Both of these football teams are coming off huge victories! These teams are so contrasting in style that this will be a very interesting game to watch unfold.
The Falcons offensive strength matches up perfectly with the Bengals defensive weakness, which is running the football. No team runs the ball better than the Falcons, who are averaging 222.2 yards rushing per game and 6.1 yards per carry. Look for the Falcons to run the ball until the Bengals front 7 proves they can stop it, which is unlikely because they allow 127.0 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry. Warrick Dunn (560 yards), Michael Vick (441 yards) and Jerious Norwood (290 yards) will take turns running all over the Bengals defense. And if the Bengals creep up too much to stop the run, Vick will just start flipping short passes to TE Alge Crumpler (22 rec, 311 yards) who has a huge size advantage over the Bengals safeties.
Look for the Bengals to come out throwing the football on Sunday. The Falcons defense is allowing 230.8 net yards passing per game and showed alot of holes last week against the Steelers. Carson Palmer (1,418 yards passing) needs to get the Bengals on the board early and force the Falcons to play from behind. If the Bengals do indeed get an early lead, look for them to give the ball to Rudi Johnson (506 yards rushing) to keep the Bengals defense off of the field.
This should be a fantastic football game. The early part of this game will determine the outcome. If the Bengals jump to an early lead, they should win the game because they can force the Falcons to try to throw the ball. If the Falcons get the lead, they will just pound away against the soft run defense of the Bengals and emerge with a win. This game really could go either way, and it’s impossible for me to pick a winner.