Monday Night Football Preview 9/17/12

Both the Broncos and Falcons offenses impressed the entire league last week, with Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan executing the no-huddle offense extremely well. The two high-powered offenses head to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for a highly anticipated prime time matchup. Let’s see what each team has to accomplish in order to succeed.

When Denver Has The Ball- With Brent Grimes out for the season, Asante Samuel will move in to a starting role alongside Dunta Robinson. They have to adapt to Manning’s different audibles and contend with Eric Decker and Demariyus Thomas on the outside. Willis McGahee will have to contend with a strong Falcons run defense and a strong Denver offensive line that did a very good job against Pittsburgh last Sunday night. The Falcons need to change coverages and keep Manning guessing, but it will be on the corners to make the difference.

When Atlanta Has The Ball- The Falcons offensive line needs to protect Matt Ryan from Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil and the rest of a strong Denver pass rush. Atlanta went to more of a hurry-up offense last week against Kansas City, but offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter would probably like Manning off the field, so we’ll likely see a lot more of Michael Turner this week. Heath Miller had some success for Pittsburgh last week, so expect Tony Gonzalez to have a similar impact. The matchup to watch will be Champ Bailey on Roddy White, but the key to the Falcons’ success will be Turner and the play of Julio Jones.

Bottom Line- The Georgia Dome will be loud and this could turn into a shootout, but Manning has a ton of experience indoors and he should guide Denver to a narrow victory. Denver 27 Atlanta 24