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The Atlanta Falcons were defeated in Week 1 after the Minnesota Vikings were able to impose their will on them and continuously run the football. It'd be normal to expect adjustments to be made on the secondary as they prepare to face another decent running team in the Philadelphia Eagles.
The most immediate area that can stop the run is the defensive line. Interestingly, Falcons lineman coach Jeff Ulbrich doesn't believe that his D-line needs to make the adjustments.
He talked about one of his linemen with AJC's D. Orlando Ledbetter:
“He hasn’t made a whole lot of adjustments,” Ulbrich said of [linebacker Deion] Jones. “The biggest adjustments have been for the outside guys and their ability to be in two-point (stances) instead of three-point (stances) and ramping up their vision.”
He then began to talk about the entire linemen corps as a whole and how he believes they have the talent to succeed:
“We really believe we have the players and we are trying accentuate their strengths,” Ulbrich said. “We are just trying to put them in the best position to be successful.”
“It’s a little bit of a work in progress, but in the midst of the darkness and it was dark on Sunday, I get it,” Ulbrich said. “What a horrible feeling, but there were some bright spots.”
The Vikings were able to impose their will on the Falcons, covering 172 yards on the ground to finish the game with three touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Atlanta offense only ran the ball 17 times for 73 yards.
Philadelphia also likes to run the ball. While they do pass the football (Carson Wentz and the offense completed 28 passes for 313 yards), they put the ball on the ground 31 times for 123 yards.
The Falcons secondary will try to stop the run to force them to make a pass. They hope that they will be able to put on a better defensive show compared to last week.
