I guess we're not getting any 'things to watch' and I'm ready to talk some football... 1) Bears O versus Falcons D. There are definitely going to be some interesting matchups. Earlier today, Matt Nagy got asked about Demetrius Harris' targets in weeks 1 and 2 (play action Mitch missed him both games) and he immediately talked about how great his tight ends are at blocking. Then I see from the Dallas/ATL game this past Sunday that Dak Prescott targeted his TEs more than the remainder of receiving options. The back up TE as the cowboys' starter with Jarwin is on IR, and he torched the Falcons. Jimmy Graham for the vast majority of his career plays more like a WR, but if Nagy runs some 2 TE sets, the passing game can accumulate yards. Raheem Morris, Atlanta's DC runs a pretty familiar 4-3 Cover 2 defense. Nagy's style of offense is supposed to spread it out and attack the zone coverages. The injury report from yesterday had 3 of Atlanta's 4 DLinemen on it as 'questionable' as well as half of their secondary. Obviously if Nagy were going to give a heavy dose of the run game, this is a good spot to attack. The falcons are in year 2 transitioning from a 3-4 to a 4-3, and even when healthy have their share of problems/undersized edges now playing as down linemen. The Seahawks didn't try to really run the ball on the Falcons (Russell Wilson led them in rushing yards week 1 and Pete Carroll split 13 carries between his 2 back Hyde and Carson). The Cowboys ran the ball well, with Zeke Elliot averaging over 4 ypc on 22 rushes. I thought James Daniels had a rough week last week. If Grady Jarrett is a go for Atlanta Sunday, Jarrett is a smaller disruptor type 3 technique for the Falcons while Tyeler Davison is their beefcake 1 tech--I see another bad week for Daniels. He'll need help from Whitehair or a chipping upback (does Nagy even believe in fullbacks?) I mentioned in the post week 2 thoughts thread that Falcons' nickel Darqueze Dennard is a physical, aggressive nickel who lacks speed. He will jam and attack Mooney at the LOS, something he hasn't seen yet. If Mooney wins hand battles there, that's a great mismatch to exploit with rookie's speed. 2) Falcons O versus Bears D. Oof. This one isn't going to be pretty. Matt Ryan is a very good QB. He doesn't take many sacks but I find very interesting that he has been pressured/hit double digit times in weeks 1 and 2 against Seattle and Dallas even though each sacked him once. The front 7 or whomever is rushing has to finish the job. The Falcons have no problems scoring points (just late game defense). Pretty sure nobody will complain with a strip sack or two... Ryan has three excellent targets for passing. We all know who Julio Jones is and Fuller likely will be on him most of the game. Calvin Ridley is going to be a problem for the rookie. Ridley has gone over 100 yards 2x in 2 weeks, being targeted 23 times, the most on the team. I look forward to Jaylon Johnson covering this kid. The one mismatch is Hayden Hurst the TE versus whomever Pagano puts on him. Like Hockenson and Evan Engram, Smith, Trevathan, Skrine, and Gipson or even Bush aren't going to match up well if Ryan gets any time in the pocket. Seattle was fortunate enough to have one of the best SS's in the game in Jamal Adams and one of the best ILBs in the game in Bobby Wagner bottle him up/contain him for only 3 catches on 5 targets. Dallas didn't do so hot there...Hurst got adequate targets even after Jones and Ridley got theirs. The bears have NT John Jenkins out, but as already reported; he was put on IR with his thumb injury and the bears evidently signed a 6/7, 350 lb NT from the Steelers' PS. The big body they're missing with Goldman being out? Perhaps. But I wouldn't count on his immediate impact. I see Nichols playing at least 50% of snaps at NT. Regardless, the Falcons aren't hesitant to run Todd Gurley 20+ times. The bears DLine cannot be porous, because the passing attack gets worse with a great run game to compliment it. Know it's long/dense, but feel free to add whatever else you'd like.
