Mike Smith Emphasizes Run Defense as Emerging James Starks Awaits

When Atlanta lost to the Steelers to open the season, the Falcons allowed running back Rashard Mendenhall to burst off right tackle and dash 50 yards for the winning score in overtime.

The next week, the Falcons let Arizona's Tim Hightower run 80 yards for a score.

Mike Smith, the Atlanta coach, has a long memory. He also remembers a 60-yard run on a reverse by the Panthers' Brandon LaFell in the regular season final. There were also the gashes in the run defense by Carolina in the first meeting between the teams.

Saturday night, the Falcons will have to deal with the exuberant Green Bay rookie James Starks, who had 123 yards rushing against Philadelphia in the wild card round. It is a new dimension to the Packers, a two-way back to take some pressure off quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

"I want to preface this, whatever happened in the regular season will have no bearing on the playoffs, but overall in terms of our run defense we gave up too many explosive plays," Smith said. "We gave up an 80-yard run, we gave up a 50-yard run, and we gave up a 60-yard run.

"There's three and those are three large chunk runs that you can't give up. Usually those are because you usually miss a tackle, you misfit, or you take a poor angle. Those are things that as I said yesterday we were really working on as a defensive unit."

When the Falcons beat the Packers, 20-17, in the regular season, Green Bay had a third down back in Brandon Jackson and a short-yardage back in John Kuhn. They did not have a guy who could line up first-and-10 and be a threat like Starks.

The Falcons were 10th in the NFL in run defense giving up 105 yards per game. There have been knee injury issues with middle linebacker Curtis Lofton and rookie linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, which contributed to dropping the team from No. 6 to No. 10.

Rodgers is going to complete his quick passes Saturday night. What the Falcons cannot let happen is for Starks to get loose on first down and create second-and-five. It would be impossible to defend Rodgers then.