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An upbeat website for a downtown school

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An upbeat website for a downtown school

the Southerner Online

Falcons upgrade defense after Super Bowl loss

The Falcons young and exciting defense was one of the talking points of the NFL last season, and one of the driving forces behind their run to the Super Bowl, and it is still getting better. In addition to retaining their young talent over the offseason, the Falcons managed to add two established players in the league.

 

The first, Dontari Poe, signed a one year contract with the Falcons, after 5 year with the Kansas City Chiefs. The two time all star is one of the best run stoppers in the game and will add to the size and power of the defensive line. The second big player added by the falcons was Jack Crawford, who came over from the Dallas Cowboys. Crawford is likely to slide into a rotation of outside Defensive Ends that includes Ra’shede Hageman, Adrian Clayborn, and Reed Brooks. By doing so, not only does he add veteran presence on the field, but also gives the Falcons one of the strongest groups of DE’s in the League.

 

Even more important for the Falcons than signing new players was the fact that they still have almost all of last years defense returning. The Falcons secondary was led by rookie Keanu Neal and second year pro Ricardo Allen, who have both excelled under the guidance of Dan Quinn. Add to this the return from injury of Desmond Trufant, and Robert Alford staying in Atlanta, and the Falcons secondary looks like one of the strongest in league. The play of this group will likely mirror the explosive play of last year, which created lots of turnovers and came up big for the Falcon in close games. The ability the Falcons secondary has to flip a game on its head should not be underestimated as the new season begins.

 

The position that received a large portion of media attention towards the end of last  season was that of linebacker, and it is easy to see why. Vic Beasley flourished in his first season being fully healthy, and was one of the best defensive players in the league with his unique combination of speed and power. Beasley is quickly becoming the face of the Falcons defense and is becoming a player that steps up in big situations. He is joined at linebacker by two players who learned on the job as rookies and grew incredible amounts over the course of the season, Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell. Jones and Campbell played extremely well, but still have room to grow, which is exciting if you are a Falcons fan, scary if you are not.

 

The Falcons defense is young and still learning to play with each other. I expect this year’s team to be even better than last years on the defensive end as they gain more experience, making it a more complete team and allowing for another run deep into the playoffs.

 

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Falcons upgrade defense after Super Bowl loss