Sunday, the Falcons (3-3) will play their fourth road game of the 2022 season, and if they hope they hope to move to 2-2 away from Mercedes Benz Stadium, they’ll have to flip the script from their losses in both Los Angeles and Tampa Bay.
After falling behind 28-3 to the Rams and 21-0 to the Bucs, the Falcons fell just short of completing improbable comebacks in both matchups. As they travel to Cincinnati (3-3) Sunday, play-by-play voice Wes Durham says that Atlanta may not have the same opportunity to climb their way back into the ballgame if they fall behind early.
Backing up his point with cold, hard stats, Durham told The Steakhouse on 92.9 The Game that the Falcons must strike early as the Bengals have given up 74% of their points to opponents in the 1st half and are outscoring teams 43-15 in the 4th quarter.
“Atlanta cannot wait around to get started Sunday. They’ve got to start early because I think Burrow and Chase, and Joe Mixon obviously, but they’re still pretty salty on defense even though they’ve had some attrition through free agency," he said.
Durham pointed out that, without Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta is using different running back combinations but they’ll have to find that rhythm earlier Sunday as Arthur Smith splits carries between Caleb Huntley, Tyler Allgeier and Avery Williams along with reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week Marcus Mariota continuing to be a threat on the ground.
The Falcons enter Sunday’s matchup dealing with plenty of injuries, including the loss of CB Casey Hayward to a shoulder injury. Dee Alford, who played a key role in the win over the 49ers Sunday, has missed consecutive practice days, but AJ Terrell, Mykal Walker, Isaiah Oliver, Ta’Quon Graham and Ade Ogundeji were all full participants Thursday.
Meanwhile, Chase—the Bengals' star wideout—has been limited in practice this week, but Durham pointed out that Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins along with Mixon in the backfield still give Joe Burrow plenty of firepower if Chase isn’t 100% Sunday.
Kickoff from Cincinnati is set for Sunday at 1:00 and you can catch all the action on 92.9 The Game!