The Atlanta Falcons have been the best in the league in this category.
The Atlanta Falcons are headed into a very difficult portion of the schedule, a fact which through two games looked like it could be a massive problem.
Even during the two losses in embarrassing fashion though, Atlanta was doing one thing better than anyone in football, and it could be the reason they have a strong chance to beat a whole lot of teams on the schedule across the next month of the year.
Defense through three games has of course been the strength of this team, but when it comes to stopping the run, the Falcons have been the best team in football, and the numbers indicate it has not actually been close.
Falcons Per Game Rush Yards Allowed is Best in NFL by Far
In the first three games of the year, Atlanta has allowed just 47.7 rushing yards per game, which is not only the best in the league, the team behind them is not even close. Ironically, it's the 0-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are in second with 76 yards allowed per game.
Needless to say, less than 50 yards allowed on the ground per game is an absurd pace that is not going to be sustainable, but with some of the teams coming up on the schedule, a great run defense should give them a wonderful chance to win.
Teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens want to churn up yardage on the ground, and limiting their ability to do just that limits their ability to score points, and in turn win games.
For that matter, any team the Falcons go up against is of course going to want to have a balanced attack, and making an opposing offense one dimensional has the potential to turn into a very fun day for the defense. It's still a small sample size and Atlanta will have to keep on proving it, but this is an extremely encouraging figure and shows one of the biggest concerns from the offseason may actually be a strength of the team.
Should the Falcons be able to continue posting elite numbers and stuffing opposing run games, this is a team which will have a chance to win a whole lot of games on the schedule, especially over the course of the next month or so.
Atlanta has a much better defense than anyone gave it credit for before the season, and the rest of the league is starting to find that out.
