Defense tired of digging early hole

Quinn, players say poor communication causing slow starts.

FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons coach Dan Quinn often says he wants his outfit to be “the best attacking team in football.” He says he likes to see “intent” from his players. He wants them to play a “fast and physical” style.

Quinn’s defensive players have heard those themes since the offseason camps. They hear them throughout the week of preparation. They hear them before taking the field.

And yet, lately, the Falcons’ defense has responded by going out and immediately giving up a touchdown. The past six Falcons opponents have scored a touchdown on the opening drive. Usually the defense gets better from there but the Falcons are concerned that it has not been good from the start.

“It’s been the last five or six games. We’ve got out there and we’ve let teams drive down the field on us,” Falcons safety Ricardo Allen said. “We’re putting our offense behind the 8-ball. We’re just not communicating enough. We are not playing with enough intent. We get out there and we are trying to feel it out.

“We have to get out there and play, man. Once that clock starts, it’s time to go.”

Sunday at the Georgia Dome, the Chiefs needed just four plays to drive 72 yards for a touchdown on their first drive. The Chiefs added to the streak of opening scores by Falcons opponents that also includes the Cardinals, Eagles, Bucs, Packers and Chargers.

The Falcons’ defense has started slowly each week, even as the games become magnified during their push for the playoffs.

“It’s tough,” Allen said. “Every team has their own battle wound; that’s our battle wound. It’s been lingering and it’s been bothering us this whole year. We’ve got to go out there and start fast. We start fast in practice; we go hard in practice. Now we’ve got to do it in a game.”

Two first-half touchdowns were the only points the Falcons’ defense allowed to the Chiefs, who scored in the second half on a fake punt, an interception return and a two-point conversion return. The Falcons also were strong defensively in the three previous games after allowing opening touchdowns.

Quinn said he’s pleased with the overall defensive improvement but is not happy about the slow starts.

“You don’t want to say, ‘It’s got to be (a stop) on the first drive or else,’ but the communication, that’s where it starts,” Quinn said. “Taking the information from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, all the training and time you put in. Now during (the opponent’s) first 15 (plays), there are some new calls, there is some new stuff. That communication (has to be) loud, as proud as you can say it.”

Rookie middle linebacker Deion Jones is responsible for many of the defensive calls. But Quinn said the communication issues “aren’t all on him” while noting that calls are made at all levels of the defense.

Quinn said defenders call out “alerts” when the opponent shows its formation. Those can change if the offense shifts or motions before the snap and Allen said the poor communication in those situations has made the Falcons tentative.

“If everybody talked and everybody understands what’s going (on), they can’t beat us,” Allen said. “If the offense shifts or does something different, you can’t just shut down.”

The Falcons’ defense may be getting a reprieve in facing the Rams, who have the least efficient offense in the NFL by far, according to metrics developed by Football Outsiders. But Los Angeles has had some success on opening drives.

The Rams scored on the opening possessions in seven of 12 games, including four touchdowns, for a total of 37 points on those drives (3.1 points per drive). Their other 130 offensive drives (not including kneel-downs) produced 1.1 points per drive.

For the Falcons to start better, Quinn said he wants his defenders to be more “urgent” in making calls to adjust when the Rams offer unfamiliar looks.

“Sometimes a shift or motion may unveil what could happen next,” Quinn said. “Often times, they line up in a formation that they’ve done a certain play in, (and then) sometimes they shift or motion to try to hide a certain play. But once that final formation happens, getting that information back to your teammate is critical.”

GETTY IMAGES Spencer Ware (32) caps the Chiefs’ opening drive with a 3-yard touchdown run Sunday at the Georgia Dome. Kansas City became the sixth straight Falcons’ opponent to score on its first drive.