Falcons passing attack is scary. Matt Ryan stands in there. Julio and Ridley are as good as any 1,2 punch and Gage Jr. is off to a hot start. All 3 of our CB’s are gonna have their jobs cut out for them. Pass rush will need to have it’s best performance of the season. As has been mentioned their TE is no slouch even if his stats are a bit stuffed thanks to a blown coverage TD last week. Our defense is going to need our offense to play ball control. I have to disagree with your take on Daniels. What did you see that concerned you? I saw a solid effort. Leno is def the weak link but the outside zone works more to his strength so I applaud Castio for going back to it. As for the rest of the Bears offense I don’t see them winning a shootout. They need long sustained drives that keeps the Falcons offense on the sideline. The Falcons D doesn’t strike fear into anyone. But either does the Bears offense. Maybe that can change this week.
I know, that fucking slacker Mongo. I'm excited to see this most of all, a real test for the rookie to see what we have. I expect to still see a rookie moment or two but hopefully we continue to see growth. On the whole, the lack of pass rush has had me concerned, it will be interesting to see what Pagano dials up. The Falcons may be 0-2 but their offense is no joke. Even at their best, I feel the D is going to let up some points, which means. This game is on the Offense, specifically Nagy and Mitch. Nagy's game plan has been working with the run game, so plenty of that, but then when Mitch does throw, he's GOT to be smart, see the field, and TAKE WHAT THE DEFENSE GIVES HIM. No tunnel vision on a-rob, no going for the home run every time, play smart. My biggest fear is that Mediocre Mitch shows up and there's no way MM wins a shootout against Matt Ryan.
Bears did bring in some NT help....stealing massive human being Dan McCullers off of Pittsburgh's practice squad. Not much to be excited about.....even though the dude is 6'7 and 350lbs...he touches the QB about once a season. Hugh disappointment with the Steelers.
I'm going to guess his $802K salary is cheaper than Snacks Harrison. Pass blocking. For a lot of the second half and on pass plays, Dalvin Tomlinson pushed him 2-3 yards in the backfield. Run blocking he's obviously very capable, as is Ifedi (minus his shithead clipping penalty). Looking back, Leno was up and down. Many plays people think he would miss the guy across from him when the blocking scheme called for him to pull/shift towards the C. I think Leno and Massie have a nice advantage Sunday (unless Morris schemes a ton of outside blitzes). Takkarist McKinley and Dante Fowler, the two down DEs have underwhelmed their careers thus far, and are both playing as 'fish out of water' because both were 240 lb edge rushers in previous years and Atlanta, since establishing Morris as the DC--has purged much of the 3/4 scheme guys. The defense needs takaways. They may get shredded passing yards wise (Matt Ryan averages 45 passes per game so far this year and as Rob mentioned--they have plenty of weapons), but its not impossible to get Ryan to make a mistake. Quinn and Mack need to generate bad passes, which is more difficult for a vet like Ryan who's been around a lot. Or strip sacks. As mentioned, Ryan has done a great job waiting until the very last second to get rid of the ball, taking a hit/pressure but still gets rid of it. They may get a lucky break. Falcons LT Jake Matthews held out of practice and is questionable with a knee injury. Starting RT Kaleb McGary is already ruled out and backup RT Matt Gono (an undrafted FA from last year) is starting. Oof. Don't make me have any expectations for Buster Skrine... The guy is utterly painful to watch in the passing game.
Definitely the toughest matchup our secondary has faced so far. Ridley has been good the first two years of his career but looks like he's going to have a real season in 2020. Good test for JJ. Against the Falcons D I'm confident we can move the ball up and down the field. Not so confident we can always punch it in for 6, as been a recurring problem. I expect somewhere in the range of mid-20s in terms of offensive points for us. All the defense has to do is consistently pressure Ryan, and I'm confident we can keep them in the low-20s. If all goes according to that plan, I see us eking out another close win.
The bears are lucky. Its week 2 but a shit load of teams are banged up. I'm fine if Dan Quinn wants to give his best player the day off...
Falcons down both starting corners with Terrell and Sheffield and starting safety Ricardo Allen... If Miller and Robinson ever needed a bounce back game...not gonna find a better opportunity. Same with tight ends.
