Atlanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49ers Preview & Prediction | PFF

Atlanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49ers Preview & Prediction | PFF

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PF hates running backs or whatever the old phrase is, but that’s that’s certainly we think they shouldn’t exist. Amolish the position entirely, right? you know, but in the case of a few rare special exceptions like Josh Jacobs and like Behian Robinson, sometimes we can absolutely love them and the what they set up for the rest of their offense. So, it’s going to be a similar theme here. I think here’s the thing. You’re going to see with Tatum Bthoon and Dwinners, the lineback the linebackers for the 49ers after now this Fred Warner season ending injury. You’re going to see right away if they’re up to the task cuz they got to tackle Bejun Robinson and that might be the hardest thing to do in football right now. sixth in the NFL among qualified uh running backs in PFF grade. Um that’s part of part of that is due to just a couple of fumbles honestly that we ding you heavy for. If you’re wondering why his grade was lower last week uh than you might think, it was an unofficial fumble on the first play of the game and then you know just I it’s just it takes a lot of individual like separate runs to get positive grades to get up in that 90s range especially when you have a fumble on the record there. So uh look sixth best running back in football. I’m sure by the time we get into more weeks here, he might be first or second on that list, but leading the league in yards per carry, leading the league in yards per reception, leading the league in combined missed tackles forced. Honestly, outside of the couple occasions this year where he’s fumbled the football, he’s been the best back in football. I I’m not going to tell you any different. Even when it comes to the narrow difference in grading and things like that, he’s been outstanding. And look, if he can get up on these linebackers in the run game first with with Tatum Bthoon and Dwyers there and then in the passing game where he’s just been outstanding as a receiver lining up wherever he needs to line up. It can be out of the back field or I’ve mentioned before the looks where they have a Charlie Werner in the back field to pass protect and be lined up out wide. It’s it’s a big big thing. I think that’s the first thing you have to look at as any opposing defense. Michael Pennix has been a bit inconsistent. Drake London’s obviously great. You have to have a plan for him. Where is Bejan Robinson at any given point? And how often are they going to give him the football? Because he is one of the elite offensive players in football. If you don’t stop him, Buffalo learned that on Monday, you’re probably not going to get very far. No, there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, you always have to account for where Bejan is on the football field. On the other side of things, you know, it’s reported that Brock Pury could be back this week, but whether it’s Brock Pury or M. Jones, I think that this point that I’m about to make stays the same no matter what. So, when you look at the Atlanta Falcons, I wanted to take a look at how they generated pressures because Jeff Olrich, their their defensive coordinator, he has been more aggressive this year than I think he has been in years past. When you look at these last three weeks specifically from the Atlanta Falcons, they have a 58.1% pass blitz rate, which is second most in the NFL. I believe it’s only behind uh Brian Flores and the Minnesota Vikings. They have a 31.1% blitz percentage from the box. So from the linebacker level, that’s third highest percentage in the NFL. So when they are blitzing, they are blitzing from the linebacker level. They’re only 21st with a 9.1% uh on sixman blitzes. So a lot of times they’re only blitzing one extra player, and it is one of those linebackers because they’re very low on percentages of blitzes from the slot and from the quarterback position. So this is a team that’s very aggressive right now, throwing pressure at the quarterback, and they’re doing so from the linebacker level in the Bucks. When you look at Brock Pury and M. Jones, both of these players have very quick time to throws and pretty good passing grades under pressure. When you look at M Jones, Mac Jones’s time to throw against pressure is like 2.5. Like, it it’s it’s really fast. And when you look at Brock Pury, it’s a little bit higher. It’s like a 2.93. Well, actually, it’s it’s a 2.93 is the lowest that it’s been in his career. I think this year it’s actually a 2.7 for when he’s been out on the field. I know he’s missed a little bit of time, but his passing grade has been consistently in the 70s and 80s when you talk about passing grade under pressure when it comes from facing the blitz. And so all that to say, blitzing, pressure, aggression has been the Falcons bread and butter. They have been able to overwhelm offensive lines and quarterbacks when they have been doing that over the last three weeks. The Ners are pretty good with their quarterbacks and their offensive philosophy at mitigating those things. And so when you talk about the fact that they might get George KD back this week, they might get Ricky Pierce all back this week, right? They’re they’re getting a little bit more healthy. I’m actually taking the 49ers here in this one. Give me the 49ers. I can’t remember what the line is on this game, but I’m going to take the Niners 27 to 23 because whether it is M. Jones or whether it is Brock Perie. Both of these quarterbacks have been very decisive, confident, and have graded pretty well and performed pretty well against pressure. And I I I am just I wonder what kind of a second half adjustment might have if they get really aggressive in the first half like they have been throughout the last couple of weeks and it doesn’t work. What do you do then? I’m not so sure with that young defense they’re going to have those answers to change things up um and sort of out chess match the 49ers uh especially with this game being all the way in San Francisco. So I’ll go the 49ers here in this one. Yeah, I think it’s a great point about the pass rush because despite this team not having a guy at the level of a Micah Parsons or Miles Garrett or TJ Waters, somebody like that, they’re doing it with a diverse array of options. Right, Trev? 17 different guys have a pressure this year and 11 different guys have a sack. So, I mean, you look at just the creative ways and you have different players who can do a ton of different things. Kaden Ellis has long been one of the more versatile players who can switch between edge and linebacker. Divine Diablo is blitzing at times. You know, Jaylen Walker, he’s the funny one because they haven’t gotten too creative with him, but you absolutely could. Right now, he’s playing exclusively off the edge, but you could put him anywhere that you want to. guys like Brandon Doris and Ruka Roaro inside. You’ve got a ton of different options that makes their front seven very fluid in pass rushing pass rushing situations and they’re doing a good job of manufacturing certainly certainly a lot better job of manufacturing a pass rush than they did last year. So that’s a that’s a heavy credit to Jeff. I’m actually going to take Atlanta in this game and I do think again it’s because of Behan Robinson and I I’m so worried now about this Fred Warner injury and him being out. I that could be the the straw that breaks a camel’s back. And I know the Niners and Kyle Shannon, they’ve done such an outstanding job of getting through these injuries and to so many different star players, right? All the offensive guys and Nick Bosa, but this is the one that really hurts in a matchup like this. And I think Bejian Robinson’s the best player on the field. Again, I’ve got the Falcons 24 to 20. As long as Michael Pennix can make, like he did last week, a handful of throws that move the chains on third down, I like where this Falcons offense is at right

PFF’s Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema preview the matchup between The Atlanta Falcons and The San Francisco 49ers.

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