Falcons vs. Giants: Holes Atlanta Must Fill After Being Exposed by New York

Matt Ice melted under the pressure of the New York Giants pass rush on Sunday afternoon. The Atlanta Falcons are a talented football team, but key weaknesses will continue to hold them back until their holes are filled.

Here are the weak links on the Falcons that they must fix to actually win a playoff game next season.

Guard

Michael Turner misses Harvey Dahl. Last season, Atlanta arguably had the top offensive line in the entire league; this year, not so much.

Turner only rushed for 41 yards against the Giants.  Dahl is a fierce run blocker that must be replaced this offseason. 

Atlanta’s offense is almost unstoppable when they establish the running game. When they don’t, that’s when you see two points on the scoreboard.

Left Tackle

Sam Baker couldn’t get the job done so he was benched. And there’s a reason why the 30-year-old Will Svetik started more than four games this season for the first time: The Falcons had no other options.

Matt Ryan only got sacked twice against New York, but constant pressure is what resulted in Ryan only recording 199 passing yards on the day.

Going offensive line with their second- and third-round picks would be an understandable draft blue print.

Strong Safety

Eli Manning threw all over the Falcons and Brandon Jacobs ran right through them. William Moore is the weakest link on Atlanta’s defense and must be replaced. Of course, he was injured during the game, so he can’t exactly be blamed for the second-half collapse.

Laron Landry and Tyvon Branch would both be nice replacements for Moore through free agency.  There is only one quality safety prospect in the entire draft this year in Mark Barron and the Falcons don’t have a first-round pick, so free agency is their only option.

David Daniels is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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