It's one thing to give up a 20-yard gain. It's borderline ridiculous to give up almost half the field on a play in just about every game.

Such has been an issue for the 2-6 Atlanta Falcons through the first eight games. They have surrendered 11 plays of 40-plus yards, which is tied for the league lead with the Houston Texans, according to ESPN Statistics and Information. Those 11 plays have totaled 607 yards.

"It's been our Achilles' heel," cornerback Desmond Trufant said. "The majority of the game, we could be shutting them down. And it seems like each game, there will be like one or two just big, big plays. If we stop those, we probably win some of those games. We just have to limit those big plays and we'll get a different outcome."

The only game the Falcons haven't given up a 40-plus-yard play was in a 56-14 blowout of Tampa Bay in Week 3. Even in that contest, they allowed Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown to connect with rookie Mike Evans for a 35-yard gain.

Six of the 11 plays have come on third down, including a 76-yard touchdown from Cincinnati's Andy Dalton to Mohammed Sanu on third-and-6, and this past Sunday's 59-yard touchdown connection from Detroit's Matthew Stafford to Golden Tate on third-and-25.

The primary reasons have been a lack of pressure up front and communication breakdowns in the secondary.

"On the one the other day, we let (Stafford) out of the pocket, on the 59-yarder," defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. "He wasn't sitting in the pocket. He was out of the pocket. And that's the same thing that happened with the 74-yarder (against the Bears).

"When a quarterback gets out, he extends the play. Everybody sees the back end at the result, and who was there at the point. But what's the quarterback doing out of the pocket to begin with? It does fall on a lot of people's shoulders. ... It is a group effort."

Nolan considers an explosive play to be either a 20-yard pass play or 10-yard run. His calculation only emphasizes how absurd it is for the Falcons to have surrendered so many 40-plus-yard plays.

"Obviously, you don't want any," Nolan said. "I would say that one of the things explosives lead to is points. If you're a good unit, you get out of bad situations like that without points, and ours have typically led to points. That's the thing with big plays that you don't like: The one statistic that matters the most is points. And that's what big plays lead to. So that's the disturbing thing about them."

Those 11 plays have resulted in seven touchdowns and 52 points. The point total would have been more had it not been for an interception in the end zone by Robert McClain against New Orleans and missed field goals by Bengals kicker Mike Nugent and Vikings kicker Blair Walsh.

So how do the Falcons correct the problem? The pass rush has improved as of late, but they still rank second-to-last in the league in sacks per pass attempt. Nolan no doubt would admit he made a mistake in not playing Jonathan Massaquoi more snaps against the Lions, considering Massaquoi has shown the most progress of any pass-rusher in recent weeks. Veteran Osi Umenyiora probably earned himself more looks with his strong showing in London.

The linebackers have to stop missing tackles. On the back end, the communication and coverage has to improve. Strong safety Kemal Ishmael, known more for his tackling, has had a few coverage hiccups. Maybe newly signed veteran safety Charles Godfrey could help in terms of coverage, or even speedy rookie Dez Southward. Plus, the Falcons should get their defensive leader back if strong safety William Moore (shoulder) returns from short-term injured reserve in late November.

Since the start of the 2013 season, the Falcons have allowed 34 plays of at least 40 yards. That is seven more than any other team. It's a trend they need to halt immediately.

"It's something that you don't what to give up, but it happens," Ishmael said. "But we're coming together as a team. We're not pointing any fingers at anybody. We're just going to work through it."