Atlanta Falcons Vs Bears: Matchups for Week 1
By Jeremy Riggs
Football is kind of like a game of chess. Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons travel up to Chicago to take on the Bears. Let’s take a look at our chess pieces, and how they match up against theirs.
Falcons Offense vs Bears Defense
Quarterback: Matt Ryan VS Linebacker: Jerrell Freeman
Sometimes, one of those linemen (Goldman, Unrein, Hicks) would be out of the play, if both outside linebackers rush the passer, unless they choose to rush five. Young and Floyd are two of the talents in the league, at pass rusher. Schraeder and Matthews are good tackles in their own right – so thats a good match up to look at. It’s also worthy to note that this offensive line is one of the smaller ones in the league due to the agility needed for the zone blocking scheme so how will they match up to the bigger 3-4 linemen?
Wide Receivers vs Cornerbacks.
On one side, it’s Julio Jones. Nothing else to talk about, right? No, lets look. Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Taylor Gabriel. The Bears cornerbacks consist of: Prince Amukamara, Marcus Cooper, and Kyle Fuller. Their corners have some size on them, but the way the Falcons line up, who knows who exactly will be on who. Nonetheless, its worth noting the size of the Bears secondary.
Tight Ends vs Linebackers/Safeties
Austin Hooper had a very good Super Bowl. He’s improved in camp, according to multiple reports, and some expect a break out season for him. He’ll have a very good first test against the linebackers in Chicago. Toiololo will have a test as well. Who knows how much time Saubert will see. The Bears cover backers will usually be Jerrell Freeman, Danny Trevathan, along with safeties Quinton Demps and Adrian Amos. The linebackers really jump out to me, remembering Trevathan on that Super Bowl team of Denver, and Freeman who’s one of the better cover linebackers in the league.
Bears Offense vs Falcons Defense
Mike Glennon vs Deion Jones
Bears quarterback Mike Glennon is familiar with the Falcons from his days in Tampa Bay, but this is an entirely new Falcons defense, and a large part of that is because of linebacker Deion Jones. It’ll be interesting to see how much more comfortable Jones looks pre-snap and see how much trust the Falcons coaches have instilled in him to make changes before the snap.
Offensive Line vs Defensive Line
The Bears offensive line is actually pretty good – when healthy. Charles Leno, Kyle Long, Cody Whitehair, Josh Sitton, Bobby Massie. Long, Whitehair, and Sitton are among the top interior offensive lines in the entire league. (It must be said, that Kyle Long is questionable for the season opener) The Falcons defensive line interchanges so much, but the edges of Vic Beasley, and Takk McKinley/Brooks Reed/Adrian Clayborn vs the offensive tackles of Charles Leno and Bobby Massie is pretty interesting but the match up that intrigues me is Grady Jarrett and Dontari Poe against the interior force I mentioned earlier. What a first match up, for the newly acquired Poe, along with Grady Jarrett who many hope, has a break out season.
Wide Receivers vs Cornerbacks
The Bears wide receivers are a mixed bag, to say the least. Losing Cameron Meredith for what seems to be a long time due to injury and losing Alshon Jeffery to free agency, you look on the roster and have no idea what you’re getting. Kevin White, Kendall Wright, and newly acquired Markus Wheaton are their wide outs, and they’ll be up against Desmond Trufant, Robert Alford, and Brian Poole. It’ll be interesting to see if Quinn sees a receiver worth having Trufant blanketing or not, and which corner they attack – if they choose to do so.
Tight Ends vs Linebackers/Safeties
The Bears tight ends are a respectable group. Dion Sims, Zach Miller who’s been doing it for a while, and rookie Adam Shaheen. The Falcons have some of the quicker linebackers in Duke Riley, De’Vondre Campbell, and Deion Jones, and the safety tandem of Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen has to be factored in. The way Quinn schemes is, he sets a linebacker on a safety in man quite a bit, or allows Keanu Neal to do so. It’ll be a good match up with whatever he decides to do.
Next: Falcons vs. Bears: Behind enemy lines with Da Windy City
What it’ll come down to
Match ups not mentioned are running backs, because theres not really a specific piece to put against the guys in the back field, they get the ball, and they’re running from everyone. They kind of are beneficiaries of the offensive line vs defensive line category.
Jordan Howard is a very talented back, the Falcons will have to win the match up upfront to contain him or it’ll be a very long day. On the other end, Devonta Freeman is a talent in his own right, and so is Tevin Coleman. Against this massive 3-4, how will the Falcons guys look? Sunday at 1:00 EST. We all find out.