When the Falcons traded for outside linebacker Matthew Judon, they were hopeful that he would breathe life into their dormant pass rush.
That has not happened for the most part, but Judon was elated to play a key role in the Falcons’ 34-7 win over the Giants on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Defensive tackle Zach Harrison deflected a Drew Lock pass up in the air.
The ball game down and Judon was alert enough to catch it and scramble into the end zone from 27 yards out to make it 24-7 early in the third quarter.
“Shout out to my teammates,” said Judon, a four-time Pro Bowler. “Obviously, I’m not having the year rushing the passer that I’m used to having, but they never get down on me. They don’t look down on me. Shout out to my team. They are always saying, we are going to do it with you. So, I’m just one of 11 of the defense. Everybody is stepping up right now.”
Judon, formerly of the Ravens and Patriots, entered the season with 66.5 career sacks. He had a sack against the Giants to push his total to 4.5 on the season.
“Yeah, he’s got a lot of criticism,” said Falcons safety Jessie Bates III, who returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown earlier in the game. “He’s been the same guy since he walked into this building. To see him to go work every single day, I’m just excited for him…. our defense. To see the excitement and what it does to our team and our defense is playing at that level.”
The Falcons sent the Patriots a third-round pick from the 2025 draft for Judon. The touchdown was his biggest contribution of the season.
“It is just give-and-take in this game,” Judon said. “You never know where the ball is going to (bounce) in this game. You never know when it’s going to come your way. You just have to continue to pursuit.”
Judon was on his pass rush duty. He made a move inside and looked up.
“It was a quick throw,” Judon said. “Zach got his hands on the ball and it just landed to me. I’m really grateful. I kept thanking him the whole time until he left.”
Once he secured the ball, Judon was off to the races.
“Sometimes you see it the whole time, but I kind of looked up and it fell right there,” Judon said. “All the glory to God…. (the next thing he saw was the) end zone. I tunneled in.”
The Falcons’ pass rush has improved since the bye week. The Falcons had three sacks and six quarterback hits against the Giants.
“Honestly, I’m going to give credit to the interior line,” Judon said. “Grady, D.O. (David Onyemata), Eddie Goldman, Zach and whoever they put in there. They are stopping the run. They are causing havoc.”
With a better interior push against the run, the Falcons have been able to have better down-and-distances to rush the passers.
“Then our (defensive) backs are covering down the field,” Judon said. “AK (Arnold Ebiketie) comes alive. Kaden (Elliss) continues to have an outstanding year rushing the passer. Everybody is just coming along. That’s kind of what you want in December. We’ve got a chance. It’s on us. We’ve got to go out there and continue to improve, continue to make plays.”
Judon’s pick-six was his first career interception and touchdown. Judon became the first Falcon since Kroy Biermann in 2011 to record a pick-six and a sack in the same game.
“You know I’ve got a couple of fumble recoveries with some yardages, but I haven’t been able to get into the end zone and it was my first pick,” Judon said. “All glory to God, but I’ve got to thank Zach. On defense, it’s all one of 11. He did his part. Luckily, I was there. I made moves, I made four or five people fall and then I got into the end zone.”
Judon said the Falcons have been emphasizing getting more turnovers and have continued to work in their turnover drills.
“The batted balls,” Judon said. “The tip balls. The chase-downs and punch-outs. You see guys on tape consistently doing it.”
Judon believes the defense can finish out the season strong and give the Falcons a chance to make the playoffs.
“When you are scoring on defense, you’re getting sacks, you’re getting pressures and stuff, really they had a couple of screens that hit us, but other than that, there plays weren’t really working,” Judon said. “I think in the second and third quarter, we had like four three-and-outs where they just had to punt us the ball back. That is good when you can get your rookie quarterbacks some reps.”
The best path to the playoffs is for the Falcons to keep winning and hope that Tampa Bay losses a game. The Falcons own the tiebreaker over the Bucs.
“We have a chance,” Judon said. “We have an opportunity. So, it really matters what we do now. We have to tighten the screws. We can’t let any detail go (lacking). They remember what you do in December.”
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