Falcons
vs.
Eagles
Week 10
NFL Pick
11/13/16
The Falcons take their high-powered offense to Philadelphia to face the Eagles’ stingy defense in Week 10. Atlanta has won two Games in a row, is 6-3 and leads the NFC South by a Game and a half over the New Orleans Saints. Philadelphia has slumped as of late, losing Four of their last five Game, iNCluding each of the last two. They are 4-4 and are in last place in the NFC East, in desperate need of a win to stay in contention. This Game is listed as a pick ’em with an over/under of 50.5 ACCording to the 5Dimes Sportsbook.
Matt Ryan is the NFL’s leading passer with 2,980 yards through the air. He’s done this while completing nearly 70% of his passes and has thrown 23 touchdowns vs. only Four interceptions.
Ryan will go up against the league’s 6th-leading pass defense. This is largely enforced because of the Eagles’ pass rush, which has ACCounted for 23 sacks in 2016 — tied for 5th-most in the NFL.
Of course, Ryan has the advantage of going to the Game’s best wide receiver in Julio Jones. He leads the league in receiving yards with 970. Jones is averaging 19.0 yards per reception on the season and has reached the end zone five times as well.
Atlanta’s backfield of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman has caused plenty of problems as well. Freeman is averaging 4.7 yards per carry; Coleman is averaging 17.4 yards per reception.
The Falcons offense has already proved itself to be a handful on the road against some of the NFL’s best defenses. They won 23-16 in Denver and lost a hotly contested Game 26-24 in Seattle.
Carson Wentz has been good for Philadelphia, but he’s been limited by the surrounding pieces of the Eagles’ offense. Wentz has thrown for 1,890 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions, but there just aren’t a lot of big plays to be seen in this passing Game.
The running Game has been awful. There’s no help to reliably expect from Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles.
Jordan Matthews has been pretty good as the go-to receiver, averaging over 63 yards per Game, but he simply isn’t a true No. 1 target. Matthews would be better served to be a second or third option if a team we building a truly elite receiving corps.
Atlanta’s defense has been really bad and is next to worst in terms of passing yards allowed per Game in the NFL. Wentz should be able to continue protecting the ball, but I don’t know that there should be a lot of expectation for Philadelphia to really punish the Falcons’ defense as a whole.
Ryan has been so good this year, a defense must really prove to me they can stop Atlanta’s offense. Like they did in Denver and Seattle, my anticipation is for Atlanta to Scoretheir fair share of points. Philadelphia should be able to do the same as long as Wentz continues to protect the ball. Falcons 31, Eagles 24.