In Smith’s press conference earlier this week, he was asked why he avoided calling plays in the middle of the field in the game. His answer? As expected.
“That was my respect to Jessie Bates. Again, don’t let their best player wreck the game,” Smith said. “Like I said, I don’t know why more people don’t know about him, but he’s arguably one of the top players in the league, and he wrecked Week 1 if you watched Week 1 last year.”
Smith is not wrong. In Bates’ Falcons debut against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 last season, he was one of two players who notched a multi-interception game in the season opener. It also marked the first multi-interception game of his career.
Since 2023, Bates has generated a -22.0 target EPA, 58.1 coverage success rate and a 25.6 ball-hawk rate, despite being targeted on just 8.2% of his coverage snaps. In 2023, Bates notched a career-best six interceptions, tied for the most in the NFL. Last season, Bates was targeted nine times, 20-plus yards downfield and notched three interceptions and an opponent completion percentage of 44.4%, according to Next Gen Stats.
Smith knows the type of player Bates is, which is probably the reason he wanted Bates in Atlanta in the first place. It’ll be interesting to see how other opponents game plan around the safety duo this season.
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