Falcons' Arthur Smith Somewhat 'Concerned' About Sack Problem vs. Lions

The Atlanta Falcons head coach highlighted the difference between some of the sacks given up by his team on Sunday, but seven is far too high a number as the season wears on.

The Atlanta Falcons dropped their first game of the season on Sunday, falling to the Detroit Lions 20-6 thanks in large part to struggles up front by the offensive line.

Atlanta surrendered seven sacks on Sunday, making life hard for quarterback Desmond Ridder and the rest of the Falcons offense who struggled to establish a rhythm throughout the game. Head coach Arthur Smith addressed some of these issues following the game.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder sacked by the Detroit Lions defense

“Yeah, I mean some of them (are a concern)," Smith said. "I mean they’re different schemes. Obviously, when you have some of the obvious drop backs, especially late, one or two of them, but some of them were on some actions, and they beat us off the snap and it was right now. If it’s the crowd, or whatever it is, we got to do a better job getting into that. 

"We didn’t even get the play started. It puts you all off on those, so it wasn’t like it was all just drop back. I know that sounds like an excuse, but I’m just trying to give you the difference. It wasn’t like they were just collapsing on some of the traditional pass pro, but obviously they got seven sacks, we got zero, and we hit (Lions QB Jared) Goff a few times, but they clearly affected our quarterback, and they got us off track, and credit to Detroit. They were ready to go.”

Much of Atlanta's struggles boiled down to offensive execution on Sunday, and that battle began up front. The Falcons will look to remedy these issues before traveling to London next week as part of the NFL's International Series, facing the Jacksonville Jaguars at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN+.