Pass Rush Specialist Chuck Smith joined Dukes & Bell for his normal Tuesday appearance and talked about what has changed about the Falcons offensive line that has made the team more effective up front?
When asked about the Falcons pass protection so far this season.
“I think the o-line is doing better work, I think they’re being challenged, I really like what they are doing, think about something that is different from last year is they’re running the ball. The Falcons are running the ball so teams now they can’t just sit back and say hey well they’re just gonna throw all day or Matt Ryan’s gonna be in the pocket, they’re running the ball,” Smith said. “Everybody says ‘what’s gonna be their personal’ for years I always struggled with the past regime when we’re always built around wide receivers. This team is tough, when I think about the Falcons right now through these three games in the NFL, they’re tough, they run the ball, literally they run the ball down people’s throats.”
Smith talked about offensive lineman that have played better so far this season.
“I gotta give a lot of credit to Kaleb McGary, Chris Lindstrom, listen I watched McGary and he must have reached on the outside backers or the defensive ends of Seattle and he was just washing them downfield, Cordarrelle Patterson wasn’t getting touched. You watch the combination blocks with Dalman and Lindstrom and Gossett, they were doing a great job, you know what else I saw Jake Matthews his kickback was so quick. Because remember we were worried about getting false starts so that was fantastic from a veteran, of course you’re going to be helped by a moving quarterback but I’ve got to give that offensive line some credit. Because there were times when Mariota stood in the pocket, stood tall and had a clean pocket to make some awesome throws.”