Atlanta Falcons: 3 Players that must shine vs. Texans in Week 5
Before the Atlanta Falcons face off against the Houston Texans in Week 5 on Sunday, here are three players that must shine for the Falcons to get a win.
As the fifth week of the 2019 NFL regular season gets underway this weekend around the league, the Atlanta Falcons are already in a position where they need to get back on track before the season gets out of hand on them.
In one of the more interesting storylines of the season thus far, Atlanta has struggled to kick off the 2019 campaign in some games that it has been viewed as favorites heading into the contest.
The Falcons are coming off of a 24-10 home loss to the Tennessee Titans last weekend in Week 4, extending their losing streak to two in a row while beginning the year losing three of their first four matchups.
Atlanta fell behind early against Tennessee and couldn’t recover for the remainder of the game, losing its first game at home this season. The Falcons trailed 14-7 after one quarter in Atlanta, before the Titans extended their lead to 24-7 going into halftime. From that point on, it was all Tennessee for the remainder of the contest.
With the loss, Atlanta dropped to 1-3 overall on the year and that defeat moved them into fourth place in the NFC South standings, sitting behind the New Orleans Saints (3-1 overall), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) and Carolina Panthers (2-2) in the division standings.
Sunday’s game against Houston on the road isn’t only an important game for the Falcons in order to snap their losing streak on the road, but it is also the first of two road games over the next two weeks for Atlanta, which will remain on the road to take on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6.
On the other end of the field in Houston in Week 5, the Texans are also coming off of a loss at home coming into their showdown with the Falcons. Houston fell 16-10 to Carolina last Sunday in Houston, giving up the game late against the Panthers to fall at home for the first time in 2019.
With the loss to Carolina, Houston dropped to 2-2 overall on the season, but it is still very much in the hunt to secure an AFC South divisional title this year while sitting tied with the rest of the division — which includes the Indianapolis Colts (2-2), Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2) and Titans (2-2) — atop the AFC South standings.
Sunday afternoon’s game will be an important one for both teams in Houston, with the Falcons looking to save their season while the Texans will look to jump up in the division standings and start separating themselves from the rest of the pack in the AFC South.
Before the two teams square off in Week 5, let’s take a look at three players that must step up and shine for Atlanta in order for it to end its two-game losing streak on Sunday in a road game.