Atlanta Falcons Beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the second time this season in Week 8. Victory moved The Falcons were in the driver’s seat and finished first in the NFC South.

But that doesn’t mean it was a perfect performance for the Falcons.

Atlanta’s offense gets better most weeks. But the defense is not like that.

With Great play from unit stars like Jessie Bates III and AJ Terrell are exceptions, but the Falcons’ defense leaves a lot to be desired. The most challenging part of the team is, of course, passing.

Falcons fans have become accustomed to negative things being said about the team’s offensive linemen. Atlanta hasn’t finished in the top half of the league since 2017.

Coincidentally (not actually coincidentally), this was the last time the Falcons were in the playoffs.

But despite the investment of multiple draft picks and a preseason trade for a veteran rusher, the Falcons’ passing offense is worse, not better. According to Team 33One of the worst pass rushing units in the NFL this century.

“Atlanta ranks 23rd in EPA per play on defense, and opponents score 48.7 percent on drives, the third-highest rate in the league.” Dan Pizzuta of Team 33 wrote:. “The Falcons still have one of the worst pass-rushing units in the league, ranking 29th in pressure rate and 32nd in sack rate at just 2.2 percent.

“This is one of the worst sack rates for a team over eight weeks since 2000.”

33. The 2024 Falcons have the worst sack rate after eight weeks in the last 15 seasons, according to data compiled by the team. Since 2000, only the 2007 Carolina Panthers, 2008 Kansas City Chiefs and 2009 Jacksonville Jaguars have had the worst sack rate the Falcons currently have after Week 8.

None of these teams broke winning records. Interestingly, the 2007 Panthers and 2009 Jaguars managed to take the lead with a score of 7-9. However, the 2008 Chiefs finished the year as one of the worst teams in the league, going 2-14.

However, it’s worth noting that the ’07 Panthers and ’09 Jaguars each increased their sack percentage in the second half of the year. The Panthers, who had only a 1.6% sack rate after the 8th week in 2007, finished the season with a 4.1% sack percentage.

Sitting at 5-3, the Falcons can win the NFC South without much improvement in the passing offense. But unless Atlanta gets better at pressuring opposing quarterbacks, that will leave Kirk Cousins ​​and the offense with little margin for error.

Cousins ​​threw 4 touchdown passes and finished the game with a 145.9 passer rating. Thanks to Bates, Terrell and a mistake-free offense, the Falcons also had a plus-3 turnover margin.

However, they won by only 5 points.

The Falcons led nearly all of Week 8. They were ahead by double digits in the fourth quarter. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield attempted 50 passes.

But despite having little reason to honor the running game on Sunday, the Falcons managed zero sacks and zero quarterback hits against Mayfield.

The Falcons need to find a way to rush the passer, either through trade or improved play from the current defensive front, if they want to be a true contender in the NFC.