3 Atlanta Falcons Bold Predictions for Week 2

The Atlanta Falcons look to grab their first win of the season in Week 2 playing on the road against the Dallas Cowboys. As 6-point underdogs, according to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Falcons will have to pull off an upset if they want to avoid starting 0-2.

After dropping their first game of the season, the Falcons will need some key players to step up if they want to leave Dallas with a win. With that in mind, here are three bold predictions for the Falcons against the Cowboys.

1. Julio Jones Has 10+ Receptions for Over 150 Yards

Julio Jones showed why he is considered one of the best wide receivers in the NFL with his Week 1 performance of 157 receiving yards on 9 receptions. He had four catches of 18-plus yards and now faces a Cowboys' defense that lost Byron Jones this offseason. The Cowboys gave up 275 yards to Rams' quarterback Jared Goff on Sunday night. Dallas also looked particularly vulnerable against wide receivers, surrendering 105 yards to Robert Woods. Look for Julio to show out in Week 2.

2. The Falcons Defense Contains Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elliott was a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing Week 1 game for the Cowboys as he posted 127 total yards and scored twice. However, he now faces a revamped Falcons' defense that held the Seahawks to just 84 rushing yards as a team in Week 1. In fact, neither Seattle running back Chris Carson or Carlos Hyde reached 25 rushing yards in the game. To be fair, neither back had more than 7 carries. But the addition of Dante Fowler could prove to be huge for this run defense, as he received a 75.0 grade as a run defender from Pro Football Focus in 2019 and clearly made an impact in that regard last week.

3. Todd Gurley Has 2+ Rushing Touchdowns

On the other side of the ball, Todd Gurley posted 56 rushing yards on 14 carries in Week 1 while finding the end zone once as well. The Rams reached the end zone twice against the Cowboys in Week 1 and they were both rushing touchdowns by running back Malcolm Brown. Brown averaged 4.4 yards per carry in the game and the Falcons may take advantage of what seems to be a weak Cowboys' rush defense by getting Gurley going early. Plus, this unit just lost top-tier run defender Leighton Vander Esch, so look for Atlanta to attack Dallas' shorthanded group of linebackers. Gurley also has 10 games of 2-plus rushing TDs since 2017 – the most such games in the NFL during that span.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.