ATLANTA -- Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank expressed disappointment with the team's 1-3 start despite the rash of injuries that have obviously impacted the lineup, particularly on defense.
"Well, I am concerned about a 1-3 start," Blank told ESPN on Tuesday. "I don't know anyone who would say that's where we had planned on being or that's where we had hoped to be, but we are 1-3."
The Falcons lost Pro Bowl strong safety Keanu Neal to a season-ending torn ACL and lost Pro Bowl middle linebacker Deion Jones until at least Week 11 following foot surgery. Then the team saw starting free safety and defensive leader Ricardo Allen go down with a season-ending Achilles tear.
"This is not excuses, but reality is reality," Blank said. "We've had some very difficult injuries to really good players. All three of the players, people talk in baseball when the middle has to be good: your catch, your pitcher, your second baseman, and then the center fielder. So when you lose Allen and Neal and Deion Jones, those are kind of the middle of that defense. So that hurts.
"And all three of those guys are really good communicators. They not only play at a very high level in their own right, but they get everybody else in the right positions. They make everybody else better."
The Falcons enter Sunday's matchup at Pittsburgh (1-2-1) with the league's third-worst scoring defense, allowing 30.5 points per game. They are second-to-last in the league in both first downs allowed per game (26.8) and third-down defense (50.94 percent).
"We have plenty of talent on defense to play well," Blank said. "It's trying to put people in the positions where they can maximize their strengths and not expose any lack of experience that they may have. And that's what the coaches are in the process of doing.
"Sometimes, it doesn't happen in one week. Sometimes, it takes a little bit of time. In 2016, we had a very young defense. And the defense got significantly better as the year went on. The second half of the year, the defense played at a very, very high level, even though they were young and inexperienced. They got that experience the first half of the year. And, of course, our offense was off the charts. My guess is that we're kind of heading in that direction.''
In '16, the Falcons started 4-1, finished 11-5, and made it all the way to the Super Bowl behind MVP Matt Ryan and an offense that averaged a league-best 33.8 points per game. Through four games this season, the Falcons stand sixth in the NFL averaging 29 points per game.
"We'll continue to score a lot of points which is a great credit to Sark (offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian) and Matt and all of his teammates,'' Blank said. "To score 73 points in a couple of games is pretty incredible against NFL defenses. And they're playing with confidence. And I think the (offensive) coaches are coaching with confidence now.
"On the defensive side, I think they will continue to figure it out and improve from week to week.''