Defense was the key component vs Jets in London. Even with key players out, the Falcons came to play. “I thought our defense played pretty well,” coach Arthur Smith postgame. “They knocked ’em back in the run game and made the plays they needed too.”
Falcons secondary made big plays throughout the game. Corey Davis who had over 100 yards vs Titans only had 45 receiving yards on Sunday. In the press conference from Sunday, Dean Pees emphasized the importance of players in the secondary attacking the ball, comparing it to a basketball player attacking a rebound.
Falcons led the Jets 20-3 at halftime as the Jets struggled to get any momentum. They had just 16 yards of total offense after the first quarter and didn’t record their first first-down until around the 9:19 mark of the second quarter.
The Jets struggled in coverage as Kyle Pitts and company had a good day. Pitts put together his best game yet in his rookie campaign catching nine of his 10 targets for 119 yards and a touchdown. The Jets came into this game vs Falcons with 13 sacks, they didn’t get one in London.
Special shoutout to Matt Ryan for becoming the second-fastest quarterback to 5,000 career completions after he went 33 of 45 for two touchdowns.
Cordarrelle Patterson has been no question or doubt the Falcons best weapon this season. He rushed for 54 yards on the ground and caught seven passes for 60 yards.
Falcons are now 2-3 but should be 3-2 after losing at home vs Washington last week.
Both teams will head back to the states for a bye week for week 6.
