Philadelphia (0-0) at Atlanta (0-0)
When: Monday, September 14th 2015
Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Time: 7:10 ET
TV: ESPN Radio: XM 226, 225, 88
The high-flying Philadelphia Eagles come to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in what should be an exciting fast-paced game. Coach Chip Kelly added quarterback Sam Bradford and running back DeMarco Murray. Bradford replaces Nick Foles who was traded to St. Louis for Sam. Bradford tends to get injured a lot, but has looked pretty good in preseason so far. Murray comes over from Dallas and was the offensive player of the year in 2014 with 1,845 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. The Eagles lost Jeremy Maclin to Kansas City, but Kelly believes that Jordan Matthews will be his go-to guy along with rookie Nelson Agholor. The defense has a few new faces in Kiko Alonso from Buffalo and Byron Maxwell from Seattle. Maxwell will get tested right away tonight covering the Falcons’ Julio Jones.
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Speaking of Jones, he signed a $71.25 million deal in the offseason and will be Matt Ryan’s favorite target for at least the next 5 years. Needless to say this Atlanta team loves to pass. Atlanta finished last season second in completions (418), third in attempts (632) and fifth in passing yards (4,553) while its 372 rushing attempts were sixth worst in the league. The running game will be led by rookie Tevin Coleman while Devonta Freeman nurses a nagging hamstring injury. Everything will depend on a revamped offensive line. On the defensive side of the ball, the Falcons will need to improve as they allowed a lot of points last year. They allowed 30 or more points 8 times last year. I don’t care how good the offense is, you need a better defense to get to the playoffs. Luckily, they play in a poor division.
I believe both teams will have success offensively, so taking the over would seem like an easy play. I’m not going there tonight. I believe the Eagles will wear down the Falcons defense and come away with a 30-24 victory.
Pick: Eagles -3
