Bengals expecting to face key Falcons defender whom Atlanta’s first seven opponents never had to worry about
The Cincinnati Bengals travel to Spain to take on an Atlanta Falcons pass rush that already ranks among the league’s best at creating pressure. Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims could have a new problem waiting for them.
The Cincinnati Bengals are expected to be the first team Atlanta Falcons defensive end James Pearce Jr. plays this season.
Pearce just finished serving an eight-game suspension that followed his arrest on domestic violence charges in February. He’s now expected to make his season debut Sunday in Madrid against Cincinnati, though coach Kevin Stefanski isn’t sure how much he’ll play.
The suspension officially began at the end of training camp. Pearce has been with the Falcons for the last month but couldn’t practice. Atlanta gets a one-week exemption to have him on the 53-man roster as he returns.
Whatever his snap count looks like, Pearce is a player the Bengals need to account for this Sunday in Madrid, Spain.
Why James Pearce Jr. matters for the Bengals in Madrid
Pearce was one of the best defensive rookies in the NFL last season. He finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting after he racked up 10.5 sacks in his first year with the Falcons.
Atlanta clearly wanted him in the first place. The Falcons traded back into the first round to take him with the No. 26 pick of last year’s draft. He was the first edge rusher off the board after the Bengals selected Shemar Stewart with the No. 17 pick.
Now he’s joining a pass rush that hasn’t exactly struggled without him. Even with Pearce sidelined, the Falcons rank second in pressure rate over expectation and second in total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
The problem for Atlanta has been finishing. Its sack rate sits at 18th in the league, while the Bengals rank fourth, per Pro Football Focus. Pressure that doesn’t turn into sacks is the gap Atlanta hopes to close with Pearce back in a rotation that includes Za’Darius Smith and Cameron Thomas.
That’s the plan, anyway. Whether a player who hasn’t practiced in a month can flip that number in his first game back is another question.
Bengals offensive tackle pass blocking production
Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims have been holding it down in front of Joe Burrow. All stats are per PFF.
- Mims has allowed a 1.7% pressure rate, the second-lowest among starting OTs.
- Mims’ pass block win rate of 93.8% in true pass sets also ranks second among 64 starters.
- Brown ranks 37th out of 64 with a win rate of 84.4%
Both Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims should expect to see him
Pearce spent most of his rookie season rushing off the right edge of the defensive line. That meant he lined up across from left tackles far more often than right tackles.
If that holds this season, he’ll see more of Orlando Brown Jr. than Amarius Mims in Spain. That said, Atlanta likes to move its edge rushers to both sides of the formation, so Mims shouldn’t be surprised to see him as well.
How often they see him remains to be seen. I don’t expect Pearce to play the majority of the snaps in his first game back. Stefanski’s own uncertainty about his workload points to a similar skepticism, and a month without practice reps is hard to overcome in one week.
On obvious passing downs, though, Pearce is a different story. Those are the snaps where Atlanta will want its best rushers on the field, and those are the snaps where Cincinnati’s tackles will have to be ready for a 10.5-sack player with fresh legs.
The Falcons’ first seven opponents didn’t have to plan for Pearce. The Bengals do, and how well Brown and Mims hold up on third down could go a long way in deciding how Sunday’s game in Madrid plays out.
