For some reason, Sean McDermott, who was Carolina’s defensive coordinator, elected to cover Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones with a single player last season.
Man-to-man against the league’s top receiver is super aggressive and not highly advised.
That didn’t end well for McDermott and the Panthers defense. Jones ravaged the scheme catching 12 passes for a team-record 300 yards and a touchdown in the 48-33 plastering of the Panthers on Oct. 2
Because of the Panthers overall body of work on defense and clearly not that game, McDermott was hired to lead the Buffalo Bills, who will face the Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Bills have some solid corners in rookie Tre’Davious White and E.J. Gaines, but he’s not likely to leave them along with Jones, who’ll be limited in practice this week with a back injury, but is slated to play. Safety Micah Hyde, a former Green Bay Packer, will likely be nearby or free safety Jordan Poyer to asisst the cornerbacks with their coverage of Jones.
While with the Panthers from 2011-2016, the Falcons posted a 7-5 mark going against McDermott’s defenses.
“I’ve known Sean McDermott for years,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “He was a player at William & Mary when I was coaching there, and professionally, I’ve followed him through Philly, Carolina, and now at Buffalo.”
McDermott is credited with the Panthers defense that helped them go 15-1 and reach Super Bowl 50. He’s running the same 4-3 defense in Buffalo minus having Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis at linebacker.
However, the Bills do have a strong front seven. Right defensive end Lorenzo Alexander, left defensive end Shaq Lawson and strongside linebacker Jerry Hughes all have two sacks each. Also, tackle Kyle Williams is stout. Marcel Dareus missed the Denver game with an ankle injury and may be available.
“He’s always had a hard-nosed approach,” Quinn said of McDermott. “They’ll be really good tacklers and they’ve got a talented front. Usually when you have that part, that’s the first line of things that can make it difficult.”
McDermott has been proud of the play of the defense, which is being coordinator by former Minnesota head coach Leslie Frazier.
“They play as a team and when you look to have a good defense, that’s really the cornerstone that you build on, that every guy does his job,” McDermott told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on Monday. “We call it being one-eleventh of the defense and when you buy into the approach of doing your job and playing team defense, gang tackling, swarming, those are the things you look for. Our players and coaches have done a phenomenal job.”
Defensively, the Falcons will face their stiffest test of the season in the run game. Chicago’s second-year back Jordan Howard was coming off a strong year, but the Falcons have not seen a back as accomplished at LeSean McCoy yet.
McCoy has rushed 48 times for 140 yards and has caught 18 passes for 131 yards.
McCoy, fullback Mike Tolbert and quarterback Tyrod Taylor lead a rushing attack that averages 111.3 yards rushing per game (11th in league). They also have former Falcons fullback Pat DiMarco, who's being used as a lead blocker. He played 15 of 65 offensive snaps (23 percent) in their 26-16 win over Denver on Sunday.
The Falcons are giving up 85 rushing yards per game, which ranks ninth in the league. The Falcons held the Lions to 71 rushing yards.
“The way they’re built, you can count on their run-game being rock solid,” Quinn said. “They’ve got a good offensive line, and their quarterback can really run and is athletic.”
Quartertback Tyrod Taylor has rushed 24 times for 106 yards.
“I guess this will be about three weeks in a row that we see a guy that can extend plays and get outside the pocket,” Quinn said. “Three weeks ago we saw it with Green Bay, last week with Detroit, and now this week with Buffalo.”
Taylor has been efficient in Buffalo’s short passing game. He’s completed 53 of 79 passes (67.1 percent) for 562 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. He has a passer rating of 99.2.
The Falcons face mobile quarterbacks in the Saints’ Drew Brees, Panthers’ Cam Newton and Buc’s Jameis Winston twice a year.
“Our division is a lot like that with the guys who can move and extend plays,” Quinn said. “We will work hard at that part of it, I promise you, because we know when the quarterback can extend plays, a second play just begins, receivers now have routes to go to different spots.”
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