The Patriots travel to Atlanta this week for Thursday Night Football. Atlanta enters the game at 4-5 and are coming off a blowout loss to Dallas.
The Falcons have had their moments this season but they have also been very inconsistent. They are a tough team to play against because you don’t know which team will show up. They pose match up problems across the board.
The Patriots lead the all time series 8-6. The last time these two teams faced off was in October of 2017. The Patriots beat Atlanta 23-7 at home.
The Patriots of course beat the Falcons in Super Bowl LI 34-28 in overtime after overcoming a 34-28 deficit.
Bill Belichick is 5-0 in his career against Atlanta.
Here’s what you need to know about the Falcons.
Head Coach: Arthur Smith
Offensive Coordinator: Dave Ragone
Defensive Coordinator: Dean Pees
Special Teams: Marquice Williams
Offense
Atlanta first year head coach Arthur Smith brought the Titans offensive philosophy with him from Titans. Expect a heavy dose of man gap blocking schemes in the run but also a fair amount of inside and outside zone.
The Falcons will move the pocket for Ryan. They will run a lot of naked bootlegs to get him on the move and get him some easy throws.
Expect deep shots off play action. Atlanta like to push the ball vertically to Calvin Ridley and their other receivers.
Kyle Pitts has been a match up problem for every defense that has faced the rookie tight end thus far. Expect Atlanta to move him around in formations as they try to get the right match up for him.
The Falcons will use a variety of one back, compressed formations. They like to bootleg out of these formations but they also like to slide tight ends and receivers into the flat out of them as well.
Defense
Old friend Dean Pees came out of retirement to coordinate the Falcons defense this past off-season.
The Patriots can expect a variety of fronts and coverages. Atlanta will show a 20, 30 and 40 front depending on personnel and down snd distance.
The Falcons blitz a lot more than they did under Dan Quinn. Expect a lot of edge and boundary pressure.
Atlanta will also play more man coverage than they have in the past. Especially on obvious pressure downs.
The Patriots will get a lot of five man pressures with two safeties but if Atlanta brings six on a blitz, they will play mostly a single high safety look or even some Cover 0.
Depth Chart (Courtesy of Ourlads)
