Atlanta Falcons: Week Nine Grades Vs Washington

Week 9 Low Flying Atlanta Falcons Defenders

Vic Beasley Jr. – Defensive End

Week after week Vic Beasley Jr. has failed to recapture his 2016 form, in which he led the NFL in sacks. Pro Football Focus ranks Vic as edge defender number 105. That makes Beasley the lowest rated qualifying edge player in the entire league.

Beasley continued to play badly against the Redskins. Playing 50 snaps, Vic Beasley failed to make a tackle but missed two tackles. He gave up one catch for three yards in coverage but he was covering the back four yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Due to the fact Vic Beasley just isn’t producing, the signing of veteran defensive end Bruce Irvin could mean reduced snaps for Mr. Beasley. We covered the signing here.

Ian Rappoport of NFL.com reported that Atlanta turned down potential deals for Beasley at the trade deadline. One has to wonder if the Falcons would have pulled the trigger, had they known Bruce Irvin would be released.

Ian Rappoport sent the following tweet about the Beasley trade rumors:

Vic Beasley just hasn’t played well. He had an offsides penalty in the game. The positive against the Redskins, is that he did have two pressures and one hit on Alex Smith, in 35 pass rushing snaps. Yet he failed to record a sack. Vic has just one sack on the season.

Hopefully the addition of Irvin and reduced snaps will have a similar effect on Beasley, that a specialized role has had for Duke Riley.

PFF Grade: 42.7

ATL All Day Grade: F –

Takk McKinley – Defensive End

Takkarist McKinley started his sophomore season strong. He recorded five quarterback takedowns in his first three games. Unfortunately Takk has slowed down. He only has one sack in the last four games.

His six sacks on the season are nothing to complain about, but he’s yet to become a consistently disruptive force. Takk had a fairly quiet week nine. He only had one tackle in 48 snaps against Washington, but it did register as a stop, holding them to three yards or less.

Takk McKinley failed to record a sack. He registered four quarterback hurries in 32 pass rush snaps. He also committed a penalty in the game. Where Pro Football Focus really docked him was in run defense, giving him a slim 50.7.

The sky is the limit for Takk, he just needs to become more consistently disruptive. He could certainly stand to improve on his has pass rush win percentage noted PFF Falcons’ tweet below:

PFF Grade: 55.1

ATL All Day Grade: D

It was a great week nine for the Atlanta Falcons players and coaches. They Falcons will attempt to duplicate and even build on that performance, this Sunday in Cleveland against the Browns. Stay tuned to ATL All Day for more on the upcoming matchup.

What Dirty Birds impressed you in week nine? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Keep a browser window open to ATL All Day for more on the Atlanta Falcons, and all of your favorite Atlanta area sports teams. Download the FanSided app for the latest in Atlanta Sports analysis. Thank you for reading.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.