In years past, the Falcons have overcome lackluster defenses lacking physicality by getting lots of turnovers. That hasn’t been true every year, but especially during the Mike Smith era, the best defenses tended to be the ones that came up with opportune interceptions or forced fumbles.
The Falcons of 2017 are a very different story. With somewhere between six-and-eight unlucky interceptions, multiple picks called back due to penalty on the defensive side, and some bad bounces on fumbles, the Falcons have the second-fewest takeaways in the NFL and a very forgettable -4 turnover ratio.