What the Falcons can learn from top AFC pass-rush teams

The Ravens ranked second in the league last season with 54 sacks. Ironically, it’s former Falcons great Chuck Smith who has helped continue Baltimore’s tradition of a strong pass rush.

“Chuck Smith is a unique guy, right,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “He’s the pass rush … we call him the Guru. He would probably blush if he heard me say that.”

Smith was working training pass-rushers for the NFL Scouting Combine and the draft, when the Ravens hired him as their pass-rush specialist in 2023. Smith, who played for the Falcons from 1992-99 and was on the franchise’s first Super Bowl team after the 1998 season, is second on the team’s all-time sack list with 58.5.

John Abraham is the Falcons’ all-time sack leader with 68.5. The Falcons have struggled to mount much of a pass rush since Abraham left to play for Arizona after the 2012 season.

“He is passionate about pass rush, and he brings that to the table for our guys,” Harbaugh said.

The Ravens were led by outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy (12.5 sacks) and Odafe Oweh (10) last season.

“We just figured that if you had a skill that is really important that it needs to be trained and taught,” said Harbaugh, who recently signed a three-year contract extension. “He does the other things, too. He coaches all of the positions.”

Getting after the quarterback definitely was a group project, as the Ravens had 18 players with at least half of a sack.

“But he focuses on all of the guys,” Harbaugh said. “The defensive linemen, the edge rushers, the defensive backs and the linebackers on their pass-rush techniques. He does a great job. I really proud of Chuck.”

Like the Ravens, the Texans have two outside pass rushers in Danielle Hunter (12 sacks) and Will Anderson (11) to lead their pass rush. The Texans finished with 49 sacks last season, which was tied for fourth in the league.

“For us, building out our pass rush, it starts with the people that you have first and foremost,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Having dynamic guys on the outside like Anderson and Hunter, but the interior guys.”

The Texans had 14 players with at least one sack last season.

“It’s about four guys rushing together,” Ryans said. “In whatever we do or whatever game plan we have, it doesn’t matter unless the four guys are working together with that pass rush. That’s what our guys have done, a great job of working together.”

The Falcons hired Nate Ollie as their defensive line coach. He on Ryans’ staff last season as the assistant defensive line coach and was credited with helping Hunter and Anderson.

“Our (defensive) line coach Rod Wright has done a great job of getting those guys on the same page and getting those guys to execute at a high level,” Ryans said. Ollie will bring some of Wright’s teachings to the Falcons.

Buffalo ranked fourth in the league with 54 sacks in 2023. Last season, the pass rush dipped and their sacks went down to 39.

“That’s a point of emphasis for us,” Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said. “Building the defensive line to where we need to have it. That’s a position that we value greatly.”

Creating better opportunities to rush the passer starts with stopping the run.

“If you can stop the run, you can put the offense in tougher passing situations,” Harbaugh said. “We just have always felt that it always starts with stopping the run and running the ball.”

The Falcons were 31st in the league with 31 sacks last season.

The Falcons lost defensive tackle Grady Jarrett in free agency, but signed outside linebacker Leonard Floyd to a one-year deal. The also likely will add to the pass rush in the coming draft, which is set for April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Also, outside linebacker Bralen Trice, who missed last season with an Achilles injury, will return. However, Trice had 18 sacks over three seasons at Washington, but never had double-digit sacks in college.

Getting to the quarterback may become even more difficult as some teams have started leaning more on their rushing attacks.

“It has swung back,” Harbaugh said. “Probably, people realized that, that’s football. I heard it said that football in the NFL is a passing league, which it is, and the rules are kind of skewed that way. It’s tough to defend a great quarterback. But a two-headed monster is better than one.”