How Falcons Breathed Life into 'Non-Existent' Pass Rush

From dormant to lively, how the Atlanta Falcons flipped the switch on their pass rush.

The Atlanta Falcons nearly have many sacks in their past two games (nine) than through their first 11 weeks (10). / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons' pass rush was, in the words of head coach Raheem Morris, "non-existent."

Now, it's filled with life.

Through the first 11 games of the season, Atlanta had only 10 sacks. Then, the Falcons entered their bye week. They reset and underwent a thorough self-scout -- one in which Morris spearheaded with a unique perspective due to his background working on both offense and defense.

The result? Rejuvenation.

Atlanta, in its two games since returning from the bye, has collected nine sacks and 15 tackles for loss. Defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake cited natural progression over the course of the season as the biggest factor, a natural phenomenon for a coaching staff still less than a year into its job.

"Kind of figure out what guys do well, what schemes and stuff work well, what the offense is paying attention to, where they're turning their protection, who is our best pass rusher, who are they paying attention to," Lake said. "How our opponents were looking at us post-bye.

"So, now we've had a couple different wrinkles."

Ask Lake about the wrinkles and Morris's message, and he'll say he doesn't want to give the Falcons' opponents an advantage. Ask the players, and they may give you an answer unrelated to game plans.

Third-year outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie, who has three sacks in the past two games and leads the team with four sacks, said the defense is still playing fast and physical, and the unit's gains are a mixture of schematic and individual improvements.

Zach Harrison, the Falcons' second-year defensive lineman, said it's as simple as pass rushers winning their one-on-ones and straining more each snap -- though that process starts during the week at IBM Performance Field in Flowery Branch.

"Attention to detail, execution and a little sense of urgency," Harrison said. "We were a little more detailed at practice about it -- going through the pressures and the looks we're going to get. You execute on the plays at practice, it'll translate to the game."

It certainly has the last two weeks -- and with no major changes to the roster's personnel.

Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray credited Lake with putting players in the right position to gain productivity. Morris credited both Gray and Lake. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who was sacked five times, didn't directly credit anyone -- but he said Atlanta has a good pass rush.

The Falcons once seemed to simply lack any sort of pass rush juice. Lake saw a different story behind closed doors on the practice field. Now, the rest of the league is, at long last, seeing the same.

"Our guys have continued to just put in the work," Lake said. "It's way back to OTAs. We would see it in practice and then all of a sudden it wouldn't happen in games. And then all of a sudden, we'd see flashes and then we wouldn't.

"Now we're getting a little bit of consistency and we've just got to keep up with that."

The Falcons have received production from a variety of sources. Of their nine sacks, Ebiketie has three, inside linebacker Kaden Elliss has two, and four others -- outside linebacker Matthew Judon and defensive tackles Eddie Goldman, David Onyemata and Kentavius Street -- have one apiece. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett has a pair of quarterback hits during that span.

Each of those players were on the roster Week 1. That part hasn't changed. Recognizing how to use them, meanwhile, has -- which is where Morris's self-insertion over the bye week is perhaps most evident.

"What I like about Raheem, he's always looking for solutions inside the room," Gray said "What can we do better inside our room other than looking outside the room? So, all of a sudden, he keeps pumping the guys up to understand 'This is who you are.'

"Now when you go out there, they start presenting themselves like that."

Yet while the Falcons' pass rush has, rightfully, received considerable praise, Gray thinks growth starts in the run game. During the early stage of the season, opponents frequently faced second or third-and-short situations.

Atlanta has gotten substantially better at recording stops on first downs, which has forced its opponents into more obvious passing spots -- sometimes twice in the same series of downs. With that comes more opportunities, and thus, more production.

Gray added the Falcons' young defenders, like Ebiketie, are coming on and performing as they're expected to. When blended with veterans such as Jarrett, Onyemata and Judon, Atlanta's defensive front suddenly becomes more formidable.

But the Falcons want more -- especially after their 42-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings during which Atlanta's defense allowed four plays of 40-plus yards.

"I think the biggest thing is, let's put a complete game together to where we can rush the passer or stop the run and then eliminate the deep balls," Gray said. "Then, that's when you really get a chance to see what a good defense looks like."

Lake acknowledged that while he'd love to get four-to-five sacks each game, it's a statistical improbability. But he also stressed the Falcons don't need to get that many sacks to win games.

After all, Atlanta has recorded two-plus sacks four times this season and is 1-3 in those games. In no world does that mean less sacks is better for a defense, but Lake stressed the Falcons won plenty of games -- they're 5-4 when logging one or fewer sacks -- without much of an impact from their pass rush.

So, what's all this mean?

Not that Lake wants Atlanta's defensive front to slow down. It's quite the opposite, actually. But rather he wants wins to come along with production.

"I know this, I would take away the last two weeks, I would take zero sacks in the last two weeks, with two more victories and we're still first place in the NFC South," Lake said. "And so that's what I talked about way back when, when the pass rush was so important, which I get it is. It is important.

"But at the end of the day, we're trying to win football games. And so hopefully this next week, I hope we have sacks, but what I'm really praying for is a win for the Atlanta Falcons."

Atlanta's next opportunity comes at 8:30 p.m. Monday against the Las Vegas Raiders (2-11), who have allowed 43 sacks this season, fourth-most in the NFL.

It's a chance for the Falcons to snap a four-game skid -- and keep their once-dormant pass rush rolling in the right direction.