Atlanta Falcons: 11 Straight Preseason Losses is Troubling
There is one starter that I am definitely concerned about. That is second year player and first year starting cornerback Isaiah Oliver.
Like Damontae Kazee, Oliver has played in the last two exhibition games. Unlike Kazee, Oliver has not played well at all. He has had trouble getting his head around and finding the football on passing plays down field.
Isaiah Oliver’s game two PFF grade was a good improvement over the unacceptable 33.5 in game one. However at 56.7, his performance was nothing to write home about.
Overall Oliver has a grade of 43.8 which is not nearly up to par for a staring cornerback. With the fact that the pass rush has yet to prove it should be feared, the play of Isaiah Oliver will be critical to the defense.
Factoring in the lack of depth, should Isaiah Oliver not come around, the Atlanta Falcons project to be more on the lower end of the league’s top 15 defenses, rather than the top ten defense that we saw in 2017.
Combine that with the Atlanta Offensive line woes so far and the offense could be more inconsistent than expected as well. Regardless the offense will be explosive with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones around.
As Karl Dukes co-host of Dukes and Bell on 92.9 the Game says:
"“The Preseason Matters, It just doesn’t count.”"
There is still plenty of time for the Atlanta Falcons to correct their issues. The team snapping it’s 11 game preseason losing streak and winning its next exhibition game against the Washington Redskins, would go a long way towards giving the team confidence to start fast in the regular season.
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Remember that no team has ever won the Super Bowl, after going winless for an entire preseason. I firmly believe that is due to those teams lacking depth.
The Falcons do not want this fact hanging over their heads all season and certainly don’t need a 13 game exhibition season losing streak in the books. So as silly as it sounds, the Atlanta Falcons must win a preseason game.
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