The Atlanta Falcons (2-0) who are surprising everyone in the early stretch of this NFL season, travel to Dallas to face off with the Dallas Cowboys (2-0) making it three NFC East teams in as many weeks.
A major talking point in the build of this matchup is obviously the injury to Tony Romo leaving him side lined for an estimated eight weeks. Romo joins an ever growing list of injured and questionable players including Dez Bryant, Randy Gregory, James Hanna, Jason Witten, and Kyle Wilber. The Atlanta Falcons have some minor injury scares of their own but none quite match up to the injury issues of the Dallas Cowboys. Rookie running back Tevin Coleman is expected to play with fractured ribs but it will be touch and go, Brooks Reed is expected to make his first start for Atlanta and Devin Hester is expected to miss out.
Due to these injuries it will mean the Dallas Cowboys will be led by veteran quarterback Brandon Weeden who saw the score total 7-7 against the Eagles in his short cameo. Losing Bryant the week before makes the task even more difficult for backup Weeden, who is no longer able to target his main man in times of difficulty as he can make plays happen out of nowhere. The spluttering running game is also going to be of concern to head coach Jason Garrett, who will be fully aware that a backup quarterback with his best receiving option out injured needs the running game to support him. The Cowboys entire running back committee has 189 yards in two games so far, averaging 94.5 yards a game, and while this isn't poor it is hardly enough to support a backup quarterback, so look for the Cowboys to try and improve the rushing game.
It is vital to remember however that with an offensive line as strong as the Cowboys, they will be able to give Weeden time to make his plays which will be vital if the Cowboys are going to outscore the Falcons due of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.
The surprise package of the season arguably is the Atlanta Falcons who after two losing seasons back to back with a combined total of 10 wins out of a possible 32 in the regular season, are now 2-0 and looking strong.
The duo of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are arguably in the top bracket for quarterback and receiver duos and Jason Garrett himself came out and admitted that Jones is ‘pretty rare’. The receiver currently boasts; 22 receptions, 276 yards and two touchdowns in just two games. If the Cowboys are to have a chance then they have to stop Jones anyway possible if that means doubling up on him and giving Ryan man coverage across the rest of the field.
Furthermore, the Atlanta Falcons last season struggled due to a banged up offensive line and an abysmal running game. That is slowly starting to change this season. Rookie running back Tevin Coleman boasts 112 yards off 22 carries so far this season, put into context he missed a portion of the Giants game with an injury then these stats are truly impressive. All together the Falcons can boast 161 yards averaging 80.5 yards a game, even though this is hardly an electric average but compared to last season it shows some serious improvement.
As for the Falcons offensive line, Ryan has been sacked just three times so far this season, showing how much they have improved. In the last two seasons under Mike Smith, Ryan was sacked 75 times causing him to rush passes and ultimately either be turned over or be incomplete.
The biggest improvement however is the defense. In the opening two weeks of the season they have forced three fumbles and made two interceptions. Of course they are not yet a top tier defense despite the improvements giving up 627 passing yards so far and a more impressive 160 rushing yards so far. The passing game is a work in progress for certain but the rush defense is improving on last year’s already.
With Weeden under center for the Cowboys expect the Falcons to try and stuff the run and ask Weeden to outscore Ryan and Jones himself, a task he will struggle to do.
For this reason the Falcons are slight favorites to win away from home at the Cowboys.