The Atlanta Falcons’ 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in prime time showed off their potential to America. Now they have a chance to beat America’s Team this weekend when they travel to Dallas to take on the 3-2 Cowboys.
Winning in Dallas is never easy, and Wade Phillips’ team had an extra week to prepare for Atlanta, something that Chicago used to their advantage last week. Here’s how the matchups break down for the Falcons.
BIRDS WILL WING IT …
The Atlanta offense has a chance to take full advantage of the home team, as Dallas has been poor defensively all season long. The pass defense has been especially weak, ranking 26th league-wide. Second-year man Mike Jenkins has shown some potential, but he’s been inconsistent for the most part this year, while longtime Cowboy Terrence Newman continues to be hot and cold as well.
Matt Ryan could surely exploit this, and the coaching staff will want an increased total in passing yards from last week’s 185. Meanwhile, Roddy White has been fantastic on the outside, catching two long touchdown passes over the past two weeks. No. 2 wideout Michael Jenkins will want to get back on track after dropping two passes last week, one which led to an interception.
But a big reason that Ryan’s passing wasn’t up to snuff last week was due to a resourceful Chicago defense that confused Atlanta early with a variety of blitz packages. Although the Cowboys don’t possess the same type of talent as the Bears, they will surely have a chance to throw some new looks at the visitors. So while the Dallas “D” may not seem like the most daunting unit, they could still easily pose a threat.
Fortunately for Atlanta, they also have the advantage in the run game. DeMarcus Ware has struggled to get going this season in Dallas, and Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense has been ripe for the picking. If Sam Baker, Harvey Dahl, and the rest of the offensive line can win the matchup at the point of attack, this could be a day for Michael Turner (pictured) to run wild.
ROMO AND CO. …
Say what you want about Tony Romo, but the man will throw for plenty of yards. He’s thrown for over 255 yards in all but one game this year, and gone over 350 on two occasions. For an Atlanta secondary that just lost veteran corner Brian Williams to injury, that could be trouble. Surely Jason Garrett will give Atlanta a steady dose of Romo, coupled with big-play threat Miles Austin and veteran Roy Williams.
For players like Brent Grimes and Chevis Jackson, this will be a chance to prove they belong in the starting lineup. Grimes matched up with Williams for much of last year’s dismantling of the Lions and held his own, so he will enter the game with a bit of confidence.
With the secondary in a spot of bother, it will be up to the rest of the defense to do its best to rattle Romo, something that has certainly been done in the past. That won’t be easy against an experienced Cowboys offensive line. But the Falcons could do themselves a huge favor by stopping the trio of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice in the run game. That means contributions from the linebacking corps of Stephen Nicholas, Curtis Lofton and Mike Peterson will be absolutely essential in slowing down the ground game, which will make Dallas a one-dimensional and vulnerable team.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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