The Atlanta Falcons, sitting at 4-4 and 7th in the NFC playoff picture, will travel to Arlington in a matchup against the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys, who are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Broncos. The Falcons recently welcomed Dante Fowler back to practice after activating him off the injured reserve, but there is no guarantee he plays Sunday.
Without Fowler, the Falcons pass rush is lifeless. The Cowboys rushing attack may also average 10.0 yards per carry; it could be a long day for Dean Pees’ unit. What is more intriguing in this game is the Falcons offense and Matt Ryan matching up against Dan Quinn’s defense. Dallas has experienced a resurgence of the defense under Quinn, but they were historically bad a year ago, so anything is better than that.
This will be the first time Quinn will face his former team since being fired from his head coaching duties after starting 0-5. Before that, he led the Falcons for six seasons, including a pair of playoff appearances and a trip to Super Bowl LI. His hollow sayings may have grown stale among the fan base, but most have nothing but love for Quinn.
He brought over two former Falcons with him to Dallas in Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee. Obviously, the front office wanted the transition to the new scheme to be easier by bringing in two veterans familiar with Quinn’s system. Neal missed Weeks 3 and 4 on the COVID/Reserve list but has played in at least 20 snaps in each game he’s been active for, while Kazee has been a critical contributor in the secondary, playing over 430 snaps this season.
The Falcons will also have something else motivating them — the 20-point blown lead to the Cowboys early in the 2020 season. Atlanta scored nearly 30 first-half points but fell after failing to recover an onside kick from Greg Zuerlein. There will undoubtedly be hugs and smiling faces after the game, but these two sides do not want to lose to their former teammates, coaches, and players.
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