James Pearce Jr. Returns to Save a Falcons Team That Needs Offense

The Atlanta Falcons just spent three hours getting shut out 16-0 by Tampa Bay, looking like a team that recently discovered the forward pass and decided they were against it. Naturally, their biggest midseason reinforcement is arriving on the defensive side of the ball.

ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported Tuesday that edge rusher James Pearce Jr. is officially back from his eight-game suspension and is expected to suit up this Sunday.

"ESPN's Marc Raimondi reported Pearce is back from suspension and expected to play Sunday."

Pearce is not just a rotational body. He racked up 10.5 sacks and 45 quarterback pressures last year, leading all rookies and looking like a foundational piece of the franchise. That momentum hit a brick wall when the NFL handed down a half-season ban for violating the personal conduct policy following a February arrest.

Getting an elite pass rusher back in the building is objectively great news for a locker room that desperately needs a spark. But injecting a premier edge threat into a team that just put up zero points is like buying premium rims for a car with a blown transmission. It looks intimidating in the driveway, but it is not solving the actual problem.

For anyone looking at the weekend spreads, Pearce’s return absolutely shifts the math on Atlanta's defensive ceiling. A guy who can wreck a pocket by himself changes how opponents call plays, though you have to factor in the reality of a player jumping into midseason NFL speed after two months on the sideline.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski expects him on the field this Sunday. We will find out quickly if Pearce is on a pitch count, or if the Falcons are just going to turn him loose and hope he can score the points the offense clearly cannot.