Can The Falcons Defense Hold Down Saquon Barkley

The Atlanta Falcons captured their second win of the season last week in a shootout with the Buccaneers. The defense did not play particularly well, however they forced two key turnovers deep in the redzone on Jameis Winston. This Monday Atlanta hosts the G-men in a prime time setting. With Eli Manning sputtering out, Saquon Barkley is demanding control of this offense. If Atlanta wants to head into the bye week at 3-4, they will have to maintain Barkley in all aspects of the game to get there.

We Need To Dominate The Box

With the New York Giants being known for a weak offensive line, our defensive front needs to apply pressure all game to dominate. Eli Manning struggles significantly when he is outside the pocket. Nowadays, Manning would rather drop down and take a sack than make a play on his toes. Providing pressure often is going to force the ball out of Manning’s hands quickly causing errant throws. Additionally, getting to Barkley in the backfield will limit his ability to break open a big play. Quinn should have a good game plan in stopping Barkley, which hopefully will have a lot of stunts to get pressure in this backfield.

Secure Tackles

Atlanta is 26th in the league in tackling efficiency according to Pro Football Focus. Dan Quinn’s unit misses a tackle on 11.9% of plays. Saquon Barkley is second in the league in broken tackles with 27. Barkley is going to see an enormous amount of touches on Monday. If the Giants can get him the ball clean and in open field, Atlanta is going to have a lot of trouble. Gang tackling and securing open field tackles are going to be a huge difference between holding the Giants to a punt or field goal rather than a Touchdown. If tackling is an issue on Monday, don’t expect this defense to get off the field.

Keeping Odell Beckham Out of The End Zone

Odell Beckham has been relatively quiet this season. Well actually, his mouth has been loud as always, but in terms of touchdowns he has only one receiving score on the season. Yes, I know that is more than Julio Jones, but still for a big time guy like himself, he has definitely been limited this year. It would be an awful day for the Falcons if Manning and Beckham figure it out against our depleted defense. Trufant and Alford should both have help over the top when handling Beckham, and Eli seems scared to throw the deep ball, but keeping Odell in reach and in the dirt all night Monday will be key to getting a victory.

Best Guess

Manning should continue to struggle this season. The G-Men are averaging a measly 19.5 points per game. I do not expect them to be able to hang around in a shoot out with our offensive power house. However, if this defense fails to get stops on third downs and lets Saquon Barkley have a headline day, a victory could be in jeopardy. My prediction, 37-23 in favor of the good guys.