Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons: Position-by-Position Matchup Preview

This Sunday night on NBC, the Eagles travel to Atlanta and take on the Falcons.  It will be Michael Vick's first return to Atlanta as a starting quarterback.  It also marks a big game for the Falcons, who got smoked by Chicago last week and will really want to win to avoid going 0-2.  For the Eagles part, they defeated St. Louis in week one, but definitely had a lot of room for improvement.  Join me as we take a position by position look at the Eagles and Falcons.

Quarterbacks

Philadelphia

Michael Vick continues to be one of the league's best quarterbacks.  While his completion percentage is not always fantastic, the fact that Vick can run for 100 yards on any given day really makes him miserable for defensive coordinators to gameplan against. 

Atlanta

Matty "Heisman" Ryan is also a very good quarterback and he has only lost two games in Atlanta as a starting quarterback.  Of course Ryan's last game in Atlanta was not really ideal as the Falcons got smoked by the Packers.  Ryan was also not stellar last week, so that is two straight games he has not been at his best.  The Eagles secondary is tough but Ryan is very good at home.

Advantage: Eagles

Running Backs

Philadelphia

LeSean McCoy is one of the most underrated backs in the NFL.  He is versatile and has the ability to break a big run at any moment.  Ronnie Brown and Dion Lewis give the Eagles nice depth at this position as well.  Brown was a non-factor in week one, but you have to think at some point he will become more involved in the gameplan.  While the Eagles have talented backs, Reid's hesitancy to run the ball can often limit their effectiveness.

Atlanta

Michael Turner and Jason Snelling give the Falcons an excellent one-two punch.  Turner is an elite back who can get yards with both speed and the first guy rarely brings him down.  He will likely steamroll Casey Matthews.  You have to think the Falcons saw that Steven Jackson run and that Turner will get a lot more than the 10 carries he received week one.  Turner could have a huge day, and when Snelling comes in, he is an effective runner as well.  The Falcons running game will cause the Eagles problems all day. 

Advantage:  Slight edge to Atlanta here mostly due to the fact they utilize their backs here

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Philadelphia

DeSean Jackson opened his 2011 campaign with a bang by putting up a solid week one.  He had over 100 yards on six catches and scored a touchdown.  That's the good news.  The bad news is Jeremy Maclin was a complete non-factor.  Other than those two, Jason Avant is a decent third option with good hands and Riley Cooper has shown flashes, but not enough to be reliable.  Steve Smith is still hobbled and likely will play, but will probably be ineffective.  On the tight end front, Brent Celek is being delegated mostly to blocking due to poor play on the offensive line.

Atlanta

Roddy White has been an elite wide receiver for a few years now but he never had help.  The Falcons tried to address that by drafting rookie Julio Jones.  Jones had five catches for 71 yards in week one, and really gives the Falcons a nice duo.  Other than those two though, the Falcons do not have any other viable options at wide receiver.  They do have an elite tight end though, in Tony Gonzalez.  Gonzalez will likely be matched up with Jamar Chaney and that will be a key matchup for both teams.

Advantage:  Philadelphia

Offensive Line

Philadelphia

The Eagles OL continued to struggle in week one, as Michael Vick was under pressure.  They did play better than they did in the pre-season though, which was encouraging.  Jason Peters is a Pro Bowl caliber tackle and Todd Herremans move to right tackle has helped stabilize that position.  The Eagles are definitely weak at the guard and center position though.

Atlanta

The Falcons offensive line is big and does a pretty solid job protecting Ryan.  Tyson Clabo made the Pro Bowl last year and is a mountain of a man at six foot six and 330 pounds.  Left tacke Sam Baker is solid and left guard Justin Blaylock has started since 2007 for the Falcons and has been effective. 

Advantage:  Falcons

Defensive Line

Philadelphia

The Eagles really got after Sam Bradford in week one, lead by two sacks by Jason Babin.  Babin and Cole got a combined three sacks in week one, and the Eagles are solid on the defensive line, with Tapp also contributing.  The addition of Cullen Jenkins has made their tackles elite and deep, with Antonio Dixon and Mike Patterson as well.

