Watch: The Falcons Pass Rush is Failing Their Physical so far in 2019
Over the summer, Dan Quinn made it known that he was taking full control of the Falcons defense for 2019. He also made it known that the unit would be playing a more physical brand of football under his direction.
The defense has stepped up its game against the run this season, holding opponents to a 3.7 yards per carry average, seventh best in the NFL. Unfortunately, the Falcons can’t brag about their pass defense after the first four games of the season. One of the reasons why their getting beat so easily through the air is because of their failure at pressuring the quarterback.
If you only look at yards allowed when judging the success of a pass defense, you might think the Falcons are one of the better units in the league. They’re currently eighth in the NFL in yards allowed. However, opposing quarterbacks have put up a 100.8 passer rating against them, twenty-fourth in the league. The team is also twentieth in net yards per pass attempt allowed.
What that shows are that quarterbacks are getting the time they need to throw downfield successfully against the Falcons pass defense. They’re getting that time because the Falcons gamble on Vic Beasley returning to his Super Bowl season form, along with improvement on the other side by Takk McKinley has yet to pay off this season.
Beasley has 1.5 sacks and McKinley is at half a sack as the Falcons hit the quarter-pole of the season. The team as a whole only has five sacks, tied with seven other teams, all below the .500 mark, for second to last in the league.
The Falcons are slightly better in quarterback hits, they currently rank sixteenth. Beasley leads the team with five of those hits and McKinley has four. That’s not as impressive as it sounds though. While it does mean they’re pressuring opposing quarterbacks, they’re not finishing them off. A sack puts an opposing offense in a hole, a hit means the quarterback successfully got the pass away.
It would be different if those hits were pressuring quarterbacks into interceptions but the Falcons only have two of those on the season. Those hits aren’t even resulting in an increase in passes defended by the defense. The Falcons are tied for twenty-eighth in the league in that stat.
On Sunday, the Falcons pass rush is going to get a prime chance to show what they’re made of. The Houston Texans have been one of the worst teams in the league at protecting the quarterback this season. Deshaun Watson has been sacked 18 times, third most in the NFL, even though he’s an elusive quarterback.
If Falcons fans don’t see the numbers 44 and 98 as regular residents of Houston’s backfield then the preseason bet that Beasley and McKinley could step up their game and be the physical pass rushers the Falcons needed will be in danger of failing.
