him scramble around, do some of those things and we gotta go back and find ways to fix it.”
Geno Smith had plenty of time to throw Sunday, completing 18 of 28 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
Getting to the quarterback was an area the Falcons knew they had to address in the offseason. A pass rusher was their primary target with the No. 8 pick in the draft, but then quarterback Michael Penix Jr. fell to Atlanta, and the team felt it could get its future at the position — despite having already signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot tried to trade back into the first round of the draft to get a pass rusher, but wasn’t able to do so. Atlanta was able to get University of Washington edge rusher Bralen Trice in the third round, but he was lost for the season due to a torn ACL in the preseason.
Still seeing that glaring need, Fontenot traded a 2025 third-round pick to the New England Patriots for edge rusher Matthew Judon in late August, on the eve of the season. Judon had 15.5 sacks in 2022 but a season-ending bicep injury cut short his 2023 campaign. So far, Judon has just 1.5 sacks through seven games. He’s tied for the team lead in sacks with interior defensive lineman Grady Jarrett.
Other than Smith-Williams’ sack Sunday, Judon’s 1.5 sacks represent the only sacks Atlanta has from the edge. Arnold Ebiketie, a second-round pick in 2022, has played well in recent weeks getting pressure, but doesn’t have a sack on the season. Another edge rusher, Lorenzo Carter, was placed on injured reserve Saturday due to a concussion. The Falcons signed Demone Harris from the practice squad to replace Carter, and he had pressure against Seattle, but also fell into Smith for a roughing the passer call in the third quarter on third down that led to a Seahawks touchdown on the next play.
The Falcons have not had a respectable pass rush in nearly a decade. They were near the bottom in every pass rush statistical category in 2023 and haven’t had a double-digit sack producer since Vic Beasley in 2016.
Last week, Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said the pass rush tactics in practice and in games were getting better, but the results had not been seen just yet.
“The process that our guys are going through, it is correct, and we’ve just gotta trust that the results are gonna come, the results are gonna come,” Lake said. “And we’re really, really, really close.”
Close wasn’t good enough Sunday, and the Falcons are only a game over .500 with road games against divisional opponents Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints coming in the next three weeks.
Could Atlanta, whose front-office has been aggressive in trying to improve the team over the last few months, swing a trade for someone like Maxx Crosby before the deadline? Morris was asked about a potential deal on the Dukes and Bell radio show last week.
“Nothing,” Morris said, “would shock me.”
