Written by Jeanna Thomas at SBNation.com
The high-powered Atlanta Falcons offense has been the main story this season. It’s historically good, scoring a league-best average of 33.8 points per game in the regular season. However, expectations surrounding Atlanta’s young, inexperienced defense were low heading into Saturday’s divisional win over the Seattle Seahawks.
So much for expectations. The Falcons defense held the Seahawks to just 20 points in what was the first playoff game for seven of their 11 defensive starters. And they did it with a familiar formula.
From the moment head coach Dan Quinn arrived in Atlanta, he has stressed two things — playing fast and playing physical. On defense, with young players, those two attributes can make up for inexperience. For the Falcons, it’s working.
Limiting the damage
The young defense needed to do just enough to limit an opponent’s scoring. Atlanta bent but didn’t break against the Seahawks. The Falcons gave up a handful of big plays — the Seahawks had just three plays of 20 yards or more — but kept Seattle out of the end zone outside of the first drive of the game and a fourth-quarter last-ditch effort at a comeback by Russell Wilson.
The Falcons have developed short memories, which helps players recover after big plays. It’s been a long road for Atlanta’s young defense to get to an NFC Championship bid, but it’s learned how to mask its deficiencies.
Staying in the moment
Giving up a touchdown on the first drive of a game can set the tone and put a defense’s back against the wall. The Falcons didn’t allow that to happen on Saturday against the Seahawks.
Rookie strong safety Keanu Neal said the way the defense rebounded after that drive illustrates the unit’s cohesiveness.
“We are growing. We’re young but we are starting to mold together as a unit and it showed today,” Neal said. “They drove and scored on the first drive but after that, we buckled down and really handled business.”
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