Atlanta Falcons: 5 Burning questions for the 2020 season
4. Can Atlanta defense continue stellar play from latter half of 2019?
Throughout the course of the 2019 regular season, we saw two different teams in Atlanta in the first eight games than we witnessed in the last eight contests. Most notably on the defensive side of the ball.
In the first eight games of the regular season a year ago, the Falcons went into their Week 9 bye week riding a six-game losing streak while carrying an overall record of 1-7.
In the latter portion of the regular season schedule, however, Atlanta finished the year off strong with a 6-2 record, although it still missed the postseason for a second consecutive season.
One of the biggest reasons for the turnaround in the second half of the schedule was due to the Improved play of the Falcons defense, as it stepped up and improved tremendously in the final eight contests.
In the first eight games of the season, Atlanta gave up an average of 31.3 points per game to opponents along with giving up an average of 385.3 total yards in those contests. The defense also managed to finish that stretch with just an average of 0.5 turnovers forced per game.
In the second half of the year, the Falcons defense gave up an average of just 18.6 points per game while giving up 374.1 total yards per game to opposing offenses. The Falcons were able to force opponents into turning the ball over much more in the last eight games, averaging two turnovers a game.
Overall on the year, Atlanta ranked 13th in the league in total yards allowed to opponents per game (355.8), while coming in at 10th in the NFL in points allowed per contest (24.9) and recording a total of 12 interceptions on defense, which was tied for 17th.
Leading into the 2020 season and with some new faces set to take over on the defensive side of the field during the year, the Falcons will hope to have that defensive performance they had in the second half of the 2019 campaign carry over to the start of this season and get off to a hot start right out of the gate in the regular season.
If the defense is able to hold opposing offenses in check for the most part right away during the 2020 season, Atlanta could experience an improved start compared to what it went through last year and it would allow the high-powered offense to try and outscore opponents to get some early-season wins under its belt immediately.