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The Atlanta Falcons have remained competitive in each of their games to open the 2022 season despite not being given much of a chance to do anything entering the year. That trend continued in Week 4 when they upset the Cleveland Browns by a score of 23-20, pushing their record on the season to 2-2. Even without Deshaun Watson under center, not many folks expected the Falcons to beat the Browns in this one.
It wasn't the prettiest game, but a win is a win, and the Falcons got the job done in this one. They limited Cleveland's offense all day long, and overcame a woeful outing from Marcus Mariota to pull out the win. With the win, they are now technically tied atop the NFC South with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is a pretty surprising development in the early stages of the season.
Despite the win, there were a couple of notable holes that popped up in this game that the Falcons will have to figure out how to solve moving forward. There are still a lot of things working against them, but the NFC South doesn't exactly look too strong, and there could be some room for Atlanta to surprise people this season. Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's go back and dive into three takeaways from the Falcons second win of the season.
3. Marcus Mariota needs to be better for the Falcons moving forward
The Falcons weren't expecting much when they turned things over to Marcus Mariota this season, and yet he's already managed to lead Atlanta to a pair of surprising victories in the past two weeks. Even then, he very nearly pulled off another pair of victories in his first two games of the season with the Falcons.
If Atlanta wants to keep the good times rolling, though, they will need Mariota to play a lot better than he did against Cleveland. Mariota was a hindrance under center for Atlanta, completing just seven of his 19 passes for 139 yards, while also tossing an interception along the way. It's not as if he didn't play the entire game, either; that's from a full four quarter contest.
Mariota isn't expected to be great, but it's clear outings like his one against the Browns are unacceptable. The Falcons were lucky their ground game (more on that in a moment) was able to pick up the slack, otherwise Atlanta would have had no shot at winning. Marcus Mariota is expected to keep his team afloat, but in Week 4, he was the anchor that very nearly sunk them. Avoiding that in the future will be crucial.
2. Falcons CB A.J. Terrell is quickly becoming one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL
A.J. Terrell took over the Falcons top cornerback spot last season, and he hasn't shown any signs of letting go of it. Terrell earned a second-team All Pro selection in just his second season in the NFL last year, and is quietly emerging as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. His performance against Cleveland on Sunday was one of the best of his young career.
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Terrell drew the matchup of Amari Cooper, who had posted back-to-back 100 yard games prior to this meeting. Terrell has regularly gone up against star wideouts, but he hasn't ever really blanketed them like he did to Cooper on Sunday. Cooper was targeted just four times, and only managed to haul in one of those passes for nine yards.
Terrell was the primary guy responsible for Cooper, and he played a huge role in slowing down Cleveland's offense throughout the day. It was a peak outing from Terrell, and it showcased his coverage talents to the rest of the NFL. Atlanta is going to need more big-time performances like this from Terrell if they intend on continuing to surprise the rest of the league this season.
1. The Falcons ground game is in good hands
Atlanta suffered a pretty big loss when it was announced that Corrdarrelle Patterson was headed to the injured reserve yesterday afternoon after picking up a knee injury in this win over the Browns. Given how effective Patterson had been on the ground to open the season, this seemed like a huge loss for the Falcons.
The good news is that they appear to be in good hands, despite the loss of Patterson. While Mariota struggled in the air, the Falcons picked up 202 total rushing yards on 35 carries, good for a very strong average of 5.8 yards per carry. With Patterson out, Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley picked up the slack. Allgeier picked up 84 yards on ten carries, while Huntley picked up 56 yards and his first career touchdown with his 10 carries.
There will be tougher tests ahead for this duo, but it looks like Atlanta is in a good position to absorb Patterson's loss and move forward. Getting better production from Mariota would help, but it looks like Allgeier and Huntley will be able to hold down the fort in his absence. And with Mariota's inconsistencies to start the season, that could be the difference between winning and losing for Atlanta moving forward.
