In a way, the Atlanta Falcons are quite familiar to New England Patriots fans across the globe; the two clubs’ meeting in Super Bowl LI remains one of the defining games in recent NFL history. That said, given that they are playing in two different conferences they are only regularly scheduled to meet every so often.
This is one of those years: for the first time since 2021, the Patriots and Falcons will go at each other again. So, to find out more about the Patriots’ Week 9 opponent, we reached out to Jeanna Kelley of Pats Pulpit’s sister site The Falcoholic, the SB Nation community for all things Falcons.
Here is what he told us about the upcoming game and opponent.
1. What went wrong for the Falcons in last week’s loss? Was it a fluke or a sign of bigger issues?
I hate to say it’s the injuries, and it’s not only the injuries, but the injuries are a big factor. One player shouldn’t be able to make or break an entire game, much less one single linebacker. But Atlanta’s defense is a shell of itself without Divine Deablo on the field. Deablo, who left the previous week’s game against the 49ers and landed on IR with a broken forearm, has been the perfect fit for this defense in terms of his athleticism and versatility. He’s opened things up for Kaden Ellis to be even more effective rushing the passer. The other injuries on defense haven’t helped either: Billy Bowman Jr. was excellent to start the season, but has been sidelined for weeks with a hamstring injury; Jalon Walker with a groin injury, and Zach Harrison, who’s also been a pleasant surprise this season, was out with a knee injury. On Thursday, the Falcons had zero players who weren’t able to practice, so it’s possible we’ll see Bowman, Harrison, Walker, and Leonard Floyd on the field vs. the Patriots, but still, with Deablo out, my expectations are not high. He’s the glue for that defense.
Offensively, I’m concerned about the line. Despite losing RT Kaleb McGary to injury before the season kicked off, they held up well over the first few weeks. But since the loss to SF, they’ve started coming undone. Jake Matthews is still nursing an ankle injury, too, which doesn’t help. Miami completely shut down the run game, which shouldn’t be easy to do with Bijan Robinson in the backfield, and yet. Drake London should be back this week, which will make the offense less one-dimensional and a little tougher to defend, but I’ve been impressed with the Pats defense over the past few weeks, and I am nervous about this one. The Falcons’ receiver depth was really exposed last week against the Dolphins and if the line can’t get the run game moving again this week, I think the Falcons are in trouble.
2. Is there a more important player to shut down in Atlanta’s offense than Bijan Robinson? How would you attack the Patriots’ defense?
There is no doubt in my mind that Bijan Robinson has to be the main player for defenses to key in on. Tyler Allgeier can also make some things happen on the ground, but if the blocking isn’t there and Zac Robinson keeps throwing the same predictable stuff at defenses, it’ll be a fun day for the Pats defense. Obviously, Drake London is supremely talented, but Darnell Mooney has either been injured or hasn’t looked to be at full speed all season, and beyond those two the receiver depth is just not enough. I’ve been happy with how Robinson has worked Kyle Pitts into the offense this year, and he can be a matchup nightmare. Again, so much of this comes down to the offensive line and whether or not they’ll give Michael Penix Jr. (assuming he starts) enough time to actually make plays.
The Falcons have to establish the run game. If they get things rolling on the ground, and if Zac Robinson finally understands that offenses are allowed to operate out of formations that aren’t the pistol and that it’s OK to be a little unpredictable sometimes, and they’re able to get that balance on the ground, it’ll help. The Pats have only allowed six passing touchdowns this season, which is super impressive. The Falcons have only thrown three touchdowns this season, which is super not impressive. Ugh, the more I think about this matchup the less I like it!
3. Who are the key cogs behind the Falcons’ potent, blitz-heavy pass rush?
One of the few very fun things for Falcons fans so far this season has been that improvement in the pass rush. Jeff Ulbrich is a very creative coordinator and I think he is especially talented at putting his players in positions to succeed. Twelve Falcons defenders have at least a half-sack this season, and they can come at the quarterback from anywhere on the field. Zach Harrison leads the team with 3.5 sacks despite missing time with this knee injury, but guys like ILB Kaden Elliss, DB Billy Bowman, and DT Brandon Dorlus have gotten in on the action.
I think Atlanta’s strength is really their secondary — Jessie Bates is on the injury report with an ankle injury, and we don’t yet know his status for this week’s game, but with him, rookie Xavier Watts, plus AJ Terrell back there, the strong coverage has helped facilitate the blitz. This was all humming along before Deablo was injured. They only got to Tua Tagovailoa once last week, and he threw for four touchdowns. There is no 1-for-1 replacement for Deablo but I hope they’ve got a better plan to fill in for him than they did last week.
4. The Falcons have done a great job of preventing explosive passes. How have teams moved the ball against them?
The Falcons defense operates with a little bit of a bend-but-don’t-break mentality that drives me bonkers as a fan, but makes sense strategically. Long drives that wear out the opponent and give the Falcons offense time to regroup on the sideline are good, actually, as long as that defense doesn’t suddenly break in the red zone. One thing I have really enjoyed about this Falcons defense is the energy they play with -- for the most part, they have looked ferocious out there this season. They’re fast, they’re aggressive, and they’re trying to create takeaways. The secondary is good, like I mentioned above, and they’re a key reason the Falcons have been able to limit explosive plays this season.
5. How can the Patriots build on their current win streak? How can the Falcons play spoiler on the road?
As a Falcons fan, and especially as a Falcons fan who is married to a Patriots fan, I genuinely enjoyed it when the Patriots were not good. And those days are over, lol. I’ve been so impressed with what Mike Vrabel has done with this team. I think the talent was there last season, but they needed the right coach to put it all together. Stefon Diggs has been a really fun addition, I love TreVeyon Henderson (go Bucks), and Drake Maye has been putting on a clinic the past few weeks. In my opinion, the Pats are in an extraordinary position to get back to form, and that rebuild took much less time than I expected. Kudos to the organization for pulling that off, because it’s not easy.
I don’t even know that I can tell you how the Falcons could play spoiler this week. I’m a realist, and my expectations are just so low after last week’s loss to the Dolphins, especially after what we saw from the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football this week. I will say this: The Falcons got shut out by the Panthers — and over the next two weeks they beat the Commanders on the road and the Bills in primetime at home. Maybe we’ll see a similar bounce-back? This team is so weird, and the least predictable thing about it is whether the good version or terrible version of the Falcons will show up on Sunday.