Finding a quality edge rusher is something the Atlanta Falcons have whiffed on for years. Whether it be poor draft choices or underwhelming free-agent signings, the team just hasn’t been able to find that elite pass-rushing presence.
On Thursday, Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees was asked if the defense could “ramp up” its pressure rate to take stress off the defensive secondary.
“So when you zone pressure, how many zones are there underneath open?” asked Pees. “All I know is when you zone pressure, there’s more zones open than when you don’t pressure. If you’re in man coverage and you’re not playing man very good and you pressure, is there more pressure now on the secondary if you don’t get there then if there’s not?”
Grady Jarrett and Dante Fowler are the two leading players on this Falcons’ defense when it comes to applying pressure to the quarterback. Jarrett has a pressure rate of eight percent, while Fowler has a pressure rate of 10 percent.
“So we tried pressuring against [Eagles] how’d that look?” Pees asked. “It didn’t look too good. So I told you a couple weeks ago we had to back off some of the stuff that we had to do because we weren’t getting there, we weren’t running things quite correctly. So we had to clean some stuff up and make it simpler.”
Even though the pass rush has struggled this season, this group has been better as of late.
Through the first two games, Dante Fowler possessed a win rate of 14.8 percent, which ranked 32nd among all pass rushers. Grady Jarrett ranked 77th with a win rate of 7.9 percent, which was good for 42nd among all interior defensive linemen.
Since Week 2, it’s been a different story. Jarrett is ranked fourth among all interior defensive linemen with a win rate of 16.9 percent. Over these past four weeks, Jarrett has one sack, three QB hits, and 11 hurries. Fowler, on the other hand, saw a small decrease in his win rate from Weeks 3 to 5 compared to this first two weeks.
“You guys get all into this pressures and sacks and all this stuff. I’ve been doing this forever. If you run a pressure, you better get there. That’s the number one thing about pressure, it’s not about the secondary, it’s about the pressure. If you aren’t getting there, you’re now hanging the secondary out to dry more than you did if you didn’t pressure.”
Watch Pees’ full press conference, via the Atlanta Falcons YouTube channel below.
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