Atlanta Falcons lose CB Casey Hayward at worst possible time

The Atlanta Falcons have had inconsistent cornerback play this year from the likes of A.J. Terrell and Casey Hayward — two players who have a track record of being elite players, so we have figured that they would only get better by the week.

Unfortunately, though, it sounds like Casey Hayward will be on the sideline for quite some time, at least according to Arthur Smith’s predictions.

It hurts to lose the veteran corner, especially when you take into consideration what the Falcons have on their plate this Sunday.

Atlanta Falcons cornerback Casey Hayward injured at the worst possible time

The Atlanta Falcons figured to have one of the best cornerback rooms in the entire NFL and while they haven’t played like it, things were looking up for them, at least until Casey Hayward left the game against the San Francisco 49ers.

As I have said in the past, it seems like every time you gain someone, you end up losing someone, which is exactly what has happened over the past week. Isaiah Oliver finally made it back onto the field and played extremely well, but now it sounds like the Falcons have lost their number two corner for a while.

Again, it hurts enough, but if it was going to happen, you certainly wish it would have happened a couple weeks from now.

Why is that? Well, the Falcons have to travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals and if there is one thing the Bengals are known for, it is for having one of the absolute best group of wide receivers in the league.

Ja’Marr Chase is hard enough to cover by himself but the fact that you also have to take on a couple of underrated receivers in Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, it makes things nearly impossible to stop.

A.J. Terrell is a great player but even Deion Sanders cannot cover three receivers at once. This means that Darren Hall, Dee Alford, and Isaiah Oliver are going to have to play better than ever in order to cover up the loss of Casey Hayward.

On the optimistic side, we should be thankful that we got Isaiah Oliver back when we did, or else this would be an even bigger nightmare.

Hopefully, the pass rush can also help them out by exposing a weak Bengals offensive line. How much pressure Atlanta is able to get on Joe Burrow might determine the outcome of the game.