The Atlanta Falcons defense continues to perform far better than anybody expected going into the season. Without Jalon Walker or James Pearce they have one of the league's highest pressure rates and they rank fourth against the run, even after getting run over by Baltimore and Chicago in consecutive games.

Bringing in defensive tackle Gervon Dexter in an 11th-hour trade with the Bears certainly helped, but this unit is performing well mostly because they're greater than the sum of their parts.

Ask them and they'll credit the attack mindset that defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and defensive line coach Nate Ollie have embraced. Josh Kendall at The Athletic says they're adopted a motto of "you think, you stink" which is an elegant way of summing up the philosophy of attacking rather than reacting.

Dexter says he loves that mindset, per Kendall.

“I love this system. There is no thinking,” Dexter said. “You can just go, be free and penetrate and be disruptive. We played something similar my rookie year (in Chicago), but this is even more attack.”

After they traded for him Atlanta signed Dexter to a four-year, $78 million contract extension.

So far it's working out well for the Falcons and for Dexter, who has the fourth-highest PFF grade at his position (82.8 overall) through six games. He ranks fifth in pass rushing and 12th against the run.