49ers Opponent Breakdown: What to Know about the Falcons
ATLANTA -- You probably don't know much about the 49ers' upcoming opponent, the Atlanta Falcons. Neither do I.
So I interviewed Scott Kennedy, the former director of scouting for Scout.com who has a YouTube channel dedicated to Falcons coverage. Here's what he said.
KENNEDY: "This is a very different team than what you saw last year when the 49ers and Falcons played. The record may not reflect it at the end of the season because the schedule is tougher for the Falcons, but they're considerably better in the trenches. And they've gotten better mostly with internal personnel, which doesn't happen. We both watch the Denver Broncos play, and they've run it back with the same offensive line that was not very good last year, and they're not very good this year. This is about the same defensive and offensive lines for the Falcons, and they've really really improved. They've changed out their linebackers a little bit, gotten a little bit bigger there. They're missing one of their starters, but they've got an athletic rookie who's pretty good, they've got Rashaan Evans who's 240 pounds, Grady Jarrett is playing like a Pro Bowler and the revelation on this defensive line is Ta'Quon Graham, a second-year guy out of Texas last year, and he is playing really well. So yes, when they decide to sell out, they can get stops.
"Everybody on this Falcons team is either on a one-year deal or a rookie contract. That's just the way they've had to do it because of the salary cap hell they've had. They've got only $108 million on the field. They've got about $80 million in dead cap with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. They just got another $10 million in dead cap when they moved Deion Jones. Everything on this team has been building to next year. The Falcons are 2-3, but they have played really really well considering they've got half a team. They've been in five one-score games so far. The 49ers are a better roster, no doubt about it. But this Falcons team is stronger in the trenches than you saw last year. This team will fight you. And I did not expect that. At the beginning of the season, I picked them to finish 2-15. They didn't change the offensive line or defensive line and they lost some of their best players. I said 2-15. Now, they can play with anybody. They're not going to win all those games obviously, but I see more 7-10 or 8-9 than 2-15 by the time the season is over."
