The Atlanta Falcons' Week 9 game will have them back at home to face the Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons are coming off a bit of a surprising loss last week to rookie backup quarterback Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans. The Vikings are coming off a win over division rival, the Green Bay Packers, yet their season took a bit of a turn when Kirk Cousins went down for the season after suffering a torn Achilles.
Of course, the Vikings aren't the only team in this game that has questions at the quarterback position. The Falcons will be starting Taylor Heinicke for the first time this season. Heinicke came into start the second half of last week's game after Desmond Ridder was suspected of having a concussion. Or at least that's what Falcons' head coach Arthur Smith thought, and even when Ridder passed concussion protocol, he was still left on the bench.
The whole relationship between Ridder and Smith has been a bit of a soap opera this season for the Falcons, right down to Atlanta's third-year head coach's instant facial reactions upon his quarterback's errant throws. Ridder was always a huge question mark entering the season, and the third-rounder just hasn't panned out as Smith would have liked. But the way Smith has handled the entire situation has been odd. It's now Heinicke's to lose, essentially, or so it seems. And we'll get our first look on Sunday at this offense in a full four quarters. So, let's get into some Falcons Week 9 predictions.
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Kyle Pitts scores his second touchdown of the season
It's still baffling that the Falcons and Smith simply cannot figure out how to utilize Kyle Pitts. Some say he's still not at 100% coming back from his leg injury last season. But even before that, he seemed to barely make the stat sheets. He only has one touchdown this year and one game with double-digit receptions. With WR1 Drake London likely out this week, maybe Heinicke can be the guy to find Pitts where Ridder wasn't.
Falcons struggle against Vikings' rookie QB
It was odd that the Falcons simply could not stop Will Levis last week in his first career start. Granted, the Falcons came out of Nashville beaten up, losing Grady Jarrett. So, now how will the Falcons prepare for yet another rookie quarterback they know nothing about in Jaren Hall out of BYU? He'll be getting the call on Sunday, according to CBS News.
Hall may not put up the eye-popping numbers like Levis did, but seeing the way the Falcons' secondary was carved up at times is concerning. The Falcons need to create more turnovers as a defense. Maybe they can against this rookie.
Taylor Heinicke throws for 230 yards and a touchdown
When Heinicke got into the game last week against the Titans, the offense seemed more fluid. If not for a Van Jefferson fourth-down drop late in the fourth quarter, the Falcons could have potentially come back and won the game. Heinicke ended up throwing for 175 yards and a touchdown. If Drake London is out, that definitely poses a bit of a problem, but again, that hopefully opens up opportunities for Pitts and even Bijan Robinson, who can catch out of the backfield.
Expect Heinicke to have a solid game, which will even further complicate the quarterback situation in Atlanta.
Falcons beat Vikings in a low-scoring game
This feels like one of those games where the ball is going to be stuck a lot on each of the offenses' side of the field. Again, we don't know what the Vikings' new starting quarterback is going to bring to the table, and we don't know if Heinicke is the guy to lead Atlanta's struggling offense. Seeing turnovers and multiple drive-killing penalties would not be surprising to see at all in this game. But the Falcons usually play well at home. Five out of their eight games this season have been decided by one score. Look for that to be the case here too, as they get their fifth win and get back to a winning record.
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