Atlanta Falcons Week Ten Grades Vs Cleveland
Derrick Shelby – Defensive End
Derrick Shelby tied Brooks Reed to lead the Atlanta Falcons defensive ends with 25 snaps. Like Reed, Shelby was a beneficiary of the Cleveland Browns running offense from more big sets. This gave Shelby, who typically plays on running downs, more snaps than normal.
Shelby had four tackles against the Browns tied for third on Atlanta. Two of those counted as stops. A stop is a play that gains three yards or less, unless the play results in a first down. Derrick was given a run defense grade of 73.0.
As a pass rusher, Derrick Shelby also had one pressure in 11 snaps. However he didn’t win nearly as much as his line-mate Reed, grading just 59.2 as a rusher. Regardless it was a sold game for Derrick Shelby.
Pro Football Focus Grade: 72.8
ATL All Day Grade: B –
Damontae Kazee – Free Safety
They Falcons have had many injuries this season and more often than not, the injury replacement has failed to come near the production of the man he is replacing. Damontae Kazee is definitely an exception to this. He has arguably been better than injured started Ricardo Allen.
Week ten was a mixed bag for Kazee. He played well in coverage as the deep safety, breaking up a pass and intercepting another. The interception gave Damontae Kazee the NFL lead alone with five. He was given a coverage grade of 69.6 by PFF.
Damontae Kazee played 100 percent of the defensive snaps and had just three tackles against the Browns in the 53 snaps he plays. He also missed two tackles so the run game was not his strong point against Cleveland. It showed as former UGA running back Nick Chubb destroyed the Falcons on the ground with 176 yards.
Pro Football Focus gave Kazee a run defense grade of 57.2 and a terrible tackling grade of 35.6. So we commend him for his work in the passing game, but he must play better in the run game than he did in week ten.