Atlanta Falcons should be fresh, ready to go after bye week

Week 10 has come and gone, and it was a Sunday that didn’t feature Atlanta Falcons football. Some teams get their bye as early as Week 4, while some get it a little bit later on. This year, Atlanta’s late bye week came at a perfect time.

The bye is a godsend for teams battling nagging injuries, and it came at a much needed time for a Falcons team that has been battling such injuries for a while.

Julio Jones‘ nagging hamstring, which has been bothering him all season, should be as close to 100 percent as possible for the stretch run. It got better following Atlanta’s 10 days off after the Thursday night game against the Saints, but this full week off should go far in solidifying the star receiver’s health.

Going beyond Jones, players such as Robert Alford, Justin Durant, Tyson Jackson and Leonard Hankerson, all of whom either missed the Week 9 game with the 49ers or didn’t finish the contest due to injury, should be back at practice this week after the extra week off.

Desmond Trufant and Vic Beasley, both of whom played in San Francisco but still battled injuries that kept them out of practice, should have their health solidified as well.

But going beyond just injuries, this bye week is great for Atlanta because the offense has been playing some terrible football the past month. They sputtered and proved to be turnover prone within the division against the Saints and Bucs, scored just 10 points against the Titans, struggled against the Redskins, and lacked execution against the 49ers.

More from Blogging Dirty

Opposing teams have figured out Kyle Shanahan’s offense, as it’s been predictable after that first month where it looked unstoppable. The bye week is a great opportunity for preparation, and to come up with ways to counteract the rest of the league’s adaptation.

But maybe most importantly, this week is extremely beneficial from a psychological standpoint for the players. Out of the nine games the Falcons played this season, eight were very close affairs which featured either fourth quarter comebacks or close defeats. That takes it toll and fatigues a player’s psyche. A week off can prove to be imperatively refreshing from a mental standpoint.

The Falcons’ schedule gets tougher from here on out, as it features matchups with the Colts, Vikings, Panthers twice and two divisional rematches against the Buccaneers and Saints. This bye week is one where the team got a chance to recuperate from injury, come up with new offensive schemes, and take a much needed psychological break.

Hopefully the Falcons put the bye week to good use and regrouped, because now we begin to enter the home stretch.

Home/Atlanta Falcons News