Atlanta

This is one of the few teams in the NFL who probably has as high or higher caliber defensive ends than the Eagles. John Abraham is an absolute beast and Ray Edwards will be an impact player coming over from Minnesota.  The Falcons are banged up at the tackle position though and lack anyone of note there, which is why they do not stack up to the Eagles line.

Advantage:  Philadelphia

Linebackers

Philadelphia

Jamar Chaney is the best of this lackluster group.  Chaney will be very busy Sunday trying to cover Tony Gonzalez.  Casey Matthews failed to impress again in the middle in week one, and Moises Fokou is just kind of there.  Brian Rolle is a young guy the Eagles are high on but he is more of a blitz specialist and not an every down player at this point.

Atlanta

Curtis Lofton is an extremely talented middle linebacker.  He is getting better and better each season as well.  On the outside, Sean Witherspoon had ten tackles in week one and really played good football.  Are the Falcons the best linebacking corps in the NFL?  No way, but to get the advantage here, you basically just need to have a pulse.  Lofton alone is better than anything the Eagles offer.

Advantage:  Falcons

Defensive Backs

Philadelphia

This will be a position the Eagles have the advantage over pretty much every team all season.  It is almost pointless to talk about it.  Samuel, Asomugha, and Rodgers-Cromartie give the Eagles the best corners in the NFL.  The safeties are not great, but it really does not matter due to the corners being so awesome.

Atlanta

Dunta Robinson is a solid corner and Thomas McCloud had seven tackles as the free safety last week.  Brent Grimes had a breakout 2010 season and really emerged as an elite cornerback. 

Advantage: Philadelphia

Special Teams

Philadelphia

Alex Henery did a solid job in his NFL debut last week.  Punter Henry has been largely unimpressive so far in my opinion.  DeSean Jackson is always a threat to break a punt return and Dion Lewis has good speed as a kick returner.

Atlanta

Matt Bryant is a reliable kicker for the Falcons.  Eric Weems can be dangerous returning kicks as well.  This category is close, but the Falcons have a better track record in the kicking game.

Advantage:  Slight edge Falcons here

Coaching and Intangibles

Philadelphia

Andy Reid is the winningest coach in Eagles history and the Eagles made a ton of changes this offseason, changing their defensive coordinator and most of their position coaches. 

From an intangible standpoint, Michael Vick returning to Atlanta gives the Eagles a bit of an edge, as you have to think that he will play fantastic this week.  The Eagles have also owned the Falcons lately.  The Eagles are 15-10 all-time vs. Atlanta, but they are 8-1 under Andy Reid.  The Eagles lone loss to the Falcons was a 14-10 defeat in 2005.  The Eagles have won the last four meetings between these two teams by an average of over 15 points, winning by 7, 13, 27, and 14 points.  So this series has been rather lopsided in the Andy Reid era.

Atlanta

Mike Smith led the Falcons to the best record in the NFC last season. The Falcons are fantastic at home, losing only twice there since Matt Ryan has taken over as starting quarterback.  Also, coming off a loss last week, the Falcons will really be motivated to win this game and not start 0-2.

From an intangible standpoint, I also think a team who went 14-2 and had the NFC's best record being a home underdog in this game has to serve as motivation.  It is a bit of a slap in the face for the Eagles to be favored in this game since it is in Atlanta and the Falcons have been fantastic there over the last couple of years.

Advantage: Even

Final Score Prediction

This is a really tough game to predict.  On one hand, the Falcons are home, where they have been fantastic, and they are coming off a bad loss, which makes you think they will be really up for this game.  They also run the ball really well, which is a big weakness of the Eagles defense.

On the other hand, the Eagles have owned the Falcons under Andy Reid, winning eight out of the nine meetings.  The Eagles did not look great in a win last week, and winning two straight road games to start the NFL season is really hard.

This is a toss-up game in my opinion and if the Eagles win it will be due to heroics and a fantastic day by Michael Vick.  If Atlanta can run the ball and keep Vick on the sideline, they win the game.  I think the Falcons do enough to defend their home field.

This column has picked the games at a really high rate through history, including hitting last week's Rams game.

As an Eagles fan, I hope I'm wrong but the final prediction:

Falcons 24 Eagles 21