Falcons place critical defensive piece on Injured Reserve

Ebukam had a decent start to his first season with the Falcons, recording 11 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and nine quarterback hits. He initially suffered the hamstring injury back in Week 2, and it never quite healed properly as he tried to fight through it. Now Atlanta is left even thinner along the defensive line — a part of the team that’s been exposed in recent weeks, with the Buccaneers running for over 300 yards this past Sunday.

The addition of James Pearce Jr. will help moving forward. He was removed from the suspension list and is expected to play against the Bengals, but Pearce is much more of a factor rushing the passer than he is against the run. Atlanta has really started to feel the effects of losing Jalon Walker, who is out for the entire season after tearing his ACL during training camp.

If the Falcons can’t find a way to fix those issues, it’s hard to see how they break their postseason drought — even in a division that’s completely up for grabs with more than half the season left to play.