Packers vs Falcons: Key Matchups Include Romeo Doubs vs. A.J. Terrell
The Green Bay Packers are off and running for their 2023 season.
They began the campaign by doing what they always do. They throttled the Chicago Bears 38-20 at Soldier Field. They will be on the road again on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
This week's challenge will be far greater than the one the Packers had in front of them last Sunday.
Despite the oddities that can come with the first week of the season, the reality is the Bears were the worst team in football a season ago. Based on their Week 1 performance, they might be near the bottom of the league again in 2023.
The Falcons are a different story. They won their first game last week, 24-10 against the Carolina Panthers. They have a tough, aggressive defense that will provide more resistance than the bottom-of-the-league unit the Bears threw at Jordan Love a week ago.
If the Packers are to get out of Atlanta at 2-0, here are the three matchups they'll have to win.
Romeo Doubs vs. A.J. Terrell
Sunday's matchup brings two of the premier cornerbacks in football together.
The Packers, of course, have Jaire Alexander, who has been one of the best players at his position since he was drafted. Atlanta's A.J. Terrell has emerged as one of the top corners, as well.
According to Pro Football Focus, Terrell was targeted four times last week. For their efforts, Panthers receivers came away with a goose egg.
Romeo Doubs should be more involved than last week after receiving a limited workload against Chicago due to a hamstring injury.
Romeo Doubs (USA Today Sports Images)
Despite the limited snap count, Doubs was productive. Three of his four catches resulted in a first down or a touchdown.
He'll have his work cut out for him this week. If Christian Watson misses a second consecutive game with a hamstring injury, Terrell likely will be lined up across from Doubs most of the time.
Jayden Reed and Luke Musgrave had strong debuts, but when Love needed to make a play, he looked for Doubs.
Maybe Reed or Musgrave will have a big game. but it's hard to envision the Packers' passing game finding much success if Doubs is blanketed.
Packers Interior OL vs. Falcons Interior DL
There is an argument to be made that the strength of the Falcons' defense is on their interior defensive line.
Grady Jarrett and Calais Campbell are two of the more accomplished defensive linemen in football. David Onyemata had a strong Falcons debut with two tackles for loss and one sack.
David Bakhtiari and Zach Tom are quickly forming one of the best tackle tandems in the NFL. That will help mitigate an edge group for Atlanta that is pretty pedestrian.
If the Packers can be beaten in pass protection, it's on the interior.
The group was stout against Chicago but has had its struggles in the past. Center Josh Myers, notably, has been inconsistent.
This is true for the run game, as well. The Falcons gave up 132 yards on 27 carries against the Panthers.
The Packers didn't find much success on the ground against Chicago. Aaron Jones' touches were limited, and his availability for Sunday remains unclear. AJ Dillon is coming off one of the least productive games of his career. While he only gained 19 yards on 13 carries, there was not much room to run based on what was blocked for him.
Dillon needs to be better, but the interior offensive line does, as well.
Packers vs. Atlanta Run Game
Atlanta leaves little to the imagination as to what it wants to do on offense. It is built to run the football.
The Packers have built their defense to rush the passer. That's yielded poor results against opposing run games in recent years.
They did, however, get off to a good start, limiting a high-octane Bears run game to a paltry 3.3 yards-per-carry if you remove Justin Fields' scrambles.
The challenge this week is a little different. Atlanta gained 131 yards on 25 carries last week.
They were a productive rushing offense a season ago with Tyler Allgeier taking hold of of their running back room. This year, they drafted do-it-all running back Bijan Robinson with the eighth overall pick.
There probably isn't a bigger signal to a commitment to running the football than using a top-10 pick on a running back.
Defensive coordinator Joe Barry didn't mince words when asked about Robinson's ability.
“He’s not a good back. He’s an elite back.” Barry said.
Green Bay's ability to stop the run last week earned it the right to rush the passer.
The results were phenomenal. According to Pro Football Focus, the Packers had 36 pressures against the Bears. They totaled four sacks and missed at least two more.
“We’ve got to stop the run. If we can do that, we’ve got a chance of getting after the quarterback with the guys we’ve got." Jerry Montgomery said
"So, good start, but it’s Week 1. We’re playing a totally different team, totally different style of play and they also run the ball quite a bit."
The Falcons didn't pass much last week, but when they did they struggled to block a Panthers front that includes Derrick Brown and Brian Burns.
With Rashan Gary slated for more snaps this week, the Packers' pass rush could become even more lethal.
But first, they need to slow down Atlanta's dynamic run game.
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