Monday Night Football Week 2 Betting: Falcons vs Eagles’ Offensive Challenge Without AJ Brown

It’s the home opener for the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night to conclude Week 2 as they welcome the Atlanta Falcons in their first road game of the season.

The Eagles will be without All-Pro receiver AJ Brown due to injury, but are still solid favorites on the NFL odds.

Atlanta Falcons +195

The Falcons looked inept offensively in Week 1, an 18-10 home loss to Pittsburgh in the Atlanta debut of veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who was not good at all. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Cousins did not have a good Falcons debut, as he struggled with both inefficiency and untimely mistakes. Each of his interceptions led directly to a field goal for the Steelers, and Cousins appeared out of sync in the offense as the team lost a fumble due to mistimed motion.

The moment we've all been waiting for…

KIRK TO KYLE TOUCHDOWN

📺 FOX | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/iXBNAK7KCp

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 8, 2024

Kirk Cousins

Cousins also managed only 6.0 yards per attempt, and his longest completion went for just 20 yards. There was some concern that Cousins isn’t healthy off the torn Achilles tendon that ended his, 2023 season and Vikings career early. The QB had just 19 passing yards in the second half, the lowest second-half total of his career. But he said it was more about not having played in a while than it was an injury issue. “I feel like I can move and push as I normally would,” Cousins said.

Zac Robinson

The Falcons’ play calling, under new offensive coordinator, fueled speculation that the team was trying to protect Cousins. Atlanta ran the majority of its offense out of the pistol set, which Cousins has never done more than 10 times in a single game. Cousins was under center for only one play, and the team didn’t run a single play-action pass, which has been Cousins’ bread and butter.

“With Kirk being here, we’ve been doing the same thing since he’s been here, and that’s how we’ve planned on playing, and we’ve played that way throughout,” head coach Raheem Morris said. “We’ve played that way for a minute, and we’ve done a bunch of different things in our case, and everything we’re going to do is figuring out how to win this football game. And that was the plan to go out there and win the football game.”

Drew Brees

Cousins needs 374 yards on Monday to tie Brees (152 games) as the third-fastest player to reach 40,000 passing yards. If Falcons RB Bijan Robinson records 100 yards from scrimmage vs. Philadelphia, it will mark the first time in his career he has recorded 100 scrimmage yards in three consecutive games. If tight end Kyle Pitts scores a touchdown vs. Philadelphia, it will be his first time scoring a touchdown in back-to-back games.

Nate Landman

Atlanta will not have starting linebacker Landman due to injury. Landman has been working through a quad injury that he sustained in the latter weeks of the preseason. He missed a couple practices in the lead up to Week 1 prep. Though he was initially limited during practices last week, he ended the week as a full participant and was cleared to play vs. the Steelers. He played in 54% of the Falcons defensive snaps but wasn’t able to practice this week.

The Falcons defense did not allow a touchdown in Week 1, marking the fourth time since the start of the 2023 season that the Falcons have held an opponent to zero touchdowns in a game. Prior to 2023, the Falcons defense achieved the feat just three times in the previous 10 seasons (2013-22).

Monday will mark the Falcons’ first prime-time appearance since 2022 — when they lost to the Carolina Panthers, 25-15, in Week 10 on Thursday night. The most recent Falcons Monday Night Football game came in Week 4 of 2020 when the Falcons lost to the Packers, 30-16. Cousins has made 13 Monday Night Football appearances. He has a 3-10 record, with three of those wins come into his last four outings with the Minnesota Vikings.

Philadelphia Eagles -246

The Eagles beat the Packers 34-29 in Week 1 in Brazil as running back Saquon Barkley had one of the great team debuts of any player in recent history as the former Giant rushed 24 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns while corralling both of his targets for 23 yards and a third score. Barkley became the first player to hit pay dirt three times in a debut with the Eagles since legendary wide receiver Terrell Owens accomplished the feat in 2004.

Jalen Hurts

The QB completed 20 of 34 pass attempts for 278 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing 13 times for 33 yards with a lost fumble — turnovers were a major problem for him in 2023. It was a sloppy start for Hurts on a slick playing field after committing two of his three turnovers on Philadelphia’s first two drives. He settled in following the pick and ensuing lost fumble, rattling off four straight scoring drives in São Paulo. Hurts did not see any action this preseason, so a sloppy game in a foreign land can be expected.

AJ Brown

Brown had five catches for 119 yards and a touchdown but will miss Monday’s game with a hamstring injury suffered in practice. Brown, who suffered the injury in practice on Friday, sat out practice on Saturday and was initially listed as questionable. But the Eagles downgraded him on Sunday, which means he’ll miss a regular-season game for the first time since he joined the Eagles in 2022. Brown has the 3rd-most receiving yards in the NFL since opening day 2022 with 3,071, trailing only Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb. Last year, Brown became the first player in team history to post 1,400-plus receiving yards in back-to-back seasons, setting franchise highs for receiving yards in both campaigns.

Jahan Dotson

With Brown sidelined, Dotson will likely assume a larger role. Acquired in late August from the Washington Commanders, Dotson is still learning the intricacies of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s system. He played 32 snaps against Green Bay and had zero receptions on one target. Another option, rookie Johnny Wilson, has a hamstring injury and is questionable for the Falcons game.

“He has worked his butt off. He’s obviously a very talented player,” Coach Nick Sirianni said of Dotson. “We’ll see how that goes. But I know that the guys are ready when they need to be, when they’re called upon.”

The Week 1 victory marked the first time Philadelphia totaled 400+ yards and 30+ points in a win despite committing 3+ turnovers since 12/23/18 vs. Houston. Playing a key role in the comeback effort was the Eagles’ defense, which limited the Packers to just 3-of-11 (27.3%) on third downs, as well as 1-of-4 in the red zone. Zack Baun registered career highs in tackles (15) and sacks (2.0), including delivering the game-clinching takedown in the fourth quarter. Baun became just the sixth NFL player since 1982 (when sacks became an official statistic) to post 15+ tackles and 2.0+ sacks in a game.

Sirianni is just the second head coach in Eagles history to win their first four season openers with the team, joining Doug Pederson (2016-19).

MNF: Falcons vs Eagles Info

When: Monday, 8:15 PM ET
Where: Lincoln Financial Field
TV: ESPN
Radio: ESPN radio
Stream Option: ESPN+

Falcons vs Eagles Series History

Including playoff, the Eagles are 21-15-1 all-time vs. Atlanta. The most recent matchup was in the 2021 season opener in Philly in Nick Sirianni’s head coaching debut, with the Eagles prevailing 32-6. Philly QB Jalen Hurts threw for three scores and rushed for 60 yards. Matt Ryan was still Atlanta’s QB then and is now retired. The total has landed under in six straight meetings.

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