Atlanta Falcons pass rush comes alive
It’s always interesting to look back at a game and try to see if there was a “silver bullet” type answer for why a team won, and, in most cases, that’s not the case. Football is such a complex sport, so it’s difficult to whittle a game down to one factor. But in yesterday’s 27-17 win over the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Atlanta Falcons win essentially came down to their pass rush, which had been as underwhelming as expected to this point in the season.
Oniel Cousins and Kevin Pamphile looked like massive weaknesses on the Buccaneers struggling offensive line, and they were mis-matches ready to be exposed badly. The Falcons pass rush embarrassed those two left tackles, and they shelled Josh McCown for the second time this season. McCown didn’t leave Sunday’s game with an injury and actually finished with over 300 yards, but he still felt the wrath of the Falcons front seven.
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With Kroy Biermann and Osi Umenyiora unsurprisingly leading the way off the edge, the Falcons sacked McCown four times, including a whopping 11 QB hits. They consistently put pressure on the quarterback, and Mike Evans‘s big receiving day wasn’t enough for the Bucs to overcome this insane amount of pressure. We usually don’t see this kind of a pass rushing outburst from the Falcons, but they completely dominated their NFC South rivals in the trenches (I mean, they even neutralized the Buccaneers pass rush, holding the opposition to a sack and three QB hits).
Nobody was more impressive than Biermann, and he’s a darkhorse for this week’s “Player of the Week”, though Aaron Rodgers already has that one sewn up. I’ve always liked Biermann as an underrated DE/OLB, because he does a credible job of getting to the quarterback and showed off some of his skills yesterday. He was responsible for 1.5 sacks, three total QB hits, and an additional pass defended, while the more well-known Umenyiora also had 1.5 sacks, a PD, and three QB hits to his name. The always-consistent Jonathan Babineaux continued his fine form in 2014 with two QB hits and a sack, and the interior pass rusher has been arguably the Falcons most reliable source of pressure this season.
It will be interesting to see if the Atlanta Falcons pass rush can build off of this positive momentum, and we’ll see if the team can do the same as a whole. The Falcons looked dangerous off the edge, and this was easily their best game as a collective unit. I know the Buccaneers offensive line isn’t a good one, but you have to take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses in order to win. They clearly did that, and they definitely exceeded expectations as a unit. And it wasn’t just about the sacks either, because the Falcons repeatedly beat McCown into the ground, never allowing the Buccaneers offense to get into a true rhythm. Evans did plenty of damage, but that’s more of a testament to the thoroughly impressive rookie’s skill-set than anything else.