The Falcoholic
It’s the bye! We’ve already gone through most of it, but tomorrow afternoon, there will be no Atlanta Falcons game to watch as they rest up and get ready for Week 6.
The early bye feels odd—we’ve only seen four games and I already have a quiet Sunday—but it does present its opportunities for a team that could stand to get healthier and iron our some persistent issues. Let’s take a look at what the Falcons will hope to accomplish during the bye.
These are very high level categories I share each week, intended as little more than a snapshot, but you’ll notice something striking: The Falcons are an average or much better team in every one of these except turnovers (ever so slightly) and points scored. That makes points scored seem like the outlier, and we saw they’re capable of better in Week 4 against Washington.
We could expect this team to regress, but it’s fair to expect the offense to be more proficient than they have been at scoring. If that’s the case, they can probably afford a little pullback on defense and still remain a very competitive team every week, but it’s too early to draw any sweeping conclusions beyond that.
The most concrete changes are that they’ll be getting injured players back. It sounds likely that A.J. Terrell will make his triumphant return to the lineup after essentially missing a couple weeks, with Dee Alford turning in one terrific performance and one shaky one in his stead. Fellow cornerback and returner Natrone Brooks, who has been out with a nasty concussion, could be back for Week 6 to handle kickoffs and provide depth. The team also should have Darnell Mooney out there, given that Raheem Morris downplayed his latest injury and he has essentially two full weeks and a day from Week 4 to recover.
Those are important additions. Getting Mooney close to 100% after he’s been hurt and scuffling will help this passing attack, and Terrell is the essential man in this cornerback corps, especially with tough matchups on the horizon. Both players likely would have been questionable at best had the Bills game come in Week 5; the fact that they’re both much more likely to play with the passage of time makes this more well-timed than I had expected.
We’re also getting closer to the returns of Storm Norton, Ta’Quon Graham, Troy Andersen, and Bralen Trice, though none are guaranteed to be back after Week 6. Norton would be welcome depth at the very least and could take over if Elijah Wilkinson’s impressive hot streak at the beginning of the season slows, Graham is a hyper-competent run defender who would be nice to have back in the mix, and Trice remains an intriguing talent even if we haven’t really gotten to see him yet. Andersen will be returning to a depth role, but when healthy his coverage chops and...
