Atlanta vs. Cleveland: Browns Matchup Well with Falcons

Welcome to the Week 5 installment of the Falcons weekly matchup breakdown.This week, I will give more attention to the Falcons' opponent, The Cleveland Browns.

Keys to Victory for the Atlanta Falcons: 

1. Force Jake Delhomme into mistakes- After Seneca Wallace got his shot at quarterback, Jake Delhomme returns as the starter. Delhomme has been known as a guy who throws a lot of interceptions and just a lot of mistakes in general.

2. Don't kick the ball to Josh Cribbs- Josh Cribbs has established himself as the second best return specialist, only behind Devin Hester. He will make a big play if you give him the chance, so do not kick it to him.

3. Get secondary receivers involved- After Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, Harry Douglas has nine catches for 130 yards. It would be nice to see the Falcons spread it out a bit more, to keep the opposition on it's toes. This would allow White and Gonzalez more single coverage.

Keys to Victory for the Cleveland Browns:

1. Only let Delhomme throw short to intermediate passing routes- This may sound silly, but it could limit his mistakes. Do not let him start to bomb the ball downfield, because that is asking for a turnover. Use short and intermediate passes to get playmakers, like Josh Cribbs, involved. Since Mike Holmgren is in the front office, I have a feeling he would prefer this anyway.

2. Convert more third downs!- Believe it or not, the Browns have converted 19 of 51 third downs this season. That is terrible! It helps if you make third downs managable and stay away from third and long situations. Make it so the play calling isn't so predictable. To be fair I am a Falcons fan, so I haven't been watching the Browns (unless it was on RedZone).

3. Score early and often- Against the Falcons offense, the Browns must take an early lead. If not you will put Delhomme in a must-throw situation, which isn't what you want to do with a mistake prone quarterback.

The Rest of the Falcons offense vs. the Browns defense:

Although not himself in the second half, Matt Ryan led the Falcons to a comeback victory against the 49ers. Look for Ryan to have a good game when facing the team that has the 22nd ranked pass defense in the NFL. The Browns need to try and rush the man known as "Matty Ice." The Falcons have a good offensive line, so I'm not sure if it will work.

The Falcons running game needs more of Jason Snelling. Snelling has twenty-seven less carries than Michael Turner, but only 55 less yards. He is averaging one more yards-per carry than Turner. If you watch the Falcons, you can tell Snelling is more effective. The Browns rushing defense is ranked 14th in the league so they should be able to at least contain the Birds ground game.

The Rest of the Browns offense vs. the Falcons defense:

The Browns leading rusher is Peyton Hillis. Hillis is almost like a fullback and is a power rusher. The change of pace back would be Jerome Harrison who is the speed back. Hillis may be able to wear down the Falcons undersized defensive line, causing a long day for Atlanta.

Ben Watson leads the Browns in receptions and receiving yards. Watson is a tight end and came over from the New England Patriots and is a very good blocker. Hillis and Cribbs bring exact opposite components to the passing game in power and speed. Look for Dunta Robinson to cover Cribbs while Thomas DeCoud could possibly cover Watson. Hillis will come out of the backfield and be covered by a linebacker, likely Curtis Lofton.

Browns vs. Falcons trivia question:

What is the Browns/Falcons head to head record? The person who answers correctly first will get me as a fan on Bleacher Report.

Watch for the Monday Night Football edition of the Matchup Breakdown when Randy Moss debuts for the Vikings against the Jets.

Stats provided by NFL.com