2017 provided plenty of reasons for optimism. After an unforgettable 2016 (for good and very bad), Dan Quinn avoided a predicted down season in part to a dramatically improving defense. Unquestionably one of the team’s best defenses in the last two decades, the young players could only get better.
Then they didn’t. Injuries were a big problem, but multiple players fell flat in 2018. When the Falcons needed someone to step up, most of the defense disappeared. The most worrisome problem has been the frustratingly inconsistent play from the team’s highly drafted pass rushers Vic Beasley and Takkarist McKinley.