Cowboys vs. Falcons, Week 9: Kroy Biermann's production continues to increase

Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Kroy Biermann made a name for himself on the team by being a jack-of-all-trades player, even filling in for kicker once. This season however, he has seemingly been in the offensive backfield many times during games. Last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, Biermann recorded seven tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.

So far this season, he has recorded two sacks and 11 quarterback hurries. He also has 14 stops, defined as a tackle that results in a negative gain by ProFootballFocus.com. He continues to be a tenacious special teams player, recording four tackles so far this season. Currently that is good for second on the team behind Chris Hope. Although he has been receiving more playing time on defense, Biermann still enjoys playing special teams, according to an interview with Daniel Cox:

"Yeah, I've still got to run down there on kicks and knock some heads off," Biermann said with a laugh. "That's fun, I've always loved that. (Special teams coordinator) Keith (Armstrong) gets us right. Every weekend, he's ready to roll and his energy is crazy. I love covering kicks for him. That'll be a thing all year, I think."

Head coach Mike Smith believes that maybe he is starting to turn the corner as a defender:

Kroy's done a very nice job for us," head coach Mike Smith said on Thursday. "He really started to have some production this past game in terms of sacks and touches on the quarterback. He's a guy that can do a lot of different things. We've given him some roles that he hasn't played in the past, but he's done a very nice job."

The Falcons are scheduled to play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at the Georgia Dome. The game will be the Sunday Night Football game of the week on NBC and will kick off around 8:20 p.m.