Falcons Look to Get Back to Winning Ways

The Atlanta Falcons will look to get back on track this Sunday when they play the Arizona Cardinals. After falling 31-27 to the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, Atlanta will try to get another win to help themselves move closer to a playoff berth.
The Cardinals have been struggling since starting the season 4-0. The last game they played was on November 4th and they lost to the Green Bay Packers, 31-17. It was their fifth straight loss and they are now 4-5 on the year. After having a week off though, they will be looking to correct the ship, and get back into playoff contention. The Cardinals will be making a change or two to their offensive line, as they have given up an NFL-high 41 sacks on the year.
The Falcons will be trying to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time since December 2009. To do that, they are gonna have to improve their game in three ways. First off, they need to run the ball better. Michael Turner has had a few games this year when he has rushed for over 100 yards, but in the other games he hasn't done much at all. In last weeks loss, Turner rushed the ball thirteen times and only gained fifteen yards.
Second, they need to do better on defense. Last week the defense was horrible, giving up 31 points, over 140 yards rushing, and a ton of passing yards, including 146 by Saints' tight end Jimmy Graham alone. They addressed the defensive line this week by releasing Ray Edwards and they will give some younger defensive ends a chance to play. The line backing core needs to control the Cardinals' run game and the secondary needs to stop the passing game better.
Third, the Falcons need to do a better job in the red zone. That has been the area of concern for the Falcons all season, and they received much criticism over it this past week. The Falcons got the ball on the Saints' one-yard line late in the fourth quarter. All they needed was one yard for a touchdown, and they would have taken the lead and got the win. Instead the Falcons couldn't score on four chances from the one, something that is inexcusable for an NFL team.
If the Falcons can execute better in these three areas of their game, they will win tomorrow. They are playing a Cardinals' team in the midst of struggling too, so that will help them get back to their winning ways. Look for the Falcons to increase their division lead and move to 9-1 on the season.