Ryan Nielsen came from New Orleans with connections to Terry Fontenot, a single year as a co-defensive coordinator, and plenty to prove. He was landing with an Atlanta Falcons team that had lost Dean Pees to retirement and was searching for considerable defensive improvement, and Arthur Smith and Fontenot were counting on him to deliver it.
He didn’t do so alone—Jerry Gray was a veteran hire with a ton of experience, including as a defensive coordinator, and Fontenot’s free agent investments were critical—but Nielsen did conjure up that improvement. The team went from 23rd in points allowed to 18th and from 27th in yardage allowed to 11th, from a red zone scoring percentage allowed of 55% to 45.