Game Preview For Week 2: Atlanta Falcons vs. Dallas Cowboys

The most exciting week of the NFL 2020-21 has just started and already the teams are showing the chances they have (or not) to survive the season, just like the Atlanta Falcons, and the Dallas Cowboys- who opened their first game against each other. Both the teams were unable to secure a single win yet, and this week is a ‘must-win’ situation, especially for the Falcons (0-1), who desperately need a win to keep pace in the NFC south.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Dallas Cowboys 

Sunday. September 20, 2020 - 01:00 pm EDT at AT&T stadium, Texas

Atlanta Falcons

Although their impressive records, the fans of the Falcons have lost their hopes of the team ever getting back on track - and it is understandable. The year 2019 was filled with a struggle for the Falcons, and their game was just paddling in the mud, without showing any signs of improvement. But, there may not be enough reason for one to cherish the team’s ball game, one thing to look forward to is their offensive tactics. The Atlanta Falcons are the second-ranked offense and 24th in defense, so, it's clear where their strength lies.

This season has given pretty much a rocky start to the team, with a 38-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks but still was a great passing game, thanks to quarterback Matt Ryan. Even though they were down for most aspects of the game, significant moves were made by Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley (Wide recipient) where Jones had 157 yards to lead the group, and Ridley had 130 with both having score gatherings. The game was passing and the Seahawks could stop the run and the slow progress that had been made by the team became stagnant.

Anyway, it has only been one week into the game so that statistics may not be very important, but the Atlanta Falcons should look out for a win if they want to keep up with NFC South.

This match could be a game-changer for the Falcons, who, in their 54 years of playing in the NFL has certainly made big turnovers at the last moment. Whether or not, head coach Dan Quinn makes it to the Super Bowl will highly depend on the performance Atlanta Falcons put up at the AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys came into this season with Mike McCarthy as their coach who is under quite a lot of pressure to take the Cowboys notches higher than his predecessor Jason Garrett- who was dismissed at the climax of the 2019 season. The Dallas Cowboys lost a very close game against the LA Rams (20-17) and also suffered many key injuries during the match. These make the team’s position very difficult even after having some of the best offenses and quarterbacks. 

All of this including the expectations of the audience is going to make this head-to-head offense exciting. Among the 28 times Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys have faced each other, the Cowboys held a 17-11 margin advantage over the Falcons, and in 2015, which was the last time these two teams faced each other at the AT&T Stadium, the victory was rewarded to the Atlanta Falcons with a healthy margin of 39-28. 

The key to winning this match is actually in an area neither of the teams is superb at defense. Although both teams match quite well on the ground of their offense techniques, the team that stops in the red zone for their defense will change the flow of the game. Atlanta is at more advantage here because although both of the teams got weak defense, the Falcons can be dynamic with theirs when it comes to that.

Conclusion

As both teams gear up for their first win of the 2020-21 season, the audience can look forward to a match that will be very offense heavy. This match will finalize which team will head into Week 3 of the season with a 1-1 record. The teams had been in the same position last in 2015, where the winner was Atlanta Falcons. So apart from the current pressures that both teams have, the pressure of succeeding in the upcoming week may increase. Needless to say, both the teams and their coaches respectively are under the radar for this match, which is going to change the fate of both the teams.