Last season, Atlanta had the division lead in hand with an upcoming run of winnable games, including a second round against their NFC South rivals after having gone 3-0 within the division up to that point. The Falcons fell apart, Arthur Smith made some dubious decisions along the way, and the team ended up once again with the #8 draft pick - and a new head coach. So here we are again. There are still a lot of issues the team needs to figure out. A big one is how to generate pressure. The front office made no moves at the trade deadline to bolster the pass rush. So far, Matthew Judon hasn't been getting it done. Arnold Ebiketie hasn't really stepped up. Kaden Elliss hasn't played at edge due to injuries to the others in the interior LB group. The blitz packages have been, to put it kindly, ineffective. Atlanta is dead last in sacks, dead last in effective pressures. They're only 19th in rushing yards allowed per game as well, so all around the defense is still a work in progress. The offense is still getting itself together as well, looking effective at times and looking like it's tripping over itself at times. Injuries have been a factor in the recent struggles for the run game, but simple execution, avoiding penalties, and play selection were also factors. The injury situation should help improve the run game this week though, as starting center Drew Dalman is now back from IR. Atlanta truly needed the bye week last week just to try to get healthy, as the injury list was getting to be just plain silly, particularly on defense. At corner, three of the team's six CBs were ruled OUT ahead of their last game, and a fourth was injured and left the game after playing just six snaps. That left the team to play a practice squad call-up (Natrone Brooks) and a backup (Clark Phillips) at two of the three CB spots for the entire game. Likewise, two of the four interior linebackers (starter Troy Andersen and backup J.D. Bertrand) were also out. And on the line, starting end James Smith-Williams and rotational lineman Ta'Quon Graham were moved to IR, with Ruke Orhorhoro having been put on the shelf the prior week. Meanwhile, quarterback Kirk Cousins was on the injury list for that week with right shoulder and elbow issues. Dalman was coming back from IR while backup center Ryan Neuzil was also banged up, along with guard Chris Lindstrom, receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney, and running back Tyler Allgeier. Blocking TE Charlie Woerner had already been ruled OUT for that last game as he was in concussion protocol. So... a week of rest? The team needed it in a big, big way. Now that they're heading back into action, rookie RB Jase McClellan is OUT, and corner Mike Hughes is still OUT. Kicker Younghoe Koo is questionable. Otherwise, everyone should be ready to go - the only other players out or limited in Friday's practice were for rest purposes and not due to injury. They'll still have to wait a while to get Orhorhoro, Graham, and Smith-Williams back, so the depth up front on defense is still limited. Fourth round rookie Brandon Dorlus and practice squad end Demone Harris are stepping into the rotation. But... can the team figure out how to generate a pass rush? If not, the division lead this year will evaporate the same way it did last year.
OUCH..........that one hurt Torgo..........But the good news is Falcons are still in 1st place.....Kudos and I'm surprised at how well the Chargers are playing.
