The Atlanta Falcons entered the season with hope of a fresh start from the humiliating 4-12 losing season of 2013. Despite the 2013 season being pinned down to having multiple injuries to key players, two rookie DBs and a fragile offensive line, the 4-12 record was just not good enough by any stretch of the imagination and eventually led to the sacking at the end of this year to head coach Mike Smith. The 2014 season was yet another disappointing year for the Georgia based football side, dragging themselves over the line at a dismal 6-10 securing the 8th pick in the 2015 draft.
Yet another season which saw Falcon players dropping like flies due to injury; Sean Weatherspoon missed a lot of game time, Robert Alford missed the last four weeks, William Moore missed the majority of the season and at one point in the season the Falcons had tight ends playing as right tackles and right guards, due to the large number of injuries on the offensive line.
The Falcons finished 5-1 within the NFC South including sweeping the New Orleans Saints for the first time since 2005. It was outside the division in which they finished 1-9 throughout the season, only beating the Arizona Cardinals being led by Drew Stanton. There is not much to be excited about from last season but for the coming years, this losing season did show a few positives. Like having a franchise quarterback, two young and athletic DBs, having one of the best receiving cores in the NFL and having a young and developing LT in Jake Matthews.
On the defensive side of the ball Atlanta had very little to shout about, but the form and constant improvement of the cornerback Desmond Trufant. The second year cornerback from the University of Washington was selected 22nd overall by the Atlanta Falcons. Trufant can boast 16 passes defended and 3 interceptions this year which is 8 more passes defended and only one less interception than Richard Sherman.
He is sided with fellow second year cornerback Robert Alford from South-eastern Louisiana University and was the 60th overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons. He missed six games due to injury in 2014 but still finished with 11 passed defended and 3 interceptions. These are two impressive and young cornerbacks, who can only get better and give the Falcons something to work around on the defensive side of the ball.
Another standout defensive player was inside linebacker Paul Worrilow, while not exactly being a sensational player by any stretch of the imagination and not even making loads of plays he does something that the Falcons are missing throughout their front seven. A man who can tackle anything that moves. He was an undrafted rookie costless agent back in 2013 when he was signed up by Mike Smith, where he spent a lot of time in the practice squad until week 11 of last season where he became a starter.
Although it should be noted he was coming on and off the bench during games throughout the entire season, but it was only in week 11 that he became an official starter instead of a rotation option. In just two seasons he has registered 270 tackles averaging 135 a season, 2 forced fumbles, 3 passes defended and 2 sacks. While all the stats bar the huge number of tackles look good but nothing special it is important to remember that it is only his second season, he is going to improve for a couple more years yet meaning he may be rushing the quarterback more and breaking up more plays. But 143 tackles this season is not bad going which in fact the fifth highest tackles total in the NFL this season.
But despite having two young and exciting CBs and an inside linebacker who tackles anything that moves, the Falcons defense still lacks any real bite. They average 26.1 points a game resulting in 417 points in the year the 6th worst in the NFL and they allow 398.2 yards per game on average which is the worst in the NFL. This shows that the defense is simply atrocious as a unit. The problem isn’t the secondary as it may appear from these stats, it is the front seven. The Atlanta Falcons do not have a front seven worth talking about.
They boast 22 sacks over the entire season averaging 1.3 sacks a game, when you are only hitting the quarterback 1 to two times a game allows the quarterback time to sit in the pocket and find any receiver he wishes. One example of this which stands out more than any other was away at Lambeau Field where Aaron Rodgers had nine seconds untouched in the pocket to find a receiver, although ironically he under threw the ball on this attempt. But that amount of time untouched in a pocket is beyond ridiculous and it shows just how poor the Falcons defensive line really is.
Another Achilles heel of the Falcons defense is their attempts of preventing the running game, they are the twelve worse rushing defense in the league for yards allowed and they have conceded more rushing touchdowns than any other team with 21. It shows that the Falcons defense is unable to prevent the run and alongside the lack of ability to hit the quarterback, means they are there for the taking at all times.
