FLOWERY BRANCH — It’s hard to get Falcons defensive tackle David Onyemata to smile.
But when he talked about the pass rush coming to life, he lit up.
Onyemata was glad to see the Falcons’ “plan” meet with “the opportunity” to get after the quarterback in their last outing.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake believes the defensive showing Sunday against the Chargers is repeatable as the Falcons (6-6) prepare to face the Vikings (10-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the normally raucous U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“The whole season’s been a progression,” Lake said. “I go back to our Dallas game, where we started to have some results, finally, from some work that we’ve been doing all the way through the offseason into training camp.”
The Falcons had three sacks against the Cowboys on Nov. 3, their previous season high.
“Then we really did affect the passer down in New Orleans (on Nov. 10), played really good in the second half,” Lake said. “Didn’t get the production, obviously, on the stat sheet that we wanted, but we really got (Saints quarterback Derek) Carr off the spot, the pass rush was coming alive.”
The Denver game a week later was an anomaly, as the Falcons were blown out 38-6.
The Falcons went back into the lab over the bye week and came out with the performance against the Chargers. Even with the five sacks, the Falcons still rank last in the NFL, with 15.
The Panthers, Bengals and Dolphins are ahead of the Falcons, with 21 sacks each. Broncos lead the league with 47.
“The guys have been working really, really hard, and they worked hard last week,” Lake said. “They’re working hard this week.”
Outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie led the Falcons’ pass rush against the Chargers, with two sacks and two quarterback hits. Onyemata, defensive tackle Kentavius Street and linebacker Kaden Elliss also had a sack.
The Falcons are hoping that Ebiketie is ready to take off. He leads the team with three sacks, six hurries and six quarterback knockdowns.
“He’s playing with really good effort, he has all year long,” Lake said. “Then it’s so nice, finally, now you get the result that you want. You get the prize that you want, that statistic. If he continues to do that, play with that maximum effort, take advantage of his opportunities, we’re hoping he does affect the passer like he did last Sunday.”
Street came free off a stunt and leveled Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
“He’s definitely provided a lot of juice, a lot of explosion, (and he) shows that in practice,” Lake said. “It’s the reason why he made this team. He’s definitely given us a jolt of energy as a pass rusher inside, and you will continue to see him in that (role).”
Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett had two quarterback hits. He believes the in-season work is starting to show in the games.
“It’s the detail of the stunts,” Jarrett said. “What it’s supposed to look like. In training camp, you can’t be repping these things. But as the season goes on, you can throw a lot of different things into the defense. Just trying to refocus on the small things. The intensity level … just tightening up the ship a little bit.”
The Falcons also could get back from injuries cornerback Mike Hughes and rookie defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro against the Vikings.
“We got a lot healthier team-wide (after the bye),” Lake said. “That was a big difference in this last game, but especially on defense. Even guys that weren’t injured, just to kind of get them fresher. We looked more explosive last Sunday than we definitely did a couple weeks ago in Denver. But, those guys that you mentioned, if they’re able to play, that’s also going to add some extra juice and extra explosion to our defense.”
The Falcons held the Chargers to 56 yards rushing and 187 total yards, which were season-best marks for the defense.
“We did an excellent job stopping the run,” Lake said. “I go back to game one or game two and all the talk about the pass rush — we have to earn the right to run the passer. We have to stop the run first.”
The Falcons got the Chargers into some obvious passing situations.
“Now we can really unleash and go after the quarterback,” Lake said. “Those first set of games right there when we had (quarterbacks) Jalen Hurts (of the Eagles) and Justin Fields (of the Steelers), and they’re running the ball, they were always in favorable down and distances.”
The offense helped the defense in terms of time of possession (35 minutes, 55 seconds to 24:05.).
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit obviously to (offensive coordinator) Zac (Robinson) and our offense and their ability to run the ball, move the chains, and keep us off the field,” Lake said.
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