Getty Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints reaches for a catch as Ricardo Allen #37 of the Atlanta Falcons defends.
The Atlanta Falcons are near the end of their regular season schedule as they enter Week 14’s matchup against the LA Chargers.
They’re also en route to selecting in the top five of the 2021 NFL Draft if they continue to lose star players from their 53-man roster.
Four notable players, Kaleb McGary, Julio Jones, James Carpenter, and Ricardo Allen are all expected to be sidelined Sunday.
With both McGary and Carpenter out for Sunday, Matt Ryan could be in some big danger with an already weak o-line leading the team. To add some depth, the Falcons flexed TJ Green and Willie Wright to the active roster for the weekend.
Final Injury Report
Here’s a look at Falcons’ final injury report for Week 14:
Full Participation
FB Keith Smith (neck)
Limited Participation
P Sterling Hofrichter (right hamstring)
RB Todd Gurley (knee)
S Keanu Neal (ankle)
RB Ito Smith (neck)
LB Foye Oluokun (neck)
DE Dante Fowler Jr. (hamstring)
TE Hayden Hurst (ankle)
DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner (neck)
DT Grady Jarrett (groin)
No Participation
WR Julio Jones (hamstring)
S Ricardo Allen (concussion)
T Kaleb McGary (personal)
G James Carpenter (groin)
Not much good news to come from this aside from the fact that Sterling Hofricter should be okay come Sunday and Keith Smith was able to have full practice despite dealing with a neck injury.
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McGary Will Be Missed
Some good news is that Todd Gurley is good to go and the Falcons will most likely be using him at full speed against the Chargers since Jones is out and Calvin Ridley has been banged up.
Jones has been battling this hamstring injury all season and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. This is worrisome for the rest of the season as the Falcons face a tough ending against the Chiefs and Buccanneers still.
Anyway, if Gurley for some reason can’t handle the workload, then Brian Hill will likely step in over Ito Smith who is struggling with a neck injury.
Who will be missed the most on Sunday is McGary. Falcons will face Joey Bosa. He did a nice job vs. against Saints’ Cam Jordan for a second time this season last week, holding him to zero sacks. And it would have been settling to see him match up against Chargers sack monster Joey Bosa this week.
Falcons-Chargers Meeting
Since Raheem Morris took over, the Falcons have turned into a much better team, though we might not see it in wins. In fact, Pro Football Focus has Atlanta’s defense in the top 10 amongst the 32 teams.
But now with a depleted secondary, the Falcons touchdown in LA for a big road test. Chargers rookie QB Justin Herbert has been surprising this season and he has plenty of help from his offensive weapons.
Without Ricardo Allen for a third game this season, things could get messing in the backfield on defense attempting to stop the Bolts.
We have seen this Atlanta team have a victory performance without some of their top talent on both sides of the ball and we’ll just have to hope they came West ready to play.
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