Atlanta Falcons final week 12 prediction vs. Washington Commanders

The Washington Commanders will be hosting the Atlanta Falcons on Fox at 1 p.m. eastern time. These are two teams that are still alive in the playoff hunt, but in different ways, as the Falcons have a more clear shot to enter the postseason via winning the division, while the Commanders will likely have to enter as a wildcard team.

What that means is that you will see two teams that are fighting for their lives. They both need this win in order to keep pace in the NFC and ultimately surprise everyone with a playoff berth.

Let’s talk about some aspects of the game as well as provide a prediction for which team will come out on top.

Final predictions for the Atlanta Falcons’ matchup against the Washington Commanders

These are two teams that have not had the most consistent quarterback play this season. The Atlanta Falcons have Marcus Mariota who has started every game but has been a complete rollercoaster. The Washington Commanders had Carson Wentz starting who got injured and essentially lost his job since Taylor Heinicke forced the coaches to keep him as the starter.

The cliche thing would be to say that this game will come down to whichever quarterback makes fewer mistakes, but no, we will go to the other cliche; this game will come down to the team that is able to run the ball more consistently.

That is what these two teams want to do. They both have physical runners and offensive lines that have struggled in pass protection. Throw in who the quarterbacks are and you can understand why they both want to pound the ball.

The Falcons will have a more difficult route running the ball as they have to go up against a talented defensive line. The Commanders, meanwhile, are going up against an inconsistent run defense.

Ultimately, Dean Pees will have an answer on how to keep the running game at bay for the Commanders while the Falcons’ offensive line continues to push defenders back in the running game. The Falcons win on a Younghoe Koo field goal because he is just too good.

Falcons: 23

Commanders: 21