Falcons vs. Giants 2021 Predictions: Ridley to have a big day

Two win-less teams face-off on Sunday afternoon as the Falcons travel up to New York (well New Jersey) to take on the Giants. Someone’s O has got to go (well unless they play to a tie).

Neil Monnery takes a look at the game and promises to stop the caveats…

For a brief moment on Sunday, Atlanta looked like they might cause a bit of an upset as they got close to the Buccaneers down in Tampa. The 4th quarter though went very much the way of the defending Super Bowl Champs as they pulled away to very much sink the Falcons.

Throughout the off-season we’ve seen plenty of chatter about how Matt Ryan would work with a new offensive system. The early returns aren’t overly positive. Three picks and two scores is not going to get it done. The numbers from Calvin Ridley are also concerning. He’s got superstar WR potential but 12 catches for 114 yards in his first two games feels much lower than what Atlanta fans were expecting. If they are to win on Sunday then I’d expect they would need him to be nearer 100 yards+

Kyle Pitts is a fine player at TE and he also needs to get a more prominent role in the offense. Five receptions for 73 yards last time out is very much moving in the right direction for the first-round pick out of Florida.

What we saw last time out that would have surprised most however was how integral Cordarrelle Patterson was to the offense. 11 yards on the ground and 58 through the air might not be numbers to write home about but watching the game, he always felt part of everything good they were doing.

For New York, they will be looking to get on track following a disappointing 0-2 start. They could easily have defeated Washington on Thursday night but found a way to lose. QB Daniel Jones looked pretty decent going for 249 yards through the air and rushing for 95 on the ground. He ran the RPO very well as Washington’s front four keyed in on Saquon Barkley. This allowed Jones to keep the ball time and time again and he thrived.

Speaking of Barkley, he doesn’t look anywhere near 100%. One very nice run on Thursday showed that he still has good speed but anyone who saw him in college knows that he’s not a pound up the middle RB. You have to scheme up an offensive philosophy that gets him the ball in space and with the lack of running lanes being created by a porous O-Line, I don’t feel confident that he’ll have a big day this weekend.

I just have the feeling that Calvin Ridley will have a big day and that influences my selections considerably.

Spread:

The Giants get the home field three-point bonus and are a three-point favorite. Fair to say that the Sportsbooks think this is a very close game. I’ll take the points with Atlanta.

Straight-up/Moneyline:

Atlanta are +145 with bet365 in NJ to win this game outright and I like those odds. Not that I think the Falcons are any good but when you have two pretty poor teams, I always like the underdog to play the value.

Over/Under Points Totals:

48.5 points is the number and I just can’t go that high. I have it 23-17 Falcons so I’ll take the under.