Falcons Defense Doomed to Bury Them vs. Giants in Week 5 and in NFC South Race

After a dismal 4-12 2013 season, things are looking up a bit for the Atlanta Falcons, who sit at 2-2 and tied for first place in the NFC South.

However, a harsh reality reared its head in last week's 41-28 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, a reality that casts severe doubts over the team's ability to make a real push for the playoffs in 2014.

The Falcons are terrible on defense. Like the worst defense in the NFC bad. Worse than the Dallas Cowboys.

Former Baltimore Ravens head coach (and current NFL analyst) Brian Billick didn't mince words while speaking about the current state of the Atlanta defense, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I can’t think of another team in the league that has less quantifiable talent on it defensively,” Billick said.

Former Atlanta fullback Ovie Mughelli pointed out that this could make for some awkward moments around the dinner table when the holidays arrive:

However, it's also hard to argue with Billick's assessment.

Category	Rank	Stat
Total defense	31st	429.8
Pass defense	30th	276.2
Run defense	28th	153.5
Scoring defense	30th	28.2
Sacks	30th	3

The Falcons rank at or near the bottom of the NFL in a litany of defensive categories, from total defense to scoring defense and sacks. Was it not for their Week 3 pounding of a pitiful Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, the Falcons would be giving the Jacksonville Jaguars a real run for their money for the title of "NFL's worst defense."

Granted, injuries to players such as strong safety William Moore and inside linebacker Sean Weatherspoon certainly haven't helped matters. But, the problems go much deeper than that.

Even at full strength, there isn't a single player on the Atlanta defense who is "elite," with the possible exception of cornerback Desmond Trufant. It's especially true of the team's nonexistent pass rush, where the free-agent acquisition of Osi Umenyiora last year has amounted to setting a large pile of money on fire.

Inside linebacker Paul Worrilow may rank second in the NFL in tackles with 44, but the second-year pro also ranks 48th of 58 inside linebackers at Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

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Meanwhile, starting cornerbacks Robert Alford and Trufant both rank inside the top 25 at their position at PFF, but they've been placed in an untenable position. The best cornerbacks in NFL history couldn't cover receivers indefinitely.

If you can't so much as mess up the hair of opposing quarterbacks, eventually the coverage will break down.

And at the rate things are going, the entire Falcons team isn't going to be far behind.

In fact, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk posited that Billick's comments could be indicative of the coaching staff's displeasure with how the front office has built (or failed to build) the team's defense:

"

Given the relationship between Billick and Smith and, separately, the relationship between Billick and Nolan (who spent four years with Billick in Baltimore), Billick’s words easily could be viewed not as his own thoughts but as a recitation of complaints he has heard from either or both men.  Which could be interpreted as evidence of a growing disconnect between the coaching staff and the front office.

Which perhaps cries out for some sort of joint effort by the coaching staff and the front office to demonstrate that they’re on the same page, and that they’re not not pointing fingers at each other in the event that the season unfolds more like Week Two and Week Four and less like Week One and Week Three.

"

Unfortunately, last week's loss may only be the beginning.

In rushing for over 240 yards against the Falcons last week, the Vikings provided NFL teams with a blueprint for downing the Falcons. It isn't just that the Falcons can't stop the run either.

Teams that can run at will can control both the tempo of a game and time of possession, and Matty Ice and the high-octane Atlanta offense can't do much watching things from the sidelines.

This week, the Falcons travel to face a New York Giants team that's riding a two-game winning streak thanks in large part to the hard running of tailback Rashad Jennings.

Week	Opponent	W-L	Offense Rank
5	at New York Giants	2-2	18th
6	Chicago Bears	2-2	20th
7	at Baltimore Ravens	3-1	6th
8	Detroit Lions	3-1	12th

After that, it's three games against teams that are .500 or better as we head into October. Two of those teams (the Giants and Baltimore Ravens) rank in the top half of the league in rushing. The other two (the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions) have elite talents in the backfield in Matt Forte and Reggie Bush.

Like the Falcons, all four teams have demonstrated the ability to hang 30 points on an opponent in 2014. Unlike the Falcons, each of those teams also plays at least some defense (although no one is going to confuse the 2014 Bears defense with the 1985 version).

Frankly, the Falcons, given how they're playing on defense, will be fortunate if they hit their Week 9 bye at 4-4.

That may not be what fans want to hear, especially the ones who were so quick to proclaim that the Falcons were "back" after they trounced Tampa Bay two weeks ago.

However, it's the truth. Even in today's offense-centric, pass-wacky National Football League, teams need at least an average defense to be considered any sort of legitimate contender.

And the Atlanta Falcons would need drastic improvements defensively just to get to average.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.