'Tremendous' Falcons Have Top-10 Defense, Says Coach Dean Pees
Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees announced his retirement Monday but made sure to walk out with a bang.
Pees' final unit finished ranked No. 27 in total defense (362.1 yards per game), No. 25 in pass defense (231.9 yards per game), No. 23 in run defense (130.2 rushing yards per game), No. 23 in scoring defense (22.7 points per game) and No. 31 in sacks (21).
And yet ... Pees feels very strongly about the way that his group finished the season - so much so that he ranks it amongst the league's best.
"One of the things I wanted to achieve, a personal goal, was that every place I've been I've had a top-10 defense, and I wanted to have a top-10 defense here," Pees began. "And now I think there is a top-10 defense; they were. The second half of the year, this was a top-10 defense."
While Pees' claim seems exaggerated, the 73-year-old coaching veteran who spent 50 years of his life in the industry provided statistical evidence that substantially supports his argument.
"I love this defense," Pees said. "Where they've come from the beginning of this year to where they are now, I've never had a defense do that. In this last nine games, we've given up an average of 314 yards a game and 19.7 points a game, which would be fifth in the NFL right now. Unfortunately, that's not the way it is, because we played the first eight games, and we weren't that way.
"But to know that a team can improve that much and has improved that much and be bought in that much is really tremendous."
Thus, while the Falcons defense, in a vacuum, left a lot to be desired, there was definite growth throughout the season - potentially to the point of being a top-10 group.
Considering the unit's inexperience, it's not necessarily surprising. As a team, Atlanta was the league's second youngest, and only four players - defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, cornerback A.J. Terrell, outside linebacker Ade Ogundeji and nickel corner Isaiah Oliver - started a majority of the games a season ago.
There were young players who ascended into starting roles, like defensive tackle Ta'Quon Graham and safeties Richie Grant and Jaylinn Hawkins, and offseason additions such as rookie linebacker Troy Andersen and free agent signees Rashaan Evans and Lorenzo Carter who became routine starters.
As a result, the Falcons had a lot of new faces - but have ended up with quite a few building blocks. It's a far cry from where they were during Pees' first year, when a veteran-laden defense trudged through a difficult season while Jarrett and Terrell were the long returning impact players for the year after.
But according to Pees, it was all a part of the process ... and ultimately helped build the foundation of this "top-10 defense."
"It was a different system from what they had, and you've got to get them to buy in, and that first year, they all bought in," Pees said. "I just don't think we had ... we couldn't do a lot of the stuff that we really wanted to do because you've got to learn it; it's not an easy system, it takes a while to learn it. But this last year at the beginning of the season, we just did some crazy things - they were much more in tuned."
Pees described the two-year culture improvement as "incredible," citing that "everybody" - from coaches to players - bought in, even though the on-field results didn't necessarily follow.
Part of the problem was that Pees only had around 60 percent of his playbook installed after year one, a testament to how difficult it is to learn the defense. Conversely, Pees had his full arsenal of plays available this year ... but with the number of new starters on the field, it remained an adjustment - which could've contributed to the unit's slow start.
As such, it's little surprise that the defense improved over the course of the season - but it is surprising how much the group improved. Pees, who's coached football since the 1970s, said he's never had a defense take the jump this one did - and he attributes it to the mindset they adopted each week.
"I feel good about the progress that they've made," Pees said. "Every week I go back into that room, even if we lost a tough one; that takes a toll - but these guys come back in there on Wednesday and when I talk to them or have the signal callers meeting, 'here we go again,' bought right into what we wanted to do, and it just really paid off. I couldn't be prouder of that group of men."
Perhaps the biggest thing Pees brought to the Falcons defense is the ability to finish. After years of struggling to do so under the previous regime, Pees' group had three game-sealing interceptions late in one-score games.
There's also the element of "bend but don't break" - and the defense made considerable progress in that category, as well, creating what coach Arthur Smith calls "four-point swings" and contributing to Atlanta's defense being top-five in points allowed over the season's second half.
"I just can't say enough about them," said Pees. "We went from 28th in the league in red zone to 14th. One of the things I heard so much about the Atlanta defense when I came here was not finishing games - that was always the big push. We ended this year in second-half points, second in the league, behind Buffalo (Bills) by one-tenth of a point. So, I'd say that's a pretty good tribute to those young men."
Pees' word on player development and strides made carries significant weight considering his tenure on the sidelines - but how about Jarrett?
As the second-longest tenured player on the Falcons roster, Jarrett was a part of those defenses that had immense difficulty finishing games. He's a two-time Pro Bowl selection who pours his heart into the franchise but has been on just one top-10 defense in his eight-year career.
So, what does Jarrett think about Atlanta's defense? Much the same as Pees.
“We were definitely trending in the right way to close the season, and that’s encouraging," Jarrett claimed. "This season was a little tough in the beginning. We had guys that didn’t have a lot of experience, but a lot of people got better. That is what’s exciting, so I am excited for how we were trending. Super proud of everybody in this locker room.”
In essence, there's a lot of pride in how far the Falcons came ... and even more optimism for what's to come.
But there's also a sense of pride from Pees, who came out of retirement because he believed in Smith and wanted to help be a part of the solution on his first coaching staff.
Pees fielded some of the league's best defenses while with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. He was highly accomplished and had little to prove to anybody by coming to Atlanta ... but he did anyways - and the Falcons will be better off because of it.
And most importantly, Pees was able to leave on his own terms ... and certainly left his mark, both on the field and in his final press conference, sending one final parting message.
"I told you (in training camp) I want this defense to be talked about like the other defenses that I've been around, and now I think they are that," Pees said.
This once-lost defense is now a young, competitive group that has the right work habits and keeps getting better by the week.
But most importantly, the Falcons defense is now "that" - which is, according to Pees, a top-10 group.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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