It will be a classic case of offense vs. defense as the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions square off at Wembley Stadium this coming Sunday. Detroit pulled off a late-game miracle against New Orleans last Sunday and they will look to carry that momentum across the Atlantic against a struggling Falcons side that is in the midst of a four-game tailspin.
Line: Detroit Lions (-4) at Atlanta Falcons (+4); total: 47.0 – view all NFL lines
Betting on the Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions kept in step with the Green Bay Packers at the top of the NFC North after a stunning 24-23 comeback victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
[sc:NFL240banner ]Quarterback Matthew Stafford was the man of the match for the Lions as he threw two touchdown passes in the final 3:38 of the ballgame to help Detroit overturn a 23-10 deficit. The fact that they did it without their star wide receiver Calvin Johnson makes this win even more amazing.
Fortunately for the Lions, they have in their midst another excellent WR in Golden Tate. He exploded for 154 receiving yards on 10 catches in the game against New Orleans with his 73-yard touchdown catch the catalyst for the huge comeback.
He is expected to wreak havoc once again this coming weekend when he squares off with the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons have the fourth-worst passing defense in the league this season with opponents averaging 274.4 yards against them.
What sets this Lions team apart from past Detroit lineups, though, is their imposing defense. The Lions have the meanest defense in the league this season allowing an average of just 290.3 yards, 16 yards less than the next-ranked team.
That defense made its presence felt in the game against New Orleans as they pressured QB Drew Brees to throw a late interception to safety Glover Quin that helped set up Corey Fuller’s game-winning touchdown.
The Lions are tied for third in the interceptions department with Detroit already accumulating eight picks this season. That’s bad news for the Falcons who have already thrown eight interceptions this campaign.
Atlanta’s offensive woes continued on Sunday as they crashed to their fourth consecutive defeat with a 29-7 humiliation at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.
Quarterback Matt Ryan completed just 29 of 44 passes for a season-low 228 yards as he struggled mightily with Baltimore’s aggressive defense. He was sacked a season-high five times and was hit nine times as he was punished repeatedly by the Ravens’ defensive line.
As a result, the Falcons only managed to put up 254 yards in total offense in thatgame. It’s their worst output this season, way below their season average of 387.7 total yards per game. It’s not only in this game, though, that they had problems executing with their offense.
Ever since they destroyed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 56-14 in Week 3, the Falcons have seen their scoring output drop every week. In their loss to Minnesota the following week, they just scored 28 points. Against New York they only managed to drop 20 points. Last week, they finished with just 13 points in a 14-point loss to the Bears and their performance last Sunday was the worst of the bunch as they just scored a single touchdown.
The Falcons will hope that a change in scenery this week will help recharge their slumping offense. It won’t get any easier, however, for the Falcons at Wembley Stadium as they will face the aforementioned Detroit defense.
The Lions have been aggressive on defense this season, already racking up 21 sacks this campaign which is good for third in the NFL. The Falcons’ offensive line will need to do a much better job of protecting Ryan so that he can rediscover the form that made him the fourth-best passing quarterback in the league this season (296.9 yards per game).
