This promising trend will be key to Falcons breaking postseason drought
The Michael Penix Jr. era began with a bang on Sunday, as the Falcons smothered the Giants in all three phases on their way to a 34-7 victory. It was the perfect tune-up game for the rookie ahead of a Sunday Night Football clash with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders coming up, who will be … This promising trend will be key to Falcons breaking postseason drought Read More » The post This promising trend will be key to Falcons breaking postseason drought appeared first on SportsTalkATL.com.
The Michael Penix Jr. era began with a bang on Sunday, as the Falcons smothered the Giants in all three phases on their way to a 34-7 victory. It was the perfect tune-up game for the rookie ahead of a Sunday Night Football clash with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders coming up, who will be quite the test for an Atlanta defense that seems to have turned a corner since the bye week.
In three of the Falcons’ last four games, they’ve held the opponent to 17 points or less. Over the last two weeks against the lowly Giants and Raiders, the Falcons defense has given up just 16 points combined. About their only hiccup over this four-game stretch came against the Vikings, who racked up 42 points on the back of a career day from Sam Darnold, who tossed five touchdown passes. But even in that contest, the Falcons’ defense managed to rack up four sacks, which has really been the difference in the unit’s turnaround.
Atlanta added three more to their sack total on Sunday, bringing them to 26 on the season. That still ranks last in the NFL, two sacks behind the New England Patriots. However, 16 of those 26 sacks have come over the last four weeks, which is the most in the NFL.
Some of that is undoubtedly a product of the Falcons competition, especially over the last two weeks against the Raiders and Giants. Jayden Daniels will prove to be an entirely different test for the Falcons defense. He’s healthy and playing as well as any other signal caller in the league. It’s the perfect opportunity for Atlanta’s defense to prove the recent four-game turnaround is something more than just a flash in the pan.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
The post This promising trend will be key to Falcons breaking postseason drought appeared first on SportsTalkATL.com.
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