Atlanta Falcons Secondary Earns Praise from Arthur Smith for 'Consistency'

Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith is proud of the consistency his secondary has displayed this season, especially safety Richie Grant.

The Atlanta Falcons defense has surprised many by its performance this season, especially players like safety Richie Grant in the secondary.

Grant came up with a late interception against the team’s divisional rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The defense limited the Bucs to just one touchdown in the game despite facing Pro Bowl-caliber wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

“That was a huge play in a big moment,” Falcons head coach Arthur Smith said of Grant’s interception.

Atlanta Falcons safety Richie Grant has been a consistent difference-maker on defense this season / USA Today Sports

This offseason, Atlanta signed former All-Pro Jessie Bates III to accompany Grant in the backend of the defense, and the two have had great success so far this season while also bringing up DeMarcco Hellams.

Safety performance is a large part of why the Falcons secondary has allowed the eleventh-lowest completion percentage, sixth-least yards per passing attempt (5.9), and eleventh-fewest total passing yards (1,331), all despite being one of the team’s that still hasn’t had a bye week.

Smith has noticed how well his safeties have played all season, especially against Tampa Bay.

“Those guys [Grant, Bates III, Hellams], we ask a lot of them,” Smith said. “There are things they can show post-snap that can help, that can affect the quarterback’s decision-making that helps us as a defense. Those are week-to-week game plans of what we’re trying to defend or take away. I think all of those guys back there, if you look at all three of them, just like any position, you could break a couple of plays down that we need to do better, but they’ve been pretty consistent. It paid off.”

As the team nears the halfway point of the season, it will be important that the secondary maintains its consistency to keep the team in games, but seven weeks into the NFL season, so far, so good in Atlanta.