CINCINNATI -- For a moment, Robert Alford seemed content to dip out of the locker room without uttering a word.

Instead, the Atlanta Falcons' second-year cornerback showed his maturity and addressed the big play he surrendered in Sunday's 24-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan sent safeties William Moore and Dwight Lowery on the blitz at Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton on a third-and-6 from the Bengals' 26-yard line. It left Alford one-on-one against receiver Mohamed Sanu, who became a primary target with A.J. Green out of the game due to a foot injury.

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Alford gambled on the play by diving to knock the ball away. His attempt failed with no safety help behind. The end result was Sanu's 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown that was the beginning of the end for the Falcons.

"It was just a mistake by me," Alford said. "I was all over it. I went to hit the ball. I tipped it. I didn't get all my hand over it like coach and them say. ... I've got to make that play. I've got to bat that one down instead of tipping it. I've got to block that junk down."

Alford's gaffe was critical, but he was far from the lone culprit on defense. The Falcons got pushed around way too much up front, leading to the Bengals' running back tandem of Giovani Bernard and rookie Jeremy Hill combining for 164 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 42 attempts. Bernard had no problem leaping over defenders when he wasn't running through them.

Bernard also gained 46 yards on a quick dump pass right before Falcons defensive tackle Corey Peters was able to corral Dalton. At least three missed tackles followed after Bernard broke into the open field.

Throw in another day without much pressure on the quarterback and you're talking a recipe for disaster.

"They won the line of scrimmage, and we did not tackle well," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "They were running downhill. We had a very difficult time tackling No. 25 [Bernard] early in the ballgame. And we have go to improve our rush defense. And we have to improve our total defense."

The Falcons allowed 472 total yards to the Bengals a week after giving up the same total in a 37-34 overtime win over New Orleans. The difference this time was, the Falcons' offense couldn't keep pace, finishing with just 309 total yards.

"You can't give up [472] yards week in and week out and expect to win," Smith said. "You've got to get stops, force punts. You've got to be able to change the field position. You've got to get some three-and-outs, and we did not accomplish that today."

Once again, the Falcons' defense was below standard on third down, allowing the Bengals to convert on 6 of 14 attempts. But no weakness was more glaring than how the Falcons were dominated at the line of scrimmage.

Dalton had success early by spreading the Falcons out, but some of that changed when Green exited with his foot injury. After that, it was just the Falcons not being physical enough. Such was not expected against the run with the additions of two run-stuffers in Paul Soliai and Tyson Jackson this offseason.

"They're a good team," Soliai said of the Bengals. "Give credit to them. They came out and did their game plan well. We've just got to do better. We've got to wrap up. We've got to tackle.

"We just have to keep working. Right now, we've just got to focus on Tampa [on Thursday night]. It was a tough one today, but we just have to go out there and keep working."