NFL preview: the Atlanta Falcons host the Baltimore Ravens in a rare Thursday match
In one of the NFL’s rare midweek matchups, the Atlanta Falcons (6-2) will host the Baltimore Ravens (6-2) on Thursday, 11 November. The contest looks to pit a potent Falcons offence (24.5 points per game)
against a stingy Baltimore defence (17.4 points per game), as both teams currently lead their respective divisions.
With each squad coming off of a win this past weekend, the Thursday night showdown (and potential Super Bowl preview) has put both teams in a precarious situation, facing such a short turnaround. The Ravens
soundly handled their AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins, 26-10, while the Falcons regained the divisional lead with a 27-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Both teams winning records this season can be attributed to the play of their quarterbacks. Atlanta play-caller Matt Ryan, a three-year veteran out of Boston College, apparently looks forward to the quick
turnaround from Sunday’s win.
“In college when we played on a Thursday night, it seemed like we had a bye the week before so we had ample time to prepare,” the QB told reporters earlier this week.
Baltimore starting quarterback Joe Flacco echoed his counterpart’s sentiments, aware that neither team is at an advantage in terms of rest and recovery.
“The thing is, that both teams are going through the same thing,” Flacco, who is also in his third year in the league, told the media. “I’ve never gone through it before. It should be fun. Instead of practicing
on Thursday, we’ll be playing a game so I think we’ll all be happy about that.”
Meanwhile, both coaches acknowledged that playing twice in the same week has taken its toll on the regular routines of the players and staff.
“We lost two days of our life I think,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “Both teams played less than 24 hours before we were back at practice so it was a little different tempo.” Likewise, Atlanta’s head
coach, Mike Smith, admitted that he and his coaching staff were watching game film and developing their attack for Thursday’s game just hours after their key divisional win over Tampa Bay.
However, Smith and his Falcons will have home field advantage on their side, as the team has gone undefeated at the Georgia Dome thus far this season, averaging a whopping 30.8 points per game in four wins.
Furthermore, Atlanta comes into the contest riding a 13-game home winning streak with Ryan starting under centre.
Nonetheless, the Falcons will have to get past a formidable Ravens defence that has held opponents to 17 or less points in six of its eight games this year.
“Obviously, they have a defence that does a lot of things and they have a lot of talented guys,” Ryan said. “We are going to have our work cut out for us.”
Baltimore also feels like they’ve got a good chance to make noise with their offense, which has quietly eclipsed the 20-point mark in its last four games, three of which were wins. That’s got the Ravens feeling
optimistic. “We’re hitting our stride right now as a team,” running back Ray Rice said. “We’re finding ways to put everything together.”
Prediction:
Baltimore will succeed in slowing down the game enough to make it a fairly low-scoring affair, but the Atlanta Falcons will walk away with a 21-17 win.
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