Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots Preview & Prediction | PFF

Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots Preview & Prediction | PFF

So, let’s talk about the Falcons and the Patriots. Uh, I I know you are going to specifically talk about uh what the Falcons are on their side of the ball when it comes to running. I’m also going to do the same thing with the New England Patriots. I think the rushing theme that we’ve established here at the beginning of this show, that’s going to continue with this matchup. So, talk to me about the Atlanta Falcons uh and their offense going up against the Patriots here. Yeah, I mean, right now it’s looking like Michael Penn is tracking to be back in. So you do have that more vertical threat in the passing game which in then in theory opens up the front seven for be for Bjan Robinson and Tyler Algier to get the job done on the ground. But this Patriots run defense the last couple weeks albeit against not great teams when you talk about the Saints and the Titans and the Browns. Not great running teams there. But they’ve been dominant up front the last three weeks in run defense. They’re first in the league in run defense grade. They’re first in yards per carry allowed over their last three weeks. They’ve allowed negative6 yards before contact per carry. Actually, I should say total, and they’re first in a per carry allowed. Explosive run rate, first best in that, lowest in the NFL, fifth in yards per carry allowed total. You look at especially Robert Spelain at that linebacker level, and he’s going to be big. When you talk about Bejian Robinson getting on the second level, and making people miss. He leads the league in miss tackles for us, but Spain has the third best run defense grade of any linebacker in the league. I thought he was arguably the best player on the field last week. Uh, so I I just think this Patriots front seven and we thought this could happen, right? When you have Christian Bar and Milton Williams in the middle of it, they’re very disruptive off the edge. A guy like Calevon Chaison who’s been really good. Harold Landry is a really good run defender, but Spelain is leading that charge in the middle of it. I think he’s going to be a very important piece of this game and now it’s a step up, right? We talked about the last three Patriots opponents. Their offenses have been kind of dysfunctional. When you look at this Atlanta team, if they prove that their run defense is at this level against this team, this offensive line, Chris Chris Lindström and those guys and Ban Robinson, then you talk about having a major advantage on defense and making the Falcons on one-dimensional. Yeah, we we’ve talked about that a lot. Whenever the Falcons offense, it feels like has been too predictable and just has not utilized Bejian Robinson, excuse me, even as a threat, right? that it’s it’s sometimes less about his overall output and just the fact that okay, this team is utilizing play action less than any team in the NFL. And and that’s hard to believe with a player that they all talk about in Atlanta like they believe he’s the best offensive player, one of the best offensive playmakers in the league. You got to utilize that at all times. If you really believe that he is this incredible offensive weapon, then play action’s got to be a big part of your game. So, let alone the production from Bejian Robinson, I just think making him more of a focal point of what you were trying to do and how you were trying to deceive the defense is going to be really important for the Falcons to being the best versions of themselves that they could be on that side of the ball. Now, again, like you mentioned, like it’s it’s a bad week to sort of judge that because even if the Falcons do that a little bit better this week, I think the Patriots are playing really well on both sides of the ball. Specifically, I’ll focus on their offense. Uh since you kind of talked about the defensive side of that chess match, Trayvon Henderson last week, the rookie running back from Ohio State, 10 carries, 75 rushing yards, had five missed tackles, four total in that game, he had a fumble and it was a lost fumble. But if you take away the fumble, his rushing grade goes up from, I believe it was right around like a 61 or a 62 all the way up to a 72.8. And that’s something that you really want to continue to see from Tayvon Henderson, who is the more explosive and dynamic back out of the duo of him and Raandre Stevenson. I think getting both of them involved in the offense consistently will be important for the Patriots as they, you know, march toward potentially winning this division. You know, potentially, you know, going into the playoffs and trying to be an upset team. Not a lot of people picked to make a deep playoff run or anything like that, but clearly the best version of their offense is not just when the ball is in Drake May’s hands, but you look at, okay, we’ve seen what it looks like and and the ceiling of the offense from Drake May. How do we increase the efficiency elsewhere around him? And I really do believe that’s in the run game. And efficiency is, I guess, one word that I obviously would use, but being dynamic is another one. And I think that Henderson gives you that explosive ability. So, him being more involved in this offense. Hang on to the football, Trayvon. We we want to continue to see you in this offense. You got to hang on to the football. Make sure that you’re not fumbling. Make sure you’re not getting the in the doghouse. Cuz it felt like there was a little bit there. I can’t remember which week it was early parts of the season when they were starting to lean a little bit more into Trayvon Henderson. and then he just kind of got in the doghouse just because uh I think he had an earlier fumble earlier in this season and then bad in pass protection as well which is a reason why he wasn’t getting on the field on those late downs and passing situations. So the more he is on the field in a reliable fashion. I just think that only raises the ceiling for this Patriots offense. Ultimately I don’t think that the Falcons defense has enough to slow them down. I’m going to say Patriots 24, Falcons 17. What do you got? I I I have the Patriots as well. I have it 27 to 20 and I think a big factor and you mentioned the run game for the Patriots is that Divine Diablo obviously on IR out with the fractured forearm. That is a big loss for this Falcons defense. You look at the way that Miami was able to control possession against them. You could feel the loss of Diablo at that linebacker level. Um I I I think New England’s offense is just rolling so well right now. The way that Drake May is playing, they’re going to be very hard to stop. He’s going to have to be cognizant of Jeff Olrich and the and the blitz packages that are getting thrown at him and the variety of pass rushers in this Falcons defense. But, you know, whether it’s Michael Pennix or Kurt Cousins coming back, this Falcons offense has been inconsistent. I I would say this season if they can’t run the football, if New England’s run defense does show up, I don’t know that there’s a whole lot of avenues for the Falcons to win this ball game, especially if Drake London’s not 100% still. So, I do like New England at home and them getting to seven and

PFF’s Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema preview the matchup between The Atlanta Falcons and The New England Patriots.

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