To say that the Atlanta Falcons defense struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks and contain offenses last season would be putting it lightly. The Falcons ranked dead last in the league in sacks with 18, the lowest total since 2015 and opponents averaged 27.0 ppg, the highest total in nine years. The team with the second-lowest total sacks was Philadelphia with 29, the only other team with under 30 sacks for the season.
Last year’s sack leader, Dante Fowler (4.5 sacks), left in free agency this offseason and joined the Dallas Cowboys. GM Terry Fontenot saw the writing on the wall going into his second season with the team and made sure to address the glaring needs in free agency and through the draft. In addition to selecting Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie in the second round and adding DeAngelo Malone, edge rusher from Western Kentucky, in the third round, the Falcons added experience to the pass rush with the signing of former Georgia Bulldog Lorenzo Carter to a one-year, $3.5 million deal in March.
Carter, the former Norcross product, has spent his entire four-year career with the New York Giants after being a 3rd round pick in 2018. He has tallied 14.5 career sacks with a career-high of 5.0 sacks just a season ago. The reality is that coordinator Dean Pees’ defense desperately needs to get more production from its veterans and hopefully Carter can stay healthy enough to contribute seeing as how he will more than likely be a starter Week 1.
While the Falcons managed to defy the expectations of plenty of analysts last season, finishing with a 7-10 record, it’s clear that the team is in the middle of a rebuild on both sides of the ball and the success of the offense is going to be linked to the effectiveness of the team’s defense in 2022.