Maturing Falcons defense saves best performance for Packers
ATLANTA — A young Atlanta Falcons defense is all grown up.
The three leading tacklers in Sunday’s 44-21 NFC Championship Game win against the Green Bay Packers were all rookies: cornerback Brian Poole, linebacker Deion Jones and safety Keanu Neal. Second-year cornerback Jalen Collins recovered a fumble in the end zone, and third-year defensive end Ra’Shede Hageman sacked Aaron Rodgers from his belly, sufficiently swatting Rodgers’ foot.
“It's exciting to watch the young players, to have their energy, to go out there and just dominate the game,” veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux told USA TODAY Sports. “It doesn't matter what year you are in this league as long as you're playing to our standard and having fun out there.”
No practice required: Julio Jones dominates Packers in Falcons' rout
That doesn’t mean the maturation process was necessarily easy.
All things Falcons: Latest Atlanta Falcons news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
As the Falcons overhauled the defense over the past two years, adding six new starters through the draft or free agency, there were early struggles under demanding, defensive-minded head coach in Dan Quinn. Atlanta gave up 31 points per game over the first four weeks of the season but was bailed out by its high-scoring offense.
The shift didn’t truly happen until early December, veteran players and said, after a heartbreaking 29-28 loss at home to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“It was a terrible feeling to have,” Babineaux said. “We knew from that point on, we had to make our mind up to be dominant every single play, not just a few plays.”
In the four regular-season games that followed, the Falcons allowed fewer than 19 points per game, and then held the Seattle Seahawks to 20 points in the divisional round win.
Matt Ryan: Falcons have to 'finish the job' in Super Bowl
But their most dominant performance came Sunday against Rodgers and the Packers.
The Falcons sacked Rodgers twice, and hit him six times, starting with a blitz by Jones on Green Bay's first possession.
“What quarterback wants to get hit, you feel me?” Hageman said. “So that's what we tried to do. We tried to put a lot of pressure on him and obviously it turned in our favor.”
And now that this young group has clicked, the Falcons truly have a defense that can complement their offense heading into Super Bowl LI.
Falcons give Georgia Dome fitting finale with NFC Championship Game win
“We are a young, hungry defense — relentless, man," Hageman said.
"We all want to be dogs."
***
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones
PHOTOS: NFC Championship Game
