Atlanta Falcons: Week Seven Grades Versus New York

Robert Alford – Cornerback

Robert Alford was torched time and time again on Monday Night Football. In fact last week’s game may have been the worse I have ever seen by a cornerback. Robert Alford was scorched for seven catches, a whopping 224 yards and a touchdown.

Embarrassingly, Robert Alford was called for two defensive holding penalties. Yet Alford was still beaten for big yards on both plays, despite holding the opposition. Robert offered very little resistance, as he was beaten constantly by Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard alike.

Robert Alford was beaten for six first downs, in his week seven disaster of a game. He allowed an unheard off, three explosive catches of 50 yards or more. Alford also allowed an unbelievable 32 yards per reception and 82 yards after the catch.

Pro Football Focus confirmed the ineptitude of Robert Alford’s night, by giving him a grade of 29.4. That’s one of the lowest grades I’ve ever seen PFF give an Atlanta Falcons player. His coverage grade was a paltry 28.6.

Eli Manning had a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 when targeting Robert Alford. It was truly the worse performance I’ve seen from a cornerback in the Dan Quinn era, and one of the worse in my years as a Falcons fan.

ATL All Day Grade: F-

Desmond Trufant – Cornerback

Desmond Trufant the starting cornerback opposite Robert Alford looked like Deion Sanders in week seven, compared to Robert Alford. At the same time he didn’t have a good day himself. Trufant was targeted eight times in coverage and allowed five catches for 70 yards.

Desmond Trufant was fortunate to be aided by a couple of errant Eli Manning throws, or he would have given up many more yards. Trufant failed to break up a pass on the night. Trufant also had a missed tackle. On the positive side Trufant did have two tackles for no gain.

Pro Football Focus gave Des Trufant a grade of 50.3, and a poor coverage grade of 46.8. Trufant certainty seems like a shell of the cornerback that he was before injury. He was a consensus top ten corner by NFL experts, and Pro Football Focus before tearing a pectoral muscle in 2016.

In all the Monday Night Football game had many things to be encouraged about, yet still offered many concerns. Hopefully Dan Quinn and his staff used the bye week to come up with some effective adjustments to install in practice this week.

Who else did you think flew high in week seven? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Check with ATL All Day for more Atlanta Falcons news, as they come off the bye week and prepare to face the Washington Redskins.

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