Mike Nolan's defense is all about pressure. The Falcons want to get pressure in a variety of ways, whether it be from their front seven in the pass rush, or their versatile defensive backs. This is the kind of in-your-face scheme that makes every defensive player a threat at the line of scrimmage.
Just take the numbers, for example. Atlanta had two tackles for losses by DBs in their loss to the Bengals on Thursday. The other three came from defensive ends and a linebacker. But that's five tackles for loss, with all of them spread out between positions. Even Dunta Robinson had a tackle for a loss as part of his stat line.
Check out safety Chris Hope's take on all of this:
"We have depth at safety and that's a good thing." Hope said. "We have guys that can play, run and tackle and cover. When you have that, you have an opportunity to do a lot of things up front. When you have that, you can pretty much bring blitzes from all over since you have safeties that can do multiple things. ...
"We have physical corners. Dunta has been playing well for us, tackling well and playing physical. When you have DBs that aren't afraid to come in and make tackles, you can bring pressure from pretty much everywhere. I think that's what is bringing versatility to coach Nolan's play calling."
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