The Cincinnati Bengals will play the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, Spain, this week. The Bengals are coming off a 43-36 victory over the Tennessee Titans, while the Falcons lost 16-0 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers didn’t complete a pass during the game, but still won by double digits in a rain-soaked contest.
Even with this past week’s loss, the 3-5 Falcons are not a team to take lightly. They have victories over the Packers, Saints, and 49ers this season. They also have one-point losses against the Steelers, Ravens, and Bears. They will return their best pass rusher, James Pearce Jr., this week as well. He is coming off an 8-game suspension he served for violating the NFL’s conduct policy.
Orlando Brown Jr. vs. James Pearce Jr.
With the aforementioned Pearce coming off his suspension, he was listed as the starter at outside linebacker in the Falcons’ 3-4 defense. That means he will likely face Orlando Brown Jr. this week. Brown struggled at times on Sunday when dealing with Jacob Martin’s faster pass rusher. He will see a similar test in the athletic Pearce this week.
Orlando Brown Jr. allowed. a season-high 6 pressures against Tennessee. He was also credited with allowing a sack. Brown needs to play better this week against Pearce. Last season, Pearce produced at an elite level for a rookie. He finished the season with 45 pressures and 10.5 sacks for the Falcons. The Bengals will need to keep Pearce and the rest of the Falcons pass rush dynamic this week.
Bijan Robinson against The Bengals Defense
Slowing down Bijan Robinson will take a full team effort. While it will be up to everyone to try and limit him this week, I particularly want to see how Barrett Carter, Demetrius Knight Jr., and Jordan Battle play. All three players have struggled with missed tackles the last two seasons. Robinson is one of the most dynamic and elusive running backs in the league. He can make guys look silly in space, and that trio needs to play some good football. If not, we’ll see them throughout the Bijan Robinson highlight reel.
Bijan already has 780 rushing yards on the season. Throw in another 203 receiving yards, and he’s well on his way to surpassing 1,000 all-purpose yards this season. The best running back in the league rushed for over 1,400 yards last season. He also finished the year with over 800 receiving yards. A player who can completely put the Falcons team on his back at times.
If the Bengals’ effort against the run is anything like this past week’s long Tony Pollard touchdown run, they’ll be in for a long day in Spain.
I have no idea what the Bengals plan to do this week against Kyle Pitts at tight end. While Pitts hasn’t had the career many expected, he’s still a dynamic receiving threat for the Falcons. Add in the fact that the Bengals won’t be able to stop a tight end again this season, and Pitts could be in for a run in the game this week. The Bengals allowed Gunnar Helm and Daniel Bellinger to grab eight receptions for 112 yards this past week against the Titans.
I’m not really sure what their plan is for keeping tight ends on a weekly basis. Jordan Battle made some plays guarding the tight ends, but most of the game we just saw guys completely open on the field at the position. I put it to be determined here because I don’t know why they won’t give Tacario Davis more of a chance to guard tight ends. I think that role will be DJ Ivey, but he was pushed to starting at corner after the injury to Jalen Davis.
Regardless of who will be responsible for guarding Kyle Pitts this week, I fully expect him to have a big productive game.
Dexter Lawrence vs. Ryan Neuzil
Neuzil and the rest of the Falcons’ interior offensive line will be tasked with trying to stop unstoppable Bengals defensive tackle Lawrence this week. Lawrence is coming into the week with 7 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Lawrence has been playing at an elite level this season, and now has 24 pressures and 5 sacks through his first 7 games of the year.
Neuzil has only allowed 6 total pressures and 1 sack this season for Atlanta. However, Dexter Lawrence is a completely different beast in the face. Neuzil will get help from Matthew Bergeron at left guard and Chris Lindstrom at right guard in Lawrence in this game, as well. Bergeron has allowed just 8 pressures with 0 sacks this season, while Lindstrom has allowed just 6 pressures and 1 sack. That interior offensive line has held up well, but the Bengals are one of the toughest matchups to date for those guys. This should be a really fun matchup all day.