Vikings quarterback Case Keenum has shown a knack for avoiding pass rushers long enough to make big plays this season and the Falcons will have to shut that down if they’re going to beat the Vikings in Atlanta this Sunday.
A big game from linebacker Vic Beasley would help that cause, but there have been fewer of those this year than there were while Beasley was leading the league in sacks in 2016. Beasley has missed time with injury and seen his role shift to call for him to do more than rush quarterbacks, but his four sacks and one forced fumble leave room for more and coach Dan Quinn said on Wednesday that the team will be looking for it down the stretch.
“For sure they’re not [where they were last year],” Quinn said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “One of the good parts of Vic’s game other than sacks is he gets forced fumbles, and he has just forever had a knack for that so that part we know we really need over the next part of this season.”
No one’s had much luck getting to Keenum this season, which is illustrated by his league-low rate of dropbacks that have ended with sacks. Should Beasley find a way to change that, the Falcons’ chances of seeing the Vikings again in the postseason will take a big step forward.