Amidst a nine-game losing streak, Bowers has been a bright spot for the Raiders. Bowers has recorded all four of his touchdowns in that span and surpassed 100 receiving yards twice. He had a career-high 140 yards in Week 13 — the third-most of any tight end in a single game this season.

Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said Bowers is especially good at ball awareness and being able to track it through the air. The 6-foot-4 tight end is “a matchup nightmare.”

“He’s obviously gonna be bigger and stronger than most defensive backs, and he’s going to be faster, more agile than most linebackers,” Lake said. “He is a special talent.”

The drop in the secondary production happened as the Falcons’ pass rush came alive. In the past two games, the defensive front has recorded nine sacks. Prior to Week 13, they had just 10 sacks. Bates feels even more urgency to get the secondary back on track because his fellow defensive teammates are bringing the quarterback down.

“We should be excited, our D-line should be excited that they can go get more sacks, and we need more turnovers on defense,” Bates said. “Being able to give the ball back to Kirk is something that we’ve talked about a lot in our defensive room. When we earn the right to go rush the pass, we earn the right to go get interceptions, too. So, just making that clear and just making sure our details and our communication is at the top of top-notch.”

Part of that preparation involves not getting complacent with the mundane. Teams improve incrementally through routine moments like position meetings and walk-throughs, and it shows up on Sunday.

“Sometimes it takes a game like last week to smack you back on track and get you right where you want to be,” Bates said. “In the meeting room just continue to communicate at the highest level and I think we’ll see a better performance, no doubt.”

At the same time, Gray said Bates should stick to what’s made him a great player. If he helps too much on the field it takes away from what he needs to do. He only needs to do this job and focus on that.

“I can tell right away exactly what he’s trying to do, and you can’t do that at a high level and think you can do your job at a high level, too. I kind of joke about him say, ‘They don’t give you two checks, just do one job.'”

Now, that job is to handle Bowers and get a win against the Raiders.