Let’s start on defense because that’s my thing. I have two big concerns, first is letting Julio Jones and Roddy White get deep. As we’ve talked about a lot, no one has been worse the last three seasons in defending the 20+ passes than the Pats. They’ve been pretty good so far this season, but this will be their biggest test to date.
Of course pressure plays into that and thus getting Matt Ryan off the spot with their interior rush is a must. This is another area of weaknesses I’ve written on a lot.
The other big concern for me are dumpoff passes, especially when we have Spikes on Jacquizz Rogers or even Jason Snelling.
So defensively my biggest key is Chandler Jones and his interior rush on passing downs, and Tommy Kelly/Vince Wilfork and blitzing linebackers on base downs.
Offensively, it depends on whether or not Gronk is in the fold. He’d be a huge help this week, but let’s assume he’s out. There really isn’t a lot the Patriots can do creatively given their limited personnel at this point. It really comes down to just executing with the players they have.
But I do think the Falcons can be had in the passing game, especially with the 2nd and 3rd wide receivers. So I’d look for Thompkins and Dobson to once again be a big part of the game plan.
As I wrote last night, they need to be better on first down, especially on the ground. If they’re doing that, the offense should get just the kickstart it needs.
Again, more than specific game planning stuff, this is the kind of game the Pats will have to bring their “A” game and be mentally tough enough win in a tough dome environment. Should be a good experience for the team regardless and pay dividends down the road, even if they lose.