Which Falcons Ring of Honor Legend Is Ripping Their Defense To Shreds?
Two-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Mike Kenn played 17 seasons for the Atlanta Falcons. During his franchise-record 251 starts, 16 different quarterbacks attempted a pass.
That was 1978-1994. Over the last 13 years - thanks to Matt Ryan - the position has enjoyed a sense of stability.
Since the start of the 2008 season, Ryan has missed just three games and only five other quarterbacks have thrown a pass for Atlanta. Despite being a model of durability and consistency, Ryan has received more than this share of criticism for the Falcons' - often spectacular - failings.
None of it, however, comes from Kenn.
While appearing as a guest on The Atlanta Sports Unlimited show, "NFL Jocks & Pigskins," the former lineman who blocked for the likes of Steve Bartkowski, David Archer and Chris Chandler was highly complimentary of Ryan and placed the entire blame on the Falcons defense for the team's failures the last few seasons.
"Matt Ryan does not get the credit that he deserves," Kenn said. "The only reason that the Falcons have been competitive is because of Matt Ryan and how good he is. The problem with the Falcons was not their offense. It was their defense. When you have to score 30-plus points per game to win the game every week, that's tough to do. And they did that. In the season that they went to the Super Bowl, they were scoring more than 30 points per game."
The Falcons averaged 33.8 points per game during the 2016 regular season when Ryan won MVP. They went on to average 36 points in three playoff games to end the season, but, as we all know, 28 points wasn't enough against the New England Patriots.
In the four seasons since 2016, the Falcons have averaged 24.1 points per game.
As bad as the Falcons defense has been considered at the end of the Dan Quinn era, it really wasn't much better early under Quinn either. The Falcons gave up an average of 25.9 points per game in 2020.
Points allowed by the Falcons since 2016:
2016 - 406 (25.4 per game)
2017 - 315 (19.7 per game)
2018 - 423 (26.4 per game)
2019 - 399 (24.9 per game)
2020 - 414 (25.9 per game)
"They have never had any defense, and they are still skeptical on defense," Kenn said. "They don't have anybody to rush the passer."
With maybe the 2017 season as the lone exception, Kenn is correct.
He blamed the Falcons' inability to put pressure on the quarterback as the biggest problem for the defense. Kenn called the edge rushers the team drafted "one-dimensional."
"A guy that's nothing but a speed rusher, if he doesn't have a counter move, that's an easy day for an offensive tackle," Kenn explained. "The only thing I have to stop is the speed rush. Does he have a bull rush? Does he have an inside move? No."
With the Falcons again counting on Dante Fowler and Steven Means to supply a presence on the edge, it's safe to say Kenn probably isn't too excited about Atlanta's chances of putting more outside pressure on quarterbacks in 2021.
But at least the still have Ryan.
