Falcons defensive strategy: Controlling the Broncos Playmakers

Smarting from the loss to the Saints, the Atlanta Falcons defense must immediately regroup. The Denver Broncos provide a vastly different offensive look than New Orleans. As a result, the Falcons must adjust not only their personnel but their mindset. A win versus the Broncos, stacks another victory.

Additionally, another win forces Tampa Bay to keep pace. Granted, the Bucs will play a struggling Giants team. However, those New Jersey winter winds tend to balance out perceived advantages. Avoiding a losing streak and establishing a defensive identity matters most.

Protect the Underneath

If Derek Carr threw dimes on Sunday, then Bo Nix will fling nickels. The Broncos live and feast on everything underneath, as proven by Nix’s 6.1 yards-per-attempt. That ranks 28th among qualified passers.

Risk-averse offense helps Nix and the Broncos. Despite fielding receivers in Courtland Sutton, Devaugh Vele, and Lil ‘Jordan Humphrey who are at least 6 foot 4 inches tall. 

While Nix does possess decent enough arm strength to get the ball downfield, the Broncos take a hyper conservative approach to the game, everything short and careful. The Falcons can camp underneath and allow their playmakers to take the underneath away, forcing Nix to travel outside of his comfort zone.

For Atlanta, their safeties can easily protect beyond the intermediate. The Broncos longest touchdown of the season sits at just 32-yards. There’s no reason for defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake to play a soft-zone to surrender short-yardage plays against the Broncos. That plays right into their hands.

Throw Everything at Bolles

Garett Bowles plays left tackle for the Broncos. Since his selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, he’ played over 96% of the Broncos’ snaps. Bolles is a walking penalty machine with 63 career penalties. Now, you’d think that over time, experience would clean his game up. 

However, he already committed nine penalties this year. Four of those come way of holding. Basically, Bolles grabs and tugs jerseys before outright tackling the defender. If his presence does not energize the Falcons’ pass rush, nothing will. In all honesty, Atlanta doesn’t truly need to blitz in Bolles’s direction, but at times, his decision-making will end up costing his team.

Overview

The Denver Broncos will not beat themselves with reckless play. Their methodically cautious style limits mistakes and allows them some traction. At this point, their main job isn’t to lose the game and allow their defense to provide short fields and opportunities. 

Atlanta needs to seal off underneath. A rookie quarterback will ultimately make mistakes, compounding them with more mental errors. On passing downs, it boils down to the Falcons pass rush. They traded for Matt Judon for games like this, Time to make plays.

A win against Denver starts with shutting their offense down, which shouldn’t be that difficult since they won’t explore the deep part of their field.

But if the Falcons sit back and surrender underneath, Kirk Cousins and the offense will have a hard time seeing the ball. Head coach Sean Payton will be content with 12-play, time consuming drives.