Heading into their week 3 showdown at Ford Field, the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions are two out of only three teams in the NFC with an unblemished record at 2-0. However, both teams enter the game banged up on both sides of the ball. Each team will be looking for their depth to shine through.
The Falcons inactive players this week include Vic Beasley (LB) out due to a hamstring injury, Courtney Upshaw (DT) ankle, Terron Ward (RB) neck, and the starting right tackle, Ryan Schraeder. With a concussion suffered in the game against Greenbay last week Schraeder is out due to the NFL concussion protocol. Ty Sambrailo will take Schraider’s place and will make his first start with Atlanta, after spending the last two seasons with Denver.
Hailing from Colorado State, Sambrailo has been preparing all week for the opportunity to start in the game against Detroit. According to the Falcons coach Dan Quinn, “I saw a faster speed”, speaking of Sambrailo after practice this past week. Sambrailo will be the one to watch.
Detroit is looking to move past their injury list as they have options to replacing their starting Linebacker, Jarrad Davis. Housing a veteran on the team, Paul Worrilow, who played with the Falcons the past four seasons. This could be a major positive move as he is familiar with how the opposing team flows. Also, to add speed, the Lions have an opportunity to play Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Either way both of these guys could play as a comparable contender to Davis.
Detroit is currently ranked 7th in scoring and total defense and Atlanta is ranked 8th in both. This will definitely make this a must watch game. Both defenses will be facing Pro Bowl caliber quarterbacks in Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Detroit’s Matt Stafford.
To sum it up, coming off of a great win against the Giants last week, Detroit is looking to keep up their winning streak and the Falcons are also looking to stay undefeated coming off their big victory over the Packers. Will Matt Ryan take his team to 3-0 or will the Lions continue their winning streak with their defense?
The Detroit Lions host the Atlanta Falcons at Ford Field, today, September 24, at 1pm ET.
