It seems like Christmas has come early for Falcons fans; with the signing of Matthew Judon on August 14th, Terry Fontenot and the front office didn't stop there and brought in All-Pro safety Justin Simmons a day later. As a Falcons fan, I've felt the pain of underperforming and lackluster defensive play. The last "quality" Falcons defense that touched the field for the Falcons was arguably in 2017 or even in 2012. Under the "Raheem Regime," the Falcons have brought defensive upgrades that'll put them over the threshold of a possible Super Bowl contention. (Yeah, shoot me. The regular season hasn't even started, and I'm already talking about the Super Bowl).
Simmons, entering his ninth year of NFL play this season, has spent his entire career with the Denver Broncos to this point. Out in the rocky mountains, Simmons has mainly spent time in center field and has acquired 30 interceptions, 64 passes defended, and 604 total tackles. Simmons also has one career pick-six, leading the league in interceptions with 6 in 2022. The 30-year-old veteran has amassed four All-Pro selections and 2 Pro Bowl appearances as well. Atlanta got one of the best safeties in football to join Jessie Bates (also one of the best safeties in football) to roam Centefield for the Falcons. I truly apologize for all opposing quarterbacks' TD-INT ratio.
I want to reiterate that the Falcons' starting safety duo is Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons; that's six combined All-Pro selections. Let's not forget A.J. Terrell at cornerback, who also has an all-pro selection. This Falcons secondary looks very dangerous on paper and gives big "no-fly zone" vibes. The question that I haven't seem to find an answer to yet, is who will play free safety and strong safety between Bates and Simmons. On ESPN's official depth chart, it has Simmons at SS and Bates at FS which could be possible. A strong safety will tend to play a more linebacker role depending on what type of fronts the defensive coordinator decides to run, in Atlanta's case, a 3-4 defense. Think of the strong safety as a "flex" position in some cases, Atlanta could also decide to run two high looks, especially in cover four situations, or in prevent scenarios. Either way, this gives defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake many options for deploying his secondary.
Atlanta has addressed two major issues that have kept them from having a top-tier defense, sacks and turnovers. Acquiring Judon has covered the edge rushing department, and now bringing in Simmons on a one-year deal for $8 million ($7.5 fully guaranteed) is going to take care of their ability to turn the ball over, just for context, Atlanta had eight interceptions (six by Bates) which ranked 27th in the league, so again improvements have been made. The "Dirty Bird" defense seems to have made its way back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and as we all know, offense wins games, but defenses win championships, and the Falcons have finally pieced together a strong defense.
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