Dave Canales' Biggest Concern Heading into Atlanta Falcons Matchup

The Atlanta Falcons’ defense has its flaws, but their pass rush isn’t one of them.

They rank just outside of Pro Football Focus’s highest-graded pass-rushing teams, boasting intriguing young talent like Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. to go along with more experienced contributors like Zach Harrison and Leonard Floyd.

As they prepare to face Atlanta on Sunday, Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales highlighted some of his concerns as he faces one of the league’s better pass-rushing attacks.

“This is a Falcons defense that's really gotten after the quarterback. That’s what jumps out when you watch them on tape, and how do you negate that? Yeah, it's effort and depth,” Canales said. “They have a really good group of rushers, whether it's inside or outside, and then Elliss comes in there and he's got an excellent way of being a part of the stunts and adding himself into a five-man rush. They use their DBs also with different blitzes, and I think Jeff Ulbrich has done a really great job of having variety.”

While Carolina’s offensive line ranks among the league's top half in terms of pass-blocking, Atlanta brings a balanced blend of pressure from all parts of their line. While many teams' best pass-rushers come off the edge, players like Brandon Dorlus (five sacks, eight pressures) and Ruke Orhorhoro (two sacks, 17 pressures).

As Canales mentioned, Ulbrich also mixes in a wide variety of blitzes, letting defensive backs like Dee Alford (two sacks) catch teams by surprise off the edge, while linebacker Kaden Elliss (three sacks) attacks open gaps inside when the defensive line occupies blockers.

“At the end of the day, they’ve got some talented guys, and they got some young speed on the edges, and they got Leonard Floyd too, and on any given play, he looks as good as he ever did, so this is a group I really respect,” Canales said.  “We're aware of that, we have to be mindful of the different ways they're gonna try to create that rush, and bottom line is it starts with effort, and this is a group that really plays hard.”

Unlike their ability to rush the passer, Atlanta has struggled to stop the run this year, giving up the sixth-most rushing yards in the NFL. And unfortunately for the Falcons, Carolina has been one of the league’s top rushing teams, totaling the fifth-most rushing yards so far.

While Carolina will have to gameplan for Atlanta’s pass-rush, Uhlbrich will be just as focused on slowing down Carolina’s run game.

The two teams are set to face off on Sunday, Nov.16, at 1 p.m. EST.

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