The Pittsburgh Steelers (8-4) travel to what could be a season decider for both sides, as the Atlanta Falcons (5-8) prepare to host the AFC North divisional hopefuls.
While the Atlanta Falcons are looking to remain atop of the NFC South ahead of the New Orleans Saints, who travel to the Bears, the Steelers know that they have to win to claim first place. The stakes couldn’t be much higher as the NFL season reaches its final few regular season weeks. It was confirmed with the Falcons defeat to Green Bay that whoever wins the NFC South will enter the playoffs without a winning record. In contrast it is mathematically impossible for the AFC North winners to have anything less than a winning record now. This shows just how far the Atlanta Falcons are behind the rest of the field, yet they are still hanging on and fighting for this NFC South title. The Steelers however are second behind a Bengals side that in recent weeks has struggled to win, the Steelers know a win here and they could take top spot with just two weeks to go.
Last week saw the Atlanta Falcons narrowly lose a shootout to the Green Bay Packers 43-37 while the Steelers blew out arch-rivals the Cincinnati Bengals 42-21 to draw within half a game of them. Julio Jones, who is questionable for the game this weekend, went for over 250 yards and a touchdown to cap it all off in the Falcons defeat on Monday. Meanwhile, Le'Veon Bell went for over 200 yards from scrimmage last Sunday to lead the Steelers to stun the Bengals.
Offensively the Steelers are more rounded; talented quarterback, elite wide receiver, and arguably the best running back in the league in Bell. Their defense however is not what it used to be and are at the best of times inconsistent. If Julio Jones plays Sunday, it is unlikely they can cope with Jones, White, and Douglas, because they all offer so many different things to quarterback Matt Ryan. Despite the defeat, A.J. Green went over 200 yards against the Steelers, despite many saying Green has been poor this year.
So offensively while the Steelers are more rounded the Falcons are more than capable of outscoring them, the question is can the Falcons defense make any stops. The Steelers defense may be inconsistent and not great anymore but they still make plays, but can the Falcons do the same.
When asked about the defense by the media ‘Big Ben’ replied; “They are very opportunistic,” he then went on to say, “They just make plays.” So despite not having the best of seasons and being labeled as one of the worst defenses in the league, the Steelers quarterback obviously has respect for them to some degree. They are very much a defense that either gives up points or forces a turnover, they rarely make teams go three and out on a regular basis, so how they plan to deal with Bell and Brown will be interesting to see and home field advantage could be crucial in giving the defense the lift they need.