LISTEN: Has Falcons Defense Improved Under Dean Pees?

Last season under the coordination of Raheem Morris and Jeff Ulbrich, the Atlanta Falcons struggled. The defense ranked 29th in yards allowed with 398.4 per game and 18th in points surrendered with 414.

When Arthur Smith became the head coach, he brought in longtime defensive coach Dean Pees out of retirement to help improve the Falcons defense.

At times the defense has looked messy, but that can be attributed to the players' lack of experience. Points have been surrendered more often this season than last, with 400 already scored through 15 games. However, the yards allowed have dropped significantly to 364.9.

Defensive statistics are hard to define since games are won by how many points the offense scores.

However, given the team's improvement from four to seven wins, it's safe to say that the unit has taken a step in the right direction with a lot more room for growth moving into next season.

On this episode of "Locked On Falcons," host Aaron Freeman reviews the All-22 film from the Falcons' Week 16 win over the Lions, discussing defensive coordinator Dean Pees' conservative game plan and whether that informs us over the safety position being a bigger need this offseason than previously thought.

First, he breaks down the Falcons' high usage of zone and lack of blitz concepts against the Lions, and why that was a perplexing choice given it played against their strengths.

Then, he uses that as evidence that Pees prefers a zone-heavy Cover-2-based defense as his default, and how that impacts the Falcons offseason needs along the defensive front and especially at the safety position.

Then, he revisits the "talent issue" to discuss the false narrative surrounding the Falcons' lack of talent and Arthur Smith's success despite that, and instead looks at better ways to evaluate Smith's success.

Aaron deals with all that and more on this episode of "Locked On Falcons." For more podcasts and information, join us here.

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