Lions at Falcons: What Detroit needs to do to win
Coming off their second win of the season, the Detroit Lions will attempt to extend their winning streak on the road, facing the 1-5 Atlanta Falcons.
The Detroit Lions (2-3) head to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium this weekend to take on the Atlanta Falcons (1-5). The Lions are coming off an 18-point victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. The Falcons are coming off a 17-point victory over the Minnesota Vikings, their first win of the season.
This should be a very interesting game as both the Lions and the Falcons are notorious for blowing leads late in the game. Sunday’s Week Seven matchup should be an offensive shootout with two great quarterbacks battling in Detroit’s Matthew Stafford and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan.
If the Lions want to prevail, their defense will have to repeat what they did this past Sunday against the Jaguars, only on a much larger scale as the Falcons offense is superior to the Jaguars. Head coach Matt Patricia’s defense only gave up only 16 points, finally pressured the quarterback, and created a couple of turnovers in Week Six.
The Lions’ biggest strength is on the offensive side of the ball with all the different weapons they have. Detroit just needs to keep the momentum they have coming into this game. They need to continue to keep their foot on the pedal and not let up when they take one of their infamous first quarter leads.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevel and the Lions’ offense must establish the run game early against the pitiful Falcons’ defense, who rank 31st in the NFL. Fans had to love what they saw from 2020 second-round draft pick, running back D’Andre Swift against the Jags.
The Lions should keep Swift in stride, feed him RB1 touches this weekend, and see if he can replicate that 116 rushing yards, two-touchdown performance in Atlanta. He’s the future of the Lions’ backfield after all and it’s time to start utilizing him accordingly.
Establishing the run game early is always going to be key for the Lions as it opens up the option for play-action bombs downfield to wide receivers like Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr, Marvin Hall Jr, and others.
light. Related Story. Lions beat Jaguars: 3 keys to the Week Six victory
If the Detroit Lions’ defense creates some pressure on Matt Ryan and their offense establishes the run game early with D’Andre Swift, Detroit should come out of Atlanta with a win. That’s as long as their offense keeps their foot on the pedal and doesn’t try to “manage” the game with the conservative offensive play calling. If they do, the Lions should move to .500 on the season with a 3-3 record.