What do you get when you take on one of the league’s top wide-receiving cores without your starting cornerbacks? A 481-yard passing day for Joe Burrow as he picked apart a depleted Falcons secondary in a 35-17 Cincinnati victory dropping Atlanta to 3-4 on the year.
Already without Casey Hayward (IR) and Dee Alford, it was evident early on that the Falcons defense was in for a long day at Paycor Stadium. Burrow and the Bengals needed just 4-plays to score their first touchdown of the day with a 60-yard connection from Burrow to Tyler Boyd, and following the loss of A.J. Terrell to a hamstring injury early in the 1st quarter, things snowballed from there. Cincinnati moved the ball with little resistance and scored on each of their first four possessions—3 in the air and one on the ground.
While the undermanned Falcons defense would find their footing in the second half to a certain degree, only allowing one touchdown—a Joe Burrow sneak—in the final 30 minutes, the true damage was already done. In addition to Terrell, the injuries continued to pile up throughout the second half with Mike Ford and Jaylinn Hawkins also exiting early. The Bengals offensive explosion ended with both Boyd (155) and Ja’Marr Chase (130) going over the century mark on 8 catches each. Tee Higgins also went for 93 yards and former Falcon TE Hayden Hurst caught 6 passes for 48 yards.
It was a different story for the Falcons' offense early, running just five plays in the first quarter before breaking through in the 2nd quarter with a methodical drive that took 10 minutes off the clock and ended with Tyler Allgeier’s first career touchdown from a yard out to cut the lead to 21-7. After Ja’Marr Chase’s second score made it 28-7 with :49 left in the first half, it looked like the Falcons were going to find a way to climb right back in the ballgame as Marcus Mariota found Damiere Byrd for a 75-yard touchdown, and just moments later, and an Avery Williams punt return set up a Younghoe Koo field goal at the gun. At 28-17, the Falcons were within striking distance but the offense sputtered in the second half with their longest drive covering just 23 yards.
On the day, the Falcons were out-gained by the Bengals 537-214, and this wasn’t a game that favors Atlanta’s offensive identity. Playing from behind, the running game was rendered ineffective and the Falcons couldn’t throw their way back into this one. Mariota was far from the only issue in today’s game but going just 8/13 for 124 yards with 75 of those yard coming on one play will certainly reignite the conversation surrounding rookie Desmond Ridder and when he may get a look. Head coach Arthur Smith harps on situational football, and that’s another area where the Falcons were outclassed Sunday as the Bengals were 7-11 on 3rd down while Atlanta was 4-10.
This wasn’t the first road game that the Falcons found themselves down early after slow starts in LA and in Tampa, but like PxP voice Wes Durham told 92.9 The Game earlier this week, this Bengals team isn’t one that you can expect to come back against.
Through the first six weeks of the season, this Falcons team has garnered respect for outkicking offseason expectations, and while today’s loss feels like a bit of a step back, there is a body of work that tells you they’re better than what they put on tape in Cincinnati.
For those with a financial interest in the game, the Falcons failed to cover the spread (-6.5) for the first time in 2022.
Next up for Atlanta is a matchup against the Panthers at Mercedes Benz Stadium with Carolina coming off a dominant 21-3 win over the Bucs with PJ Walker leading the way. You can hear next week’s matchup and all of your Falcons action here on 92.9 The Game!