The Falcoholic
The Atlanta Falcons face another primetime challenge when they travel to face the San Francisco 49ers for Sunday Night Football. The last time the Falcons were on the road in primetime, they came away with an impressive win over the Minnesota Vikings back in Week 2.
Can they repeat that success? If so, it’ll require improved play from some, while others need to maintain high-level play. That creates plenty of intrigue for this matchup, and thus, the task falls to me to name five Falcons who will captivate our attention on Sunday night.
Quarterback Michael Penix will need to improve his performance on the road if the Falcons want to continue climbing the standings to remain in playoff contention. The numbers for Penix at this early stage in his career have been poor when playing away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and that needs to change with the Falcons traveling five times over their next seven games.
Despite tight end Kyle Pitts being off to arguably the best start of his NFL career, he had a quiet night this past week against the Buffalo Bills. Fortunately for the Falcons offense, Bijan Robinson and Drake London dominated enough to make the need for Pitts to contribute minimal. However, getting Pitts more involved this week against the 49ers could be very effective, especially given the absence of future Hall-of-Fame linebacker Fred Warner due to a season-ending injury.
Warner’s absence should create a void in the middle of that 49ers defense that a player like Pitts could help exploit. That could do wonders for Penix and the Falcons’ passing game.
Another thing that could do wonders for Penix’s success on Sunday will be having the presence of left tackle Jake Matthews on the field. The veteran tackle’s 183-game active consecutive-starts streak is in jeopardy, as Matthews is questionable for this 49ers game due to an ankle injury he suffered this past Monday.
While head coach Raheem Morris has expressed optimism about Matthews’s chances of playing against the 49ers, it’s still a game-time decision. And even if Matthews plays, will playing on a bum ankle make him less effective than we’re used to from the usually steady left tackle? That could have a dramatic impact on this matchup.
Steady play is precisely what the Falcons have seen from linebacker Divine Deablo, which has already earned his status as a homerun free-agent signing this season, mostly because he has answered every challenge put in front of him thus far this year. However, on Sunday Night, he’ll have the potential to add two more notches to his belt if he can help keep 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle.
McCaffrey leads NFL running backs in receiving yards, and Kittle is expected to make his triumphant return to the lineup after missing five weeks due to a hamstring injury. It’ll take a group effort by the entire Falcons defense to keep both All-Pros...
