It’s a new week in Atlanta, but the Falcons produced more of the same. The Falcons were 0-4 for the first time since 1999 and now this team is 0-5 for the first time since 1997.
This secondary is the chief culprit in the miserable start for Atlanta.
The secondary has been a nightmare all season. Sure, there have been injuries, but each week we have seen the same issues popping up. Wide receivers are running free too often and they allow quarterbacks to complete passes with ease. This unit lacks physicality and panics when the ball is in the air. Teddy Bridgewater dropped 261 passing yards in the first half, the 15th-highest passing total of his career. Let me say that again: In two quarters, Teddy Bridgewater had the 15th-best passing day of his career. In one half!
Bridgewater is only the most recent quarterback that has made minced meat out of the Falcons defense. Coming into today, this unit has allowed 300 passing yards or more in every game this season, a 72.8 completion percentage, and a whopping 13 touchdowns. All of these marks are among the worst in the league. That is ridiculously bad, approaching historically bad.
The Falcons have consistently been the get-right game for quarterbacks across the league. Average quarterbacks like Nick Foles, Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota, and Kirk Cousins have managed to shred this secondary over the past two years.
Nothing has changed and at this point it is foolish to think it will.
A large portion of the blame has to be on Isaiah Oliver, the only Falcon defensive back to play in every game this season.
After three years, the Oliver experiment has been a cataclysmic failure. He has been terrible in coverage all season and today was just more of the same. DJ Moore beat him on a simple slant route that he ended up taking 57-yards for a go-ahead score in the second quarter.
This has been the story of his career in Atlanta. Coming in to today, he has allowed a 65.6 percent completion and 125.1 passer rating. His ineffectiveness has been a consistent detriment to this unit.
I would say that the Falcons should look in a new direction, but with the injuries to everyone else they really don’t have any other viable options.
Perhaps the only option is to blow it all up.