The Atlanta Falcons have spent four weeks building a shiny stat line against the run, but Sunday night brings the kind of matchup that can expose whether that number is real. After opening the season as the NFL’s best run defense, Atlanta now gets Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football.
That’s a very different test than the one the Falcons have seen so far. Their list of opposing starting backs includes Jaylen Warren, Chuba Hubbard, MarShawn Lloyd and 31-year-old Alvin Kamara. That group hasn’t exactly been a gauntlet, which helps explain why Atlanta is giving up fewer than 50 rushing yards per game.
Henry changes the conversation immediately. Baltimore’s offense is built around the run, and that stays true whether Lamar Jackson plays or not.
If Jackson is unavailable, it would make life easier for Atlanta’s defensive front because the linebackers wouldn’t have to account for a quarterback spy every snap. Still, Tyler Huntley can move too, so the Ravens wouldn’t exactly become one-dimensional.
Even so, Henry remains the centerpiece. He leads the NFL in carries, and the expectation is clear: Baltimore will keep feeding its power back in hopes of wearing down Atlanta’s young defensive line. That matters against a group that has not been stellar in short-yardage situations.
The production has been there, too. Henry’s seven rushing touchdowns are tied with Josh Allen for the league lead, and he ranks fourth in rushing yards. He can flip a game with one long run, but he can also grind a defense into the dirt near the goal line.
For Atlanta, rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels could be part of the answer, even after playing only a little last week and getting overshadowed by Harold Perkins Jr. That won’t make the assignment any easier against a five-time Pro Bowler who still looks built to punish tacklers.
And that’s the heart of the challenge. Henry is 32, but he plays like an exception to every rule at his position.
At 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, he brings a frame that keeps holding up and a style that breaks defenses more than it outruns them. His speed matters, but the real damage comes from the contact he forces and the tackles he shrugs off.
That’s a problem for a Falcons defense that missed six tackles in Week 4 against the Saints. They’ve got the personnel up front to make this interesting. Now they have to prove it against a back who will test the legitimacy of that league-leading run defense from the first snap to the last.
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Falcons Winning Streak Just Raised A Big Trade Deadline Question
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One name to watch is Jadeveon Clowney, who has opened the season with the Houston Texans and shown he can still get into the backfield, posting 1.5 sacks and five combined tackles in two games. Any talk of a move would put Atlanta in a larger market for a veteran defender, but the more immediate takeaway is that the Falcons recent run has made them a team worth monitoring for a deadline swing. [Read more 🡒]