5 things to improve the Falcons pass defense

Will Washington's Jason Campbell become the 4th straight QB to pass for 300 yards or more against the Falcons defense on Sunday at the Georgia Dome?

THE BRANCH – After the last three quarterbacks have thrown for 300 or more yards against the Falcons, the pass defense ranking has dropped dramatically.

The Falcons give 256.4 yards passing per game, which is last in the National Football Conference and 31^st overall in the league. Jay Culter passed for 300 yards against the Falcons. Tony Romo hit them up for 311 yards. On MNF, Drew Brees passed for 308 yards.

The Redskins are passing for 202.6 yards per game, which is 20^th in the league. Their yards are so low because Jason Campbell won’t throw the ball down field. Some folks are starting to call him “Check Down Charlie” because he checks it down so much and too quickly.

“Jason (Campbell)  has completed 66 percent of his passes and they have a good group of receivers led by Santana Moss,” Falcons defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder said.  ”For us, we’ve got our hands full. We’ve got to be ready to do what we do, well.”

One move last week was to insert Tye Hill into the starting left cornerback spot against the Saints.

“He played pretty good football,” VanGorder said.  ”Obviously, down in the redzone he could have done better in that situation. (Marques Colstons 18-yard TD grab was over Hill). But for the first time going on the field in our system, I thought he handled it pretty well.”

Free safety Thomas DeCoud is coming along nicely. He had the big hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees off a blitz.

My little cousin Gerald got to meet Atlanta Housewife Kandi Burress at the Pizza Bar in Mableton. He's an intern with the Detroit Red Wings.

“He’s playing fast and that’s a good thing,” VanGorder said. “The more he sees plays, the more confident he’s going to be. There is a lot of work (to be done) there, but he’s done a good job up until this point.”

So we asked coach BVG  to give us five things that would improve the Falcons pass defense:

1. “A good pass defense starts with a good pass rush. So we’ve got to keep working that.
2. “The mechanics of coverage need to sound and solid.
3. “We’ve got to make plays on the ball, too. When we got opportunities to make plays, we’ve got to be able to make them. That’s what we are kind of looking for as we move forward.”
4. (Since coach only gave us three, then means I get to fill out the rest of the ballot). Proper drops in zone coverages.
5. You all can  gave give us the 5^th item.