But as always with the Atlanta Falcons it is the offensive side of the ball in which the most positives can be found. Matt Ryan threw for 4,694 yards the fifth highest total yards for a quarterback in the 2014 season, despite having a shaky offensive line and working through Julio Junes’ injuries, Ryan came joint tenth for touchdowns thrown with 28 in the season twelve behind TD leader Andrew Luck who had forty. He was however joint eighth for interceptions thrown with fourteen interceptions. He even completed 66.1% of his attempted passes.
All this makes Ryan a top ten quarterback and pushed out any argument that Ryan is not good enough to be a franchise quarterback, with a sturdy offensive line he would be one of the top quarterbacks in the National Football League. Many of Ryan’s mistakes have come in shoot outs such as the interception against Green Bay where he attempted to throw the ball away under pressure and only found a Packer DB. They are the sort of mistakes you make when your defense is shipping 20/30 points every single game, meaning you are having to throw three plus touchdowns a game.
Who is the main outlet for Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense when it comes to the passing game? Only one man can be given that role, it is Julio Jones. The fourth year man already has 26 career touchdowns in 39 games with 4, 330 yards. Jones’ only issue is he seems to be injured on a regular basis so the Falcons will have to be careful about that in the future, but despite missing a game in 2014 he still surpassed his personal receiving yard seasonal record by over 400 yards with 1,593 yards on the year the third highest this season. He also bagged six touchdowns on the year for a steady season. Alongside fellow receivers White and Douglas the Falcons have a stud receiving core, arguably the best in the NFL.
They have an expert route runner in Roddy White, a physical specimen in Julio Jones and a hugely underrated receiver in Harry Douglas who can do a bit of everything, whenever he is required. It won’t take an offensive genius to quickly turn this passing offense into an offensive juggernaut which opposition defenses will dread coming up against. However to become an entire offensive juggernaut the rushing game has to be improved. The Atlanta Falcons had only 1498 yards over the course of the season and recorded only 11 rushing touchdowns over the course of the 16 game season.
However the Atlanta Falcons have a potentially very exciting and effective NFL running back already in their ranks and has the potential to become a dangerous starting running back. That running back is Devonta Freeman. He is only 2 years of age, skipping his senior year at college to jump straight into the NFL, he is a running back with great speed, ability to make defenders miss and surprising strength for a man who doesn’t appear at first glance to be particularly big. A prospect from Florida State, Freeman lacked carries in his rookie year as a Falcon with veteran running back Steven Jackson being the starter. But with Jackson reportedly being cut this season, to spare up some more cap room it is potentially the time for Freeman to claim the starting role for himself.
The rookie had 65 carries over the course of the year making a solid 248 yards, averaging 3.8 yards per carry. Not bad numbers for a rookie running back, who is usually given the ball in tough situations where Jackson the starter can’t even make yards and the numbers look even better when you put into context the Falcons offensive line is not exactly great when it comes to blocking for the run. The Falcons have struggled on the run for three years now, so these stats from a rookie who skipped his senior year are very promising.
What makes the future passing and rushing offenses of the Falcons look even better is rookie left tackle Jake Matthews. The Falcons drafted a gem in Jake Matthews a young, athletic left tackle who has bags of potential to become one of the best in the National Football League at this moment in time. He can play both right tackle and left tackle but spent the majority of his season at left tackle after the injury to Sam Baker. He stood out in an average Falcons offensive line who slowly improved as he season progressed. He was able to match many defensive pass rushers for strength and agility, so he is well rounded to make a great career for himself as a Falcon.
In a season which had very few bright moments for the NFC South side, one of the highlights came in week 3 against NFC South rivals the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New addition to the side Devin Hester broke NFL history in front of former Falcon and current return touchdown record holder, Deion ‘Primetime’ Sanders. He received the punt on the 38 yard line in Falcon territory and ran straight through the center of the on rushing Bucs special teams defenders. While it was a poor season the Falcons faithful were able to view Devin Hester create history which could stand for a very long time.
All in all it has been another season to forget for the Falcons as they have slumped to two consecutive losing seasons, which resulted in the sacking of Mike Smith. But despite the doom and gloom of the season there is some positives for the Falcons. With a potential cap room of $34 million and the 8th overall draft pick, the Falcons are in a good position to improve the roster.