Freischaltung » Ricardo Allen remembers when the Falcons’ defense ranked.

That’s not difficult. It was only one year ago when the Falcons ranked near the bottom of the league in total defense and dead last in red-zone stops.

Those memories made Allen smile on Wednesday Jachai Polite Jersey , because defense has become a point of pride for the Falcons, who play at the Los Angeles Rams in a wild-card game on Saturday.

For the first time since Atlanta’s first Super Bowl season in 1998, the Falcons (10-6) finished the regular season ranked in the top 10 in scoring defense (19.7) and total defense.

Allen was especially proud to note the Falcons have climbed to No. 5 in the league in red-zone defense.

Unlike 2016, when the Falcons leaned heavily on the NFL’s top-scoring offense for their Super Bowl run, Atlanta takes better balance into the postseason.

”Going from being one of the bottom defenses in the league last year … it’s big growth,” Allen said, adding the improvement has come ”much faster than I thought it would be.”

The Falcons have emphasized defense in recent drafts, and that commitment has produced results. Defensive starters added in the last three drafts include linebackers Vic Beasley Jr., Deion Jones and DeVondre Campbell and safety Keanu Neal.

Six defensive starters on last year’s defense were first- and second-year players.

Coach Dan Quinn said he has seen second-year players Jones, Campbell and Neal ”take a big step from year one to year two just as you hoped it would happen.”

Jones Chuma Edoga Jersey , Neal and Campbell are Atlanta’s top three leaders in tackles.

Quinn said he sees better communication on the field through ”hand signals, just sometimes an eye contact.”

Allen says there’s room for more improvement.

”Oh man, if we keep growing and we stay humble and we keep enjoying the process, the sky is the limit,” he said. ”I think we can be one of the best defenses in the league for sure.”

Quinn, the former Seattle defensive coordinator, enjoys seeing the young starters play lead roles. He also sees more improvement to come.

”I think this group can take another jump,” Quinn said. ”They’re athletic, they’re tackling well, the communication piece is there Trevon Wesco Jersey , so I’m very hopeful for where that group can go.”

The defensive upswing has been important, because the Atlanta offense that led the league in scoring in 2016 has struggled at times this season . The Falcons’ scoring has dropped from 33.8 to 22.1 points per game.

Atlanta has been held under 30 points in five straight games, including last week’s 22-10 win over Carolina to clinch a playoff spot.

NOTES: Special teams coach Keith Armstrong will interview with the Cardinals next week as a candidate to replace coach Bruce Arians. ”To me it’s a sign of respect,” Armstrong said after Wednesday’s practice. ”I’ve been doing this 24 years now. That’s quite a long time in this league. It’s good to have someone recognize you for what you’ve done.” … Return specialist Andre Roberts (knee, ankle) did not practice. A long list of players were limited, including RB Devonta Freeman (knee), WR Julio Jones (ankle, ribs), DE Adrian Clayborn (calf), WR Taylor Gabriel (hamstring) Shareef Miller Jersey , C Alex Mack (calf) and TE Levine Toilolo (knee).

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Don’t you hate when a team goes after a player during the offseason, and you just want to scream at the front office? Some acquisitions just don’t make sense. Throughout free agency, many teams overpaid players maybe because of the pressure that the player may sign elsewhere soon. Then some teams draft players that don’t necessarily fit a need, or when there’s other better players on the board. Or a team brings back a player that wasn’t performing up to the standards fans or front office personnel have. It’s simple, some offseason moves just don’t make sense.And teams will look back at some of these moves and admit they were mistakes, or the player’s performance will prove why it was a bad decision. Other times however, fans think a decision is bad, when it turns out to be the right decision. Nobody thought the Rams trading up for Jared Goff made sense, and he helped the team win the NFC West in his second year, after a bad rookie season. We don’t know what decisions made sense or not just yet Zach Brown Jersey , but we can discuss which decisions may have not made the most sense.Some decisions are more impactful than others. There are a handful of teams that stay silent in free agency to avoid making poor decisions, while other teams like the Los Angeles Rams, decide to bring in all new talent. But at the end of the day, teams will deal with criticism for whichever decisions they make. But for now, let’s take a look at one acquisition each team should have never made this offseason.