Falcons at Vikings Depth Chart Preview 2020
Oct 16, 2020 21:05:30 GMT -6
Reignman and Funkytown like this
Post by Danchat on Oct 16, 2020 21:05:30 GMT -6
It's time for a toilet bowl match! The pathetic 0-5 Falcons face off against the 1-4 Vikings, in a battle that will likely be for draft positioning. Will the Vikings beat yet another < .500 opponent?
Line: MIN -4
Injury Report
Falcons
DE McKinley Out
S Hawkins Out
DT Cominsky Questionable
Vikings
HB Cook Out
WR Osborn Out
CB Hill Doubtful
CB Boyd Out
RG Samia Out
*My Thoughts*
It's unfortunate that the Falcons fired coach Dan Quinn already, as it may give the Falcons a needed boost. They've been terrible so far, and Matt Ryan has no longer been able to been able to mask the issues this team has. Ryan graded out as an average QB last season and has been slightly below average thus far - he's only thrown 1 TD pass in the last 3 weeks and has fallen below 57% completion twice in that stretch. He can still torch a bad defense, but he will need his weapons to be healthy. Julio Jones will play, but he has only practiced once in the past two weeks, so I don't believe he's 100% healthy. So far Calvin Ridley has been the better receiver, posting 485 yards and 4 TDs on 29 catches, and that's including the Packers game where he didn't catch the ball. I would guess that Ridley will do more damage to this secondary than Jones. Atlanta will run 3 WR sets on most every play, so Russell Gage will fill in when needed. He's a fine possession receiver. TE Hayden Hurst is a decent pass catcher, but struggles to consistently get separation.
Todd Gurley is the Falcons' main back, but he's not in his prime any longer. That's odd to say for a 26 year old, but he's already got arthiritis in one knee. He's made some strong runs and will move the chains frequently, but the Falcons aren't using him like a feature back, and they'll fallen behind so often that they don't have time to run. Brian Hill will take over a drive every once in a while and is a passable backup. They've received poor run blocking grades from their TEs and FBs. Their O-line has been shaky despite having some cornerstones - Jake Matthews is still going strong, but C Alex Mack is 35 and his grades have been slipping. LG Carpenter has been a very poor run blocker and isn't a great pass protector either. 2019 1st rounder Chris Lindstrom missed most his rookie year with injuries, but when on the field, he's been a balanced blocker in most phases and should only get better. They also spent a 2019 1st on Kaleb McGary and he's been struggling. He's been a turnstile in the run game.
Atlanta's defense has been a joke thus far, surrendering 32 points a game and allowing opposing QBs to torch them up and down the field. Grady Jarrett is the only stud on the team, as he's one of the best interior pass rushers and a quality run stuffer. Tyeler Davison is a fine run stuffer, but teams have passed so often against them that John Cominsky has played more snaps. With McKinley out, the pass rush is led by the disappointing Dante Fowler. He may have had 11 sacks for the Rams last year, but he appears to be back to his Jacksonville self with just 1 sack on the year. He's also terrible against the run. DEs Bailey and Means have been terrible against both the run and pass.
The Falcons have yet to give up 100+ yards to a running back yet, and part of that belongs to a solid LB group. Deion Jones is a super-fast coverage LB who can keep up with HBs, but struggles when trying to fight through offensive linemen. Oluokun leads the team in tackles and has been a fine replacement for De'Vondre Campbell. Rookie Mykal Walker will check in as a nickel LB, and his coverage grade is the best on the whole team (small sample size).
Atlanta's DBs are a complete and total mess, even worse than the youth-filled Vikings secondary. Isaiah Oliver, the veteran on the unit (with Dennard on the IR), has been terrible, giving up 849 yards in 2019, and already 395 yards in 2020 (source: PlayerProfiler.com). 1st round rookie A. J. Terrell will be coming off the COVID list, but has given up 16/17 passes thrown his way for 188 yards. Kendall Sheffield was one of the NFL's worst nickel CBs in 2019, if not THE worst, and been torched by Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Robby Anderson the last two weeks. They can't cover anybody. Meanwhile at safety, Keanu Neal has been so injured he's missed 29 of the last 37 games. He was good back in 2017, his last full season, but I hav no idea if he's still up to that caliber. SS Ricardo Allen was once a good player, but ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2018 and did not play well in 2019. It's worth noting that S Damontae Kazee, who played nickel/3rd safety, is on the IR and was one of their best cover guys.
Prediction: Vikings 33, Falcons 24
Zimmer & Cousins thrive off beating up on bad teams, and the Falcons are certainly that. Factor in Atlanta's non-existent defense and wavering offense, there's no excuse to lose a game like this. Even with Cook out, Mattison put up 110 yards on an elite defense last week, and should be fine against these chumps. My biggest factor for the Falcons is if Julio Jones is back to his 100% self - if so, Atlanta could win this. I don't see that happening after the Vikings have shown up and played ball the last 3 weeks, nearly upsetting 2 undefeated teams, whilst the Falcons' play has not improved and they put up just 16 on the Panthers' poor defense.
