Falcons Pass Rush Broke Out vs. Chargers. Is It Repeatable?

The Atlanta Falcons recorded a season-high five sacks in their Week 13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Atlanta Falcons notched five sacks against Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 13.
The Atlanta Falcons notched five sacks against Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 13. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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When Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris addressed reporters Sunday after a 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, he didn't want to gloat about his team's pass rush.

Morris was frustrated about the result. About four turnovers from quarterback Kirk Cousins. About losing a third consecutive game. About seeing bye week corrections not translate.

Except for one -- generating pressure. The Falcons recorded a season-high five sacks against the Chargers after entering the game with just 10 sacks all season. Atlanta added eight quarterback hits.

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Morris gave credit to his defense, but he wanted to wait and watch the film before delivering more praise. More specifically, he wanted to see if it was repeatable, more than just a flash in the pan.

After reviewing the film -- against a Chargers offensive line he respects and a standout quarterback in Justin Herbert -- Morris thinks it is.

"For us to be able to go put that kind of effort versus that team, I don't see why we can't do that moving forward or should have been doing that the whole year," Morris said.

Morris has several reasons for his belief.

He touted the effort of outside linebackers Lorenzo Carter and Arnold Ebiketie, the consistency of defensive tackles Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata, the stout play of defensive tackle Kentavius Street and the versatility of inside linebacker Kaden Elliss.

Carter didn't sack or hit Herbert, but he forced a fumble. Ebiketie, in his third season out of Penn State, notched a career-high two sacks. Beyond production, Morris noted the means with which they found success.

"That effort they played with on the edge, that's repeatable," Morris said. "And they showed us a glimpse of what you would like to see every single week. I believe that's something they can put on tape every single week and what they're able to do."

Jarrett didn't sack Herbert, though he came close once and hit him twice overall. Onyemata recorded his first sack since an overtime win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 3.

"I think that was something you could put on tape every single week," Morris said about Jarrett and Onyemata's steady wins.

The 28-year-old Street logged his first sack since Dec. 10, 2023. He's been a healthy scratch four times this season -- each game from Week 5-8 -- and played only 12 defensive snaps against the Chargers, but he capitalized on his opportunity.

"Street showed really good quickness and movement and showed a bunch of good things in the understanding of what we're trying to do in the rush game," Morris said.

Elliss, meanwhile, tallied his second sack of the season and now has 10 quarterback hits, one behind Jarrett for the team lead. His productivity is rooted in versatility, as he aligns in several different spots for defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake.

"Elliss showed his ability and the threat up at the line of scrimmage to be able to be a rusher or a dropper and win that one-on-one battle versus the back that we've kind of been talking about," Morris said.

Atlanta's secondary also played well, limiting Herbert to just 16-of-23 passing for 147 yards and no touchdowns. The Chargers also struggled running the ball, totaling just 56 yards on 17 carries -- an average of 3.3 yards per attempt.

The Falcons allowed only 187 net yards of offense, their best mark this season. Cornerback Clark Phillips III said it arose after a bye week spent focusing on specific things at each position.

The secondary wanted to cover better. The defensive line wanted to rush better. The Falcons fell short of beating Los Angeles, but Phillips felt they took a step in the right direction of fixing a defense that, beforehand, ranked bottom-fourth in the league in total yards, passing defense, scoring and sacks.

"I feel like we got in a good rhythm in terms of rush and coverage, and it all plays hand-in-hand," Phillips said. "We just got to keep on stacking."

Perhaps Herbert didn't know about Atlanta's pass rush woes prior to Sunday's game, but he saw enough in the 60-minute game to make a proclamation few would expect to hear.

"They do have a good pass rush," Herbert said after the game.

At least on Sunday, Morris agreed. He thinks it'll show up more often as the season goes.

"Guys won one-on-ones, guys executed games better, guys went out and played extremely hard and extremely physical, extremely fast," Morris said. "Those are the things I believe are really repeatable and the things we've got to go out there and accomplish at a higher level and better for us."

Morris challenged the Falcons' defense heading into the Chargers game. Jarrett said Morris "turned the heat up" during the week, which the 31-year-old veteran believes was a positive for everyone involved.

Atlanta's defense responded well to Morris's message, Jarrett said. And now, after tasting success, the Falcons' pass rush is hungry for more.

"Just an amazing improvement by the whole group," Jarrett said. "I'm excited to continue to build off that and continue to hunt. It was super encouraging that everybody got a piece of him, and it was great to be a part of it."

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Daniel Flick
DANIEL FLICK

Daniel Flick is an accredited NFL writer for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Daniel has provided boots-on-ground coverage at the NFL Combine and from the Atlanta Falcons' headquarters, among other destinations, and contributed to the annual Lindy's Sports Magazine ahead of the 2023 offseason. Daniel is a co-host on the 404TheFalcon podcast and previously wrote for the Around the Block Network and Georgia Sports Hospitality Media.