One thing Falcons head coach Mike Smith has become good at since being named head coach of the Falcons is having his team bounce back after a loss. That’s what they have to do this week when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday at the Georgia Dome after suffering a tough loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The bad news for the Falcons is the Bengals are coming off a bye and are hungry for a win since they have lost two consecutive games against Cleveland and Tampa Bay by a combined six points. The good news for the Falcons is they play lot better at the Dome then they do on the road, compiling a record of 15-2 since the start of the 2008 season.
However, the Falcons will be without two starters on defense as linebacker Sean Weatherspoon has been ruled out for the game due to a lingering knee injury, and Dunta Robinson will not play in the game Sunday due to a concussion he suffered last week against the Eagles. They do have depth at both positions with LB Stephen Nicholas and CB Christopher Owens.
Nicholas has filled in nicely for Weatherspoon, racking up 13 tackles in the win against San Francisco, grabbing his first interception of the year against Cleveland and notching six tackles last week against the Eagles. Owens had a strong second half of the 2009 season but will have his hands full as he will be on either Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocincio.
One aspect the defense would like to improve on this week is maintaining a pass rush as the Falcons only sacked Eagles QB Kevin Kolb once time last week. Defensive linemen John Abraham, Kroy Bierrmann, Jonathan Babineaux and Cory Peters hope to get some pressure on Carson Palmer who is not the same quarterback he was a few year ago with a QB rating of 78.3 this season.
Offensively for the Falcons, they need to get the running game going in order for the unit to be effective. Michael Turner is not having the start of the season fans (and fantasy football owners) thought he would have, averaging 77 yards a game and scoring only one touchdown. But with the Bengals defense allowing 111 yards per game on the ground which ranks in the bottom half of the league, expect the Falcons to attack the Bengals on the ground throughout the game.
If they are able to do that, Matt Ryan can work play-action where he is most effective with a 94 passer rating which ranks near the top of the league. And with Michael Jenkins back in the lineup who is coming off a five catch, 99-yard performance last week to compliment Roddy White who is the NFC’s top receiver with 546 yards and three touchdowns, the Falcons will have a better passing attack down the stretch.
Even though the Bengals are a team that is underachieving, they are a team not to take lightly because they have playmakers on both sides of the ball and would love to steal a road game from a Falcons team that is in the lead for the NFC South crown. But that will be hard to do because the Falcons have suffered only one home loss since Ryan has been in the starting lineup the Falcons tend to play better after a loss. This is a game the Falcons should win, but just like the first six games of the year, it will not be an easy win for the men that wear red and black.
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