Atlanta Falcons: Mike Nolan's Defense Still Dealing With Learning Curve

By Raj Prashad
NFL Writer

On a night where the offense couldn’t gain any traction, the Atlanta Falcons first-team defense also failed to impress.

With Mike Nolan taking the position of defensive coordinator and the acquisition of cornerback Asante Samuels, the Falcons defense seemed prepped to take the next step in advancing throughout the playoffs.

But after thoroughly impressing against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, the Falcons took a collective step back into their old ways against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On the first possession, the Falcons were the blistering, defensive unit Nolan aimed for them to be– flying around the field and attacking at all points.

As a much more aggressive unit, William Moore took advantage of running back Brian Leonard’s loose carry, as he popped the ball out for the Falcon’s first forced turnover of the night.

Thomas DeCoud would force another fumble later in the second quarter, but the ball rolled carelessly out of bounds before an Atlanta teammate could jump on it.

Forcing turnovers and playing up into offensive players is what the Atlanta unit will be focused on this season, while they attempt to cut down on the big plays. Second-year quarterback Andy Dalton took full advantage of the explosive unit early and often, though.

He attempted numerous bombs to second-year receiver, A.J. Green, only for Samuels to be there almost every time with a deflection or swat. On their last attempt, with 10:47 left in the second quarter, Dalton aired it out to Green, who sprinted past Samuels up the right sideline for a 50-yard touchdown.

Dalton found holes in the Falcons’ secondary due to a lack of depth Atlanta has in their linebacking corps. Following a season-ending injury to middle linebacker Lofa Tatupa and a concussion to Akeem Dent, veteran Mike Peterson took to the field Thursday evening.

The second-year quarterback slung the ball to tight ends Donald Lee and Jermaine Gresham with ease, finding the bigs for long receptions of 22 and 25 yards, respectively.

As it should be, preseason is a time for learning.

And it’s evident the Falcons defense has a bit more of that to do, if they expect to finally make the leap into the second round of the NFL postseason.

Follow Raj on Twitter: @RajPrashad
 
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