The Falcons may have home-field advantage for Week 7, but the visiting Cincinnati Bengals have an advantage of their own heading into Sunday’s clash at the Georgia Dome. Cincinnati is coming off a bye week, a benefit rarely taken for granted in the midst of grueling 16-game NFL seasons.
Interestingly, the Bengals are just 2-4-1 following bye weeks under head coach Marvin Lewis. By comparison, the New England Patriots have never lost the week after a bye throughout the tenure of Bill Belichick. Still, the bye week may have come at a good time for the Bengals to get a bad taste out of their mouth.
They are 2-3 following two straight three-point losses; 23-20 at Cleveland on October 3 and and 24-21 at home against Tampa Bay on October 10. The Bengals were sky-high with two consecutive victories over Baltimore and–less impressively–Carolina, but the losing skid has changed all of that.
“You could just go down the list of things that haven’t gone quite right and haven’t been executed well enough,” quarterback Carson Palmer said in his press conference on Wednesday. Speaking of the red-zone challenged offense he added, “We just have to continue to work better, come up with a couple new wrinkles here or there, throw a defense for a loop, but just be more efficient and make sure everybody’s doing the right thing and step in the right direction.”
One of the keys to the game for Cincinnati will be stopping Atlanta’s rushing attack. The Falcons are seventh in the NFL in rushing (yards per game) and the Bengals are tied for eighth worst in the league by giving up 4.4 yards per carry.
Injuries: Dunta Robinson’s tumultuous week will likely end in missing Sunday’s game. The cornerback sustained a concussion of his own while delivering a crushing blow to Philadelphia receiver DeSean Jackson, who suffered a major concussion. Robinson is questionable on the injury report but not expected to play. Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (knee) is doubtful.
The Bengals also have some question marks in the secondary. Safety Roy Williams, who has not played since October 3 due to a knee problem, is out. Cornerback Johnathan Joseph (ankle) was still limited in practice on Friday and is listed as questionable. Cincinnati will be without backup running back Brian Leonard (back) and defensive end Antwan Odom (suspension).
Recent meetings: Atlanta has positively dominated the recent head-to-head history between the two teams. The Falcons have won eight straight dating back to their Super Bowl season in 1998. The last meeting came three years ago at the Georgia Dome, where Atlanta prevailed 24-19.
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