Week 16 All-22 Review: Falcons Get Conservative on Defense vs. Lions, So is Safety a Big Need?

Aaron reviews the All-22 film from the Atlanta Falcons' Week 16 win over the Detroit Lions, discussing Dean Pees' conservative game plan and whether that informs us over the safety position being a bigger need this offseason than previously thought.

First, he breaks down the Falcons' high usage of zone and lack of blitz concepts against the Lions, and why that was a perplexing choice given it played against their strengths. Then, he uses that as evidence that Pees prefers a zone-heavy Cover-2-based defense as his default, and how that impacts the Falcons offseason needs along the defensive front and especially at the safety position. Then, he revisits the "talent issue" to discuss the false narrative surrounding the Falcons' lack of talent and Arthur Smith's success despite that, and instead looks at better ways to evaluate Smith's success.

He also pays his respects to the passing of NFL legend John Madden.

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