The New England Patriots had an excellent time in Week 8, scoring 30 points offensively while the defense scored two more on a safety to secure a 32-13 win over the Browns. There were ups, like the third quarter offensive explosion, and downs, like their inability to stop Myles Garrett, but all in all, it was an encouraging day.
They extended their winning streak to five games, the longest active streak in the NFL.
While Sunday was a good one for New England, the same can't be said for the Atlanta Falcons. The Georgians were missing their starting QB, Michael Penix, so they turned to veteran Kirk Cousins as relief. The $180 million man was unable to come up with much of anything, passing for under 200 yards and scoring ten points as the then one-win Dolphins trounced Atlanta by a score of 34-10.
Bijan Robinson was bottled up, recording only 2.8 yards a carry, while Khardarel Hodge led wide receivers in yards. It was a rough day all around for the Falcons, but there is some hope for their matchup against New England, when they'll likely see both Penix and star wideout Drake London come back to the lineup.
The Falcons' dismal performance is great for the Patriots
Atlanta has been incredibly inconsistent this year, losing by a combined score of 64-10 against the Panthers and Dolphins, but beating the Buffalo Bills in primetime. This has all boiled down to a 3-4 start to the season and an over-reliance on Bijan to carry their offense.
Offensively, the unit is talented on paper. They have four top-eight picks in Penix, Bijan, London, and Kyle Pitts, but they haven't meshed nearly as well as fans might have hoped. This season, they're 28th in PPG, scoring just 17.1 a game. That's fewer than Carolina, the Jets, and the Giants. Defensively, they've been better, allowing the 13th fewest PPG, ahead of Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
If London were to miss the game, it would be a massive loss for the Falcons. In games where he leads the team in receiving yards, they're 3-1, compared to 0-3 when he does not. One of Bijan or London has had 100+ rushing/receiving yards in three of their four games, and they have scored 20+ points.
Aside from London's injury, he has been inconsistent, with four games of 55 yards or fewer. Robinson has 65 rushing yards across his last two games. He's averaged 2.8 a carry in that time frame, and the Falcons offense has scored 20 points across their last two games.
The Patriots are coming in hot against a cold Atlanta team that's in desperate need of a win to get back in the playoff picture. The Patriots' defense has yet to allow a 50-yard rusher this year, and held rookie standout Quinshon Judkins to nine carries for 19 yards (2.1 YPC) this past Sunday.
Assuming the defensive line can continue its dominance and Christian Gonzalez can handle Drake London, I'd expect Atlanta's cold streak to continue this week.