Eagles vs. Falcons: Five matchups to watch

After "hosting" the Green Bay Packers in the Southern Hemisphere for their first game of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles will be back in their real home with some extra rest in advance of their Week 2 game against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Here are our five matchups to watch.

1) Falcons RB Bijan Robinson vs. the Eagles' defense

The Falcons want to run the football. That is why they selected Bijan Robinson eighth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. Robinson is very talented. He has ultra-quick feet and he can juke defenders while already on the move, north and south. 

More of that here:

And, well, you get the idea:

In Eagles-Giants matchups over the years, the the clear player that the Eagles' defense needed to focus on was Saquon Barkley, because he was so much better than anyone else in their offense. Similarly, the Eagles need to focus their efforts on slowing down Robinson, who is by far the most dangerous weapon in the Falcons' offense. 

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In Week 1, the Eagles' defense got gashed by the Packers' rushing attack at times, allowing 163 yards on 21 carries (7.8 YPC). The interior linemen need to play their gaps, the linebackers and safeties have to be sure tacklers, and I imagine that Vic Fangio will play his share of zone defense in this matchup so the corners can be in better position to make tackles on the perimeter. As a defense they have to be better against the run in this matchup.

2) The Falcons' big receivers vs. whoever the Eagles' third cornerback is

In the Eagles' Week 1 matchup against the Packers, Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell started at the outside corner spots, and Avonte Maddox started in the slot. The Packers decided that Maddox was the player they were going to pick on, and they had success against him. 

One of Vic Fangio's scheme mistakes last Friday night was allowing the Packers to get 6'4 Christian Watson matched up against the 5'8 Maddox at the goal line. That kind of size advantage in the red zone is too easy: 

The Falcons employ a pair of oversized targets in 6'4 Drake London and 6'5 Kyle Pitts. Fangio need to correct that scheme flaw, and not allow the Falcons to take advantage of that kind of size mismatch. They should also consider other personnel options.

3) Where might the Eagles go feastin'™️? 🍗

In their Week 1 game against the Steelers, the Falcons may as well have just set up a JUGS machine in the backfield with a ball boy and let them be the quarterback, because Kirk Cousins simply can't/won't move in the pocket. Here are all of his dropbacks in that game:

Almost all shotgun, no cadence variance (they reliably snapped the ball after the guard touched the center), no movement laterally from Cousins, almost at all. He was a sitting duck back there.

Here's what the Falcons' offensive line looks like:

On paper, the Falcons have a solid line, but they got whipped against the Steelers. PFF had Bergeron and Dalman each down for a sack allowed and 3 pressures. They had Lindstrom down for 2 QB hits, and 3 pressures. They had McGary down for a sack and 2 pressures. The Falcons also allowed a strip sack that didn't count because there was defensive holding in the secondary. Of course, the Steelers have an excellent pass rush.

In Week 1, the Eagles and Packers played on a very slippery field that had an effect on both teams' pass rushers. The Eagles didn't get much pressure off the edge, and Bryce Huff was notably quiet. The Eagles' pass rush mostly avoided scrutiny because of the poor field conditions, but it will be alarming if they don't perform better against this vulnerable Falcons passing offense.

#FeastinMeter: 7 turkey legs 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗

4) Jalen Hurts vs. himself

After going 15 training camp practices without throwing an INT, in a real game Week 1 Hurts suddenly started whipping the ball around with the careless abandon of a 2020 Carson Wentz. 

Defensively, as always, the Falcons don't have much of a pass rush, but they do have talent in their secondary in A.J. Terrell, Jessie Bates, and Justin Simmons, who can all make opposing quarterbacks pay for bad mistakes. Hurts should have time to throw. He needs to settle down and make better decisions against a clearly inferior team.

5) A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith vs. Mike Hughes and Dee Alford

One of the Falcons' biggest needs heading into free agency and the draft was at cornerback, but they didn't really do much to address it. They have one very good corner in Terrell, as noted above, but the other two starters — Mike Hughes (CB2) and Dee Alford (slot) — are replacement-level players who should be overmatched against Brown and Smith, who combined for 12 catches for 203 yards and a TD Week 1. This could be another matchup where those guys eat. Smith in particular should be able to do damage against Alford in the slot.