Atlanta Falcons pre-season schedule and initial thoughts

The Atlanta Falcons announced their preseason schedule today and there are a few takeaways. This will be a long preseason as the Falcons will be playing five games, including the hall of fame game for the fourth time in franchise history.

The  first game of the Atlanta Falcons preseason will see them take on the Denver Broncos at Tom Benson HOF Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The Atlanta Falcons are playing in this game for the first time since 1994 and will be a great way to celebrate former Falcons tight-end Tony Gonzalez, who is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. We will likely not see any of the starters in this game but it will still be cool to see Tony Gonzalez.

The official week one of the preseason is going to be against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock stadium in Miami, Florida. For this game we will see the starters in for a series or two before being pulled. This will be the sixth straight year these two teams will face watch other in the NFL pre-season.

Week two of the preseason the Falcons will host the New York Jets at Mercedes Benz Stadium. This will be an important game for the Falcons because this will be their toughest test of the pre-season. The Jets have had a nice off-season adding to their defense with CJ Mosley while second year QB Sam Darnold looks to build off his rookie year. Hopefully the Falcons will have a better result, as it was an ugly game against the Jets last pre-season. The starters will get a few more series in this game as most teams play their starters for the first quarter in this week.

Week three is the biggest week for the preseason, as most teams will play their starters for the entire first half. The Falcons will host the Washington Redskins at Mercedes Benz Stadium for week three. Washington is another team that has a lot of question marks around it as their offense looks thin and we have no idea when or if Alex Smith will return to the field. Hopefully we will see cohesiveness by both units in the first half and will have a much clearly picture of guys that will make the roster.

For week four of the preseason, the Falcons will travel to TIAA Bank Field to play the Jacksonville Jaguars. None of the starters will see time in this game as this week is meant for making the final decisions on rosters and trim the roster to 53 players. This is one of the most important weeks for some NFL players because players have earned and lost their jobs this week of the preseason.

If you have not been to Mercedes Benz Stadium before and want to see a Falcons game, Week two and Week three are the perfect weeks to go check out the Stadium. These games will have some of the cheapest ticket prices you will see at this venue for a Falcons game. More importantly, do not take the preseason too seriously. 2019 will be a great year for the Falcons!