Any thoughts?
Line: MIN -4
Injury Report
Falcons
DE McKinley Out
S Hawkins Out
DT Cominsky Questionable
Vikings
HB Cook Out
WR Osborn Out
CB Hill Doubtful
CB Boyd Out
RG Samia Out
*My Thoughts*
It's unfortunate that the Falcons fired coach Dan Quinn already, as it may give the Falcons a needed boost. They've been terrible so far, and Matt Ryan has no longer been able to been able to mask the issues this team has. Ryan graded out as an average QB last season and has been slightly below average thus far - he's only thrown 1 TD pass in the last 3 weeks and has fallen below 57% completion twice in that stretch. He can still torch a bad defense, but he will need his weapons to be healthy. Julio Jones will play, but he has only practiced once in the past two weeks, so I don't believe he's 100% healthy. So far Calvin Ridley has been the better receiver, posting 485 yards and 4 TDs on 29 catches, and that's including the Packers game where he didn't catch the ball. I would guess that Ridley will do more damage to this secondary than Jones. Atlanta will run 3 WR sets on most every play, so Russell Gage will fill in when needed. He's a fine possession receiver. TE Hayden Hurst is a decent pass catcher, but struggles to consistently get separation.
Todd Gurley is the Falcons' main back, but he's not in his prime any longer. That's odd to say for a 26 year old, but he's already got arthiritis in one knee. He's made some strong runs and will move the chains frequently, but the Falcons aren't using him like a feature back, and they'll fallen behind so often that they don't have time to run. Brian Hill will take over a drive every once in a while and is a passable backup. They've received poor run blocking grades from their TEs and FBs. Their O-line has been shaky despite having some cornerstones - Jake Matthews is still going strong, but C Alex Mack is 35 and his grades have been slipping. LG Carpenter has been a very poor run blocker and isn't a great pass protector either. 2019 1st rounder Chris Lindstrom missed most his rookie year with injuries, but when on the field, he's been a balanced blocker in most phases and should only get better. They also spent a 2019 1st on Kaleb McGary and he's been struggling. He's been a turnstile in the run game.
Atlanta's defense has been a joke thus far, surrendering 32 points a game and allowing opposing QBs to torch them up and down the field. Grady Jarrett is the only stud on the team, as he's one of the best interior pass rushers and a quality run stuffer. Tyeler Davison is a fine run stuffer, but teams have passed so often against them that John Cominsky has played more snaps. With McKinley out, the pass rush is led by the disappointing Dante Fowler. He may have had 11 sacks for the Rams last year, but he appears to be back to his Jacksonville self with just 1 sack on the year. He's also terrible against the run. DEs Bailey and Means have been terrible against both the run and pass.
The Falcons have yet to give up 100+ yards to a running back yet, and part of that belongs to a solid LB group. Deion Jones is a super-fast coverage LB who can keep up with HBs, but struggles when trying to fight through offensive linemen. Oluokun leads the team in tackles and has been a fine replacement for De'Vondre Campbell. Rookie Mykal Walker will check in as a nickel LB, and his coverage grade is the best on the whole team (small sample size).
Atlanta's DBs are a complete and total mess, even worse than the youth-filled Vikings secondary. Isaiah Oliver, the veteran on the unit (with Dennard on the IR), has been terrible, giving up 849 yards in 2019, and already 395 yards in 2020 (source: PlayerProfiler.com). 1st round rookie A. J. Terrell will be coming off the COVID list, but has given up 16/17 passes thrown his way for 188 yards. Kendall Sheffield was one of the NFL's worst nickel CBs in 2019, if not THE worst, and been torched by Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Robby Anderson the last two weeks. They can't cover anybody. Meanwhile at safety, Keanu Neal has been so injured he's missed 29 of the last 37 games. He was good back in 2017, his last full season, but I hav no idea if he's still up to that caliber. SS Ricardo Allen was once a good player, but ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2018 and did not play well in 2019. It's worth noting that S Damontae Kazee, who played nickel/3rd safety, is on the IR and was one of their best cover guys.
Prediction: Vikings 33, Falcons 24
Zimmer & Cousins thrive off beating up on bad teams, and the Falcons are certainly that. Factor in Atlanta's non-existent defense and wavering offense, there's no excuse to lose a game like this. Even with Cook out, Mattison put up 110 yards on an elite defense last week, and should be fine against these chumps. My biggest factor for the Falcons is if Julio Jones is back to his 100% self - if so, Atlanta could win this. I don't see that happening after the Vikings have shown up and played ball the last 3 weeks, nearly upsetting 2 undefeated teams, whilst the Falcons' play has not improved and they put up just 16 on the Panthers' poor defense.
Any thoughts?
Any improvement would be a welcome sight. Especially in pass pro. We crush it in run blocking..............
... and neither is this Chris guy.