Peyton Manning: What Atlanta Falcons Must Do to Attack Veteran Quarterback

Peyton Manning looked like the quarterback of old when he torched the Pittsburgh Steelers defense last week. If the Atlanta Falcons want a better result, they will need to make some adjustments.

In the 31-19 win over the Steelers, the Denver Broncos quarterback completed 73 percent of his passes, threw for 253 yards and added two touchdowns with no interceptions. His 94.4 total quarterback rating was the fourth among qualified players.

The Falcons did not fare much better against the pass in Week 1. Despite defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 40-24, Matt Cassel threw for 258 yards and a touchdown. 

Atlanta will have to learn how to stop the pass in order to defeat the Broncos on Monday Night Football. These are the keys to slowing down Peyton Manning.

Take Away Demaryius Thomas

There are a bunch of weapons on the Broncos, but Demaryius Thomas is the most dangerous of them all. He finished last season 11th in the NFL with 17.2 yards per catch. In the Week 1 game against the Steelers, a 71-yard touchdown reception helped that number inflate to 22 yards per catch.

However, the rest of the receivers and tight ends are not anywhere near as dangerous. Take away passes to Thomas and Manning's yards per attempt drops from 9.7 to 7.5. This makes him much more manageable to defend. Eric Decker, Jacob Tamme and Brandon Stokely are fine players, but they are unlikely to beat anyone deep.

Pittsburgh was unable to cover Thomas effectively because it was without safety Ryan Clark. Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud, who had four interceptions a year ago, must be able to prevent Thomas from getting behind him throughout the game. 

Get Pressure on the Quarterback

The Steelers were only able to get two sacks on Manning in the loss. Atlanta must do better than that to be able to throw him out of his rhythm. 

Manning missed all of last season with a neck injury and is still not completely comfortable in the pocket. Atlanta was around the middle of the league in sacks last season, but more needs to be done to force the quarterback to throw away the ball.

Against the Chiefs, the Falcons had three sacks and four quarterback additional hits. The pressure eventually got to Cassel and he threw two interceptions. They will need more of the same from John Abraham and company on Monday.

Run the Ball More Efficiently on Offense

Matt Ryan had an amazing Week 1 performance, but the Chiefs were able to stay in the game for the most part due to an ineffective run game. Michael Turner was only able to get 32 yards on 11 carries and the supporting cast did not do too much better.

This allowed Kansas City to win the time of possession battle and it hurt the Falcons' ability to close out the game.

Against the Broncos, they will not only need to score points, but they need to keep the defense off the field for as long as they can. No quarterback is effective when they are sitting on the bench, and this will be key in the Week 2 battle.

The coaching staff needs to find a way to give Turner enough carries to be successful and control the game at the same time. If they do this, it will go a long way towards securing their second victory of the season.

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