Falcons aim to seal wildcard berth by dominating lowly Jaguars – NFL Week 15 Preview
Aiming to seal their place in the postseason for the third time under Coach Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons will host Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons ended week 14 with a brilliant comeback-victory over division rivals Carolina Panthers. Down and seemingly out after the first half at 23-7, they came out fired up for the second half with quarterback Matt Ryan leading
the charge. Ryan, who is a bane of Panthers sides each time he faces them, was once again on fire.
"We approached it as the first of four legs," Ryan said of the team's remaining games. "We've knocked the first leg out and now we've got to move on and keep going."
The quarterback ended the game with four touchdown passes, covering 320 yards and completing 22 out of 38 passes. Three of the passes came in the second half. The Panthers looked shell-shocked in the face of the Falcons attacking
prowess and their defence, which is one of the poorest in the league, crumbled completely.
Atlanta (8-5) can ensure their playoff wildcard berth if they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday. The game becomes more important as the Falcons play away to fierce rivals New Orleans Saints in week 16. If they lose Thursday’s
game and fail to overcome the Saints, Dallas Cowboys or Chicago Bears will have advantage over the Falcons.
Coach Mike Smith will be back on the field for the game. The 52-year old Coach was taken to hospital on Sunday after the game against Carolina Panthers with complaints of chest pain. Discharged in the morning after getting checked
for what the Falcons termed a “non-emergency matter”, he returned to Atlanta to take a 40-minute light training session on Monday night.
"I'm really embarrassed to have to even be talking about it," Smith said. "I don't want to talk about it. I'd prefer to talk about the way our guys played in the second half and we've got a short week and we've got to get ready
for Jacksonville."
Jacksonville Jaguars had their best game this season against Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 14. The Jaguars decimated a Bucs side that didn’t seem interested in playing the game as pros. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew scored four
touchdowns during the game with two of those coming from passes by rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert.
The Jaguars who have been recently bought by Pakistani-American businessman Shahid Khan will look to win their second straight game for the first time this season.
"This is what we expected to have all year," defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. "It didn't work like that, but hopefully it will be good momentum for us."
Atlanta Falcons are favourites for the win. Even though Jacksonville Jaguars won against Tampa Bay Buccaneers 41-14, the Falcons are a different proposition altogether. The Falcons are offensively and defensively miles ahead of
the Jaguars and an easy victory is likely on the cards.
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