What to learn about Falcons – Vikings in Week 14

Pals, issues have gotten fairly dire for the Atlanta Falcons.

Now .500 and with a troublesome street matchup in opposition to the Minnesota Vikings looming, this workforce has intense scrutiny on each the quarterback and kicker positions, two positions that have been bedrock establishments on this metropolis for a few years not all that way back. They’ve misplaced three in a row, they will’t put collectively a full sport on either side of the ball, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are charging their manner up the NFC South standings.

A win in opposition to the Chargers—and they need to have been capable of handle that about 10 alternative ways—would have taken some stress off this explicit sport. Now, although, Kirk Cousins returns to Minnesota and a hostile surroundings with this workforce dealing with a win-or-slip-out-of-the-playoff-race-at-least-temporarily-game in Week 14.

Right here’s what it’s good to know in regards to the matchup forward.

Rankings

The Falcons can transfer the ball effectively, however their purple zone scuffles make them a backside half of the league workforce in scoring. The offense is usually fairly balanced, however the passing sport has been foundering whereas the bottom sport has excelled. The Falcons protection, in the meantime, has been dangerous all yr however simply turned in a superlative effort in opposition to the Chargers, one they hope to proceed in opposition to Minnesota with the added benefit of an extra turnover or two.

The Vikings, in the meantime, are a high tennish offense susceptible to turning the ball over, and are higher throwing than operating, which is little shock given their assortment of weapons. Their protection is legitimately harmful regardless of some latest struggles, and has been significantly efficient in opposition to the run. Their cross protection has been fairly dangerous all yr, one thing they make up for with an aggressive cross rush and loads of turnovers; Cousins working at a excessive degree can decide this secondary aside.

How the Vikings have modified

They’d a franchise quarterback who went elsewhere, you would possibly know him.

The Vikings needed to maintain Kirk Cousins however weren’t going to make a long-term dedication, so that they changed him with rookie J.J. McCarthy (who instantly acquired damage and is lacking the 2024 season) and rent-a-veteran Sam Darnold, who has flourished on this offense. They added Jones, a proficient again they noticed firsthand for years in Inexperienced Bay, and

Defensively, the workforce picked up Brian Flores as their coordinator, including one of many league’s most interesting defensive minds and setting about giving him the gamers for an aggressive, attacking scheme. They went on an offseason spending spree in free company and signed Jonathan Greenard, Harrison Phillips, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jerry Tillery, Blake Cashman, Kamu Grugier-Hill, and Jonathan Bullard to shore up the entrance, re-imagining the group in a manner that has clearly labored out fairly effectively for Minnesota. The workforce additionally drafted extraordinarily promising cross rusher Dallas Turner, a preferred mock draft decide for Atlanta, and stocked the protection with further helpful rookies.

They even added a rookie kicker, Will Reichard, who’s presently injured however had hit 14 of 16 area objective tries in 2024.

When a workforce overhauls its roster to the extent the Vikings did this offseason, you anticipate some rising pains. As an alternative, the Vikings have regarded terrific all through the season, a perform of a very good teaching employees and good core being neatly supplemented.

What to know

Unexpectedly, the Chargers sport that I overvalued as probably the most troublesome matchup left on the schedule turned out to not be that, at the least in some ways. An offense down J.Ok. Dobbins and with a hobbled Ladd McConkey put up the bottom yardage whole the Falcons have allowed in effectively over a decade, because of a resurgent effort by that very same protection, and the sport was shut the whole manner.

The issue was 4 Kirk Cousins interceptions turned what ought to have been a Falcons laugher right into a loss, underscoring that this Atlanta workforce can beat itself in inventive methods. The defensive step up is a large deal for the Minnesota sport, as is Cousins’ struggles.

Begin with the protection. The Vikings are a very good offense, however quietly they’ve been much less efficient scoring-wise after a torrid begin to the season. The workforce scored 28 factors in 4 of the primary six weeks of the yr, however they’ve accomplished so simply as soon as within the six weeks since. They’re nonetheless a potent passing assault with an unreliable however proficient lead again in Aaron Jones paving the way in which on the bottom, although, and so they may give lax defenses main matches. If the Falcons present up this week they will preserve this one inside attain; if it’s a repeat of the trouble in opposition to Denver you may kiss this one goodbye. The truth that they did clamp down so arduous on Justin Herbert suggests they may give the extra turnover-prone and pressure-panicky Sam Darnold hassle.

Darnold has 10 interceptions and 7 fumbles, a mixed whole that locations him among the many most giveaway-happy quarterbacks within the league, behind NFC South turnover champs Baker Mayfield and (sadly) Kirk Cousins. He has been an impressively sharp passer for lengthy stretches this yr in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, and that profession resurgence goes to get him a rotating sequence of beginning jobs elsewhere after 2024. However he has already eaten a career-high 36 sacks by way of 12 video games, and stays Darnold within the sense that he neither feels stress significantly effectively nor avoids it in addition to he ought to, and he will be compelled into dangerous or downright poor throws. If the Falcons cross rush simply discovered a form of elixir for its woes, they will possible finish a few drives on an interception or a sack, and that can give Atlanta’s offense extra probabilities.

The opposite half of the equation is a giant purple flag, although. Cousins is taking part in poorly at a spectacularly dangerous time, as a result of he’s about to go up in opposition to a protection that may give quarterbacks hell. This can be a inventive and typically unrelenting cross rush and Cousins is successfully motionless; any breakdowns in cross safety will expose him to stress, and he can’t navigate that stress successfully at this stage of his profession. A jumpy, fluttery-armed quarterback dealing with a protection that has 39 sacks and 18 interceptions in 2024 is a possible recipe for catastrophe. The Falcons should take full benefit of a Vikings run protection that collapsed in opposition to Arizona this previous week and provides Cousins straightforward buttons he desperately must press to keep away from this changing into an actual mess; Zac Robinson must be working time beyond regulation this week to provide you with a sport plan that may counter that stress.

The matchup possible hinges on the 2 quarterbacks, although there are quite a few subplots that can even play a job within the consequence. The explosive duo of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison will stretch A.J. Terrell and Clark Phillips/Mike Hughes to the boundaries of their skills, whereas the inconsistent however big-play-authoring Aaron Jones will check whether or not this run protection is de facto making main strides or simply caught a break from a subpar set of operating again rooms within the AFC West. Josh Metellus performs in all places on this protection, but it surely’s fairly potential he might draw nickel cornerback work and should deal with Drake London inside, a matchup that clearly favors London; an ageing Stephon Gilmore might scuffle with Darnell Mooney when he attracts that matchup as effectively. The Falcons can’t assault the Vikings protection with a cell quarterback the way in which Arizona simply did fairly successfully, however Arizona nonetheless put up 100 yards on 23 carries with their operating backs and Bijan Robinson ought to have his alternatives to feast.

However as is becoming given the load of Cousins returning to Minnesota and the Vikings’ efficient alternative of him with Darnold that this matchup turns so closely on quarterback play and the brilliance or lack thereof for Kevin O’Connell and Zac Robinson, two former NFL quarterbacks turned Sean McVay disciples. It received’t be straightforward in any respect for the Falcons to win this one, however for the sake of their hopes within the NFC South, we’ll hope for his or her first full sport in a very long time.