Did the Falcons find blueprint for outpacing the Broncos defense?

Mark Schlereth said it’s not time yet to push the panic button, but how the Atlanta Falcons used its running backs to outpace Denver on Sunday may mean teams have a blueprint for how to attack the Broncos defense.

The “Schlereth and Evans” co-host said Monday that the Broncos were able to shut down Falcons Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones, who went for 300 yards a week earlier, but were left exposed to Atlanta’s top-flight running backs Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman.

“You’re talking about one of the supreme defenses in all of football, one of the defenses that everybody aspires to be. This Broncos defense,” Schlereth said. “You saw a coach in (Falcons offensive coordinator) Kyle Shanahan come into Denver, on the road, and put a game plan together that exposed this Broncos defense. That’s what you saw. And I’m telling you, they didn’t have an answer for it.”

On the day, Coleman and Freeman combined for 119 yards rushing and 167 yards receiving, along with one touchdown both through the air and on the ground.

Mike Evans, “Schlereth and Evans” co-host, said the blueprint comes not necessarily from the Falcons ability to run the ball on the Broncos but from how they spread out their running backs as wide receivers.

According to Schlereth, Atlanta used heavy personnel groupings — two tight ends and a back or two backs and a tight end — to keep the Broncos in their base package but then spread everyone out wide.

“(They used) heavier personnel groupings, and then split those guys out, get them in man coverage, because the Broncos love to play man. That’s what they do. And get those backs or those tight ends or whoever it may be lineup up on our line backing corps,” Schlereth said.

And the NFL being a copycat league, Schlereth said teams could be preparing to use the Falcons mold to upend one of the league’s top defenses.

“You’re going to get a steady diet of, ‘Hey guys. Let’s get in this personnel grouping. We can run it out of this personnel grouping. And now we can split you out, get you covered in man with those line backers,’” Schlereth said.

However, Schlereth did say it’s one thing to have a blueprint for the Broncos defense. It’s another to have the personnel to pull off the scheme.

“To expose somebody, you have to have like personnel. You’ve got to have guys on your roster that can do what the Falcons did,” Schlereth said. “So there’s going to be some people or some teams that don’t have that personnel grouping to be able to do that.”

Broncos safety T.J. Ward championed a similar sentiment following Sunday’s game, saying, “They’ve got good personnel that match up against us well, we didn’t play our best and they won the game. We’ll be back next week. We’ve got San Diego down there Thursday night.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.