The Atlanta Falcons finally cracked the win column with a victory in Week 6. They will look to sustain their momentum heading into their home game against the visiting Detroit Lions this coming weekend. The Lions are also coming off a win that rejuvenated their mission to win the NFC North.
We don’t know which between Matt Patricia or the Lions as a team needed the win more last week, but what’s certain is that Detroit is back on track. After defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 34-16, last Sunday, the Lions have now won two of their past three games, which is a nice momentum to carry into Week 7. D’Andre Swift appeared to have started to take over the top role in Detroit’s ground attack, as the rookie rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Even though that was against Jacksonville’s miserable run defense, it speaks a lot about how much Detroit trusts him now with the ball since fumbling in the end zone back in Week 1’s loss to the Chicago Bears at home. Statistically speaking, Atlanta has among the best run defenses in the league, but Swift and company can just shift to abusing the Falcons’ pass defense that’s ranked second-worst league in the NFL. Detroit is averaging 26.6 points per contest.
The Falcons are 2-1 against the spread in their last three games overall.
In the Falcons’ 40-23 win on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, we learned that Atlanta has not completely given him up on themselves and that Julio Jones is still one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Jones roasted Minnesota’s secondary for 137 receiving yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions and 10 targets. When healthy, Jones feels like a punishment to cover for any opposing defense. Matt Ryan and Jones are looking at the prospect of carving up Detroit’s pass defense that allowed 143 receiving yards on six catches to Keelan Cole Sr. last week. Todd Gurley must also like the matchup against Detroit, as the Lions are just 29th in the league in run defense, as they allow 145.0 rushing yards per contest. Gurley is eight in the league with 422 rushing yards to go with five touchdowns.
The Falcons are 6-4 against the spread in their last 10 games overall.
