The Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons both missed the playoffs in the 2018 season, so you could just imagine how thrilled their respective fanbases are over the anticipation of finally seeing their teams on the field again in the NFL preseason Hall of Fame game. The stars will not all be out there in Week 1, which is to be expected, but that will do little to stifle the excitement over the return of real football. Read on for more about the Broncos and the Falcons ahead of their matchup.
The Broncos are coming off an underwhelming 2018 season in which they finished third in the AFC West with a 6-10 record and finished the playoffs. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything positive to glean on from that campaign. For one, the Broncos seemed to have found their running back for years to come in Phillip Lindsay, an undrafted rookie that made the Pro Bowl and was named into the All-Rookie team. Lindsay is not going to see any action in this preseason game, though, as he is still recovering from a wrist injury, so expect the likes of Devontae Booker, Royce Freeman, and Andy Janovich in the backfield. Under center, it’s also unlikely for Denver’s new signal-caller in Joe Flacco to participate, while backup Drew Lock and Brett Rypien will share quarterbacking duties. The Broncos are looking to improve on their attack that didn’t have much punch outside of the Lindsay-led running game. The Broncos were only 24th in scoring offense in 2018 with 20.6 points per contest.
The Broncos are 2-0 against the spread (ATS) in their last two preseason games.
Betting on Atlanta Falcons (Preseason 0-0)
For all the talent that they had last season, the Falcons ended up missing the playoffs with a 7-9 record. Injuries were a major issue to Atlanta in 2018, largely contributing why the team fell short of expectations. The big boys are going to be back for 2019, though. Matt Ryan is the unquestioned leader of the offense, and he’ll be backed up by Matt Schaub, who, surprisingly, still has a job in the NFL. Schaub is going to see snaps against Denver, but don’t bet on Ryan stepping on the field. The Falcons also have one of the most potent groups of wide receivers entering the 2019 season, and are pretty much set with their starters. Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley are on top of the order. They won’t be risking injuries in a meaningless game, which should pave the way for Russell Gage, Marcus Green, and Kahlil Lewis to share the majority of the wide receiver snaps. Still on offense, the Falcons also want to see improvements on their offensive line that was a problem in terms of pass protection in 2018. The Falcons allowed 37 sacks last season.
The under is 6-1 in Atlanta’s last seven preseason games.
