Hoping to shake off the disappointing performance in Week 1, the Atlanta Falcons are back on the field this Monday night.
Atlanta will travel on the road to take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in primetime on Monday. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET and you can catch the game LIVE on ESPN, ESPN+, Fubo and other various streaming platforms.
Both teams are coming off of opposite showings in the opening week. The Eagles took down the Green Bay Packers in Brazil with running back Saquon Barkley having a dominating game. Barkley finished the day with three total touchdowns along with tallying 109 rushing yards on 24 carries and 23 receiving yards on two receptions. The Falcons on the other hand, had a disastrous opening game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quarterback Kirk Cousins looked brutal and unhealthy, the offensive line showed no sense of pass protection and Drake London wasn’t featured as much as he should have been. Week 1’s loss is one that Atlanta is hoping not to replicate and that may be a tall task facing off against a high powered offense in Jalen Hurts and the Eagles.
Before we see the opening kickoff, however, we will take a look at four bold predictions that could take place at any point during the game for the Falcons:
A.J. Terrell Locks Down WR1
Atlanta’s starting corner had a depressing day against wide receiver George Pickens last week. Although A.J. Terrell made five tackles, it was still a poor coverage day overall. Terrell has another daunting matchup this Monday, when he has to stand across from Eagles star receiver — and first-name twin — A.J. Brown.
Brown is one of the league’s best receivers and this isn’t going to be an easy night for Terrell…or is it? I will boldly predict for Terrell to step up his game in a major way in Week 2. The Falcons just recently gave Terrell a contract extension, keeping him with the team for the foreseeable future, and he needs a solid performance to be able to justify that extension. Hence the reason why I will predict Terrell to bounce back from being burnt by Pickens and be able to lock down Brown, limiting him to under 40 receiving yards.
Defense Gets A Pick-Six
Last week, the Falcons defense was pretty solid and they allowed zero touchdowns to the Steelers. They may not be able to do that against the Eagles in this game, but they can still produce a game-altering play when they’re on the field.
Hurts has had costly turnovers in the past throughout his career in Philadelphia, including two interceptions and one fumble just last week. I predict that to be the case once again on Monday evening. Someone from the secondary, whether it be Jessie Bates III, Justin Simmons, Mike Hughes or whoever it may be, will capitalize on one of Hurts’ mistakes, generating an interception and being able to return it all the way to the endzone for a Falcons defensive touchdown.
Eagles Defensive Line Halts Run-Game
Quite possibly the only solid player on the offensive side of the ball for Atlanta last week was Bijan Robinson. With everything else around him, such as quarterback play and the passing attack being rather underwhelming, Robinson was still a bright spot whenever he had the ball in his hands.
However, the second-year running back now has a rough night ahead when he has to run through an Eagles defensive front that could be viewed as one of the best in the league. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who was heavily rumored to be drafted by the Falcons during the 2023 Draft, and Jordan Davis headline this defensive line for Philadelphia and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Carter especially force his way through the offensive line and put a stop to both Robinson and Allgeier’s abilities in the run-game. If Carter isn’t the one to make stops, then standout inside linebackers Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean will be waiting in the wings in the middle of the field. The Falcons running backs may have a difficult time finding open running lanes in this matchup.
Drake London Reignites Breakout Campaign
If you haven’t yet figured out, most of these bold predictions include good things happening for the Falcons. Here is another one, specifically for the team’s star wide receiver Drake London. The former USC receiver had a tough going in Week 1, seeing only two receptions for 15 yards. That is not the type of performance you want to see from your primary receiver and the player that many expected to have a breakout campaign this season.
But, fear not. I predict that London will be able to turn that around in this game. Of course, it all starts with offensive coordinator Robinson calling a better game plan for the offense and scheming up ways to get the ball to the 6’4” receiver and showcase his talents. London is likely to draw one of either Darius Slay or rookie Quinyon Mitchell, who are tough cornerback matchups to line up against, but I believe the third-year receiver will be able to have a much more productive outing than Week 1 and notch above 50 receiving yards.
While these all may not totally come to fruition, that is the goal of ‘bold predictions’, to think outside of the box for a regular season matchup.
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