Patriots Offense Dealt Critical Injury Blow Ahead of Atlanta Falcons Matchup

FOXBOROUGH, MA – The Atlanta Falcons are heading up to Gillette Stadium in Week 9 to take on a streaking New England Patriots squad in the midst of a five-game winning streak. A win on Sunday will be critical for a Falcons team looking to avoid a three-game losing streak in the middle of their season. 

The Patriots have been rolling on offense, but they picked up some bad news on Friday heading into their matchup with the Falcons. New England head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed that running back Rhamondre Stevenson would miss Sunday’s game with a toe injury. 

The veteran running back leads the Patriots’ offense in rushing with 279 yards and three touchdowns on 83 carries. Stevenson leads a trio of threats that the New England offense features, with quarterback Drake Maye and rookie TreVeyon Henderson also adding to the equation. 

Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said on Wednesday that slowing this rushing attack was going to be a challenge for this unit. 

“You're getting big boy runs. It's basically power without a puller,” Ulbrich said. “You’ve got two guys that, with completely different running styles, that are going to attack you in different ways. Rhamondre, he is a hard tackle. The entire time in being with the Jets and playing him twice a year, he felt like to me like a Marshawn Lynch 2.0: tough, rugged, physical. They block it for two, he gets five. They block it for five, he gets seven. So, we're going to have to play our most physical game. The most physical team will win this battle, especially up front.”

With Stevenson on the shelf, the Falcons are set to get a much larger dose of the two younger players in Henderson and Maye. The rookie back has yet to break out, but he did have his best performance of the season last week against Cleveland. 

After a pair of poor performances in run defense, the Falcons are looking to put together a more complete performance this week. Against San Francisco and Miami, they were gashed for 174 and 141 yards on the ground. 

“We’ve got to play the run better, and I think everybody knows that,” Ulbrich confirmed. “I’ve got to do a better job of maybe playing a little bit safer in those windows, a little bit more run sound defense as opposed to trying to steal a third down rep, because that's the way we're being attacked right now. So, I'll do a better job putting them in better spots to be successful in those windows, but at the same time, educating them to understand that people are running the ball on us in windows that we would typically anticipate a run.”

Kickoff between the Falcons and Patriots is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday in Foxborough.