While it’s important to learn from your mistakes, sometimes sports requires a short memory. Whether it’s a slugger who’s struck out his last few times up to bat, a three-point specialist who’s missed a few shots in a row, or an entire football team trying to get over a disappointing season, forgetting can be a good thing from time to time.
For example, Falcons linebacker Deion Jones says Atlanta’s defense is trying to forget about the 2018 season and move forward with a clean slate, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“To tell you the truth, we are just getting back to it. We are starting off with a clean slate. Trying to forget (last season) pretty much and build on what we have now. Get back out there and be ready to go.”
The Falcons had a top-10 defense as recently as 2017, so we know that they’re capable of being a respectable unit.
Four key factors played into the defensive regression last season.
- Major injuries for Deion Jones, Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen
- Poor coaching by former defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel
- Losing both Dontari Poe and Adrian Clayborn to free agency
- An uncharacteristic off-year at the cornerback position
There’s nothing the team can do to prevent injuries like the ones that ended Neal and Allen’s seasons and kept Jones on the shelf for so long. Atlanta just has to hope its luck is better this time around.
On the second count, Manuel has been replaced by coach Dan Quinn himself, who is one of the most renowned defensive minds in the business.
Poe may be lost to the Panthers for now, but the Falcons were able to reclaim Clayborn in free agency. Together, those two combined for about a third of the team’s pressures in 2017. A reinvigorated pass rush would do wonders for the defense this year. Takk McKinley, Vic Beasley, Clayborn, John Cominsky and Jack Crawford in particular have to produce.
As for the corners, with Neal and Allen back it should be easier for all of them. Desmond Trufant in particular should have a bounce-back year and Damontae Kazee will likely continue to shine at nickel. If Isaiah Oliver can hold down the right side, there shouldn’t be any glaring holes in the secondary like there was last season.
Add it all up, and there’s a lot of reasons to believe that the Falcons defense will be much stronger in 2019 than it was last year. Jones will literally be right in the middle of it.
