Atlanta Falcons

Keys to Victory: Oakland Raiders vs. Atlanta Falcons

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:58 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Oakland Raiders will take on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 — the home opener for the Raiders. Here are four keys to victory.

The Raiders started the season off with a nail-biting win over the Saints in the Superdome. Now they are back home for their first home game of the year, and these are some keys to winning their home opener.

Sep 11, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) carries the ball to score a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at the Georgia Dome. The Buccaneers won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Limit Julio Jones

One does not just stop Julio Jones — you can only restrict him from fully destroying you.

Julio Jones lead the NFL last year in targets (204), receptions (136) and yards (1,871), while adding eight touchdown receptions.

Julio is a matchup nightmare, plain and simple. He can beat you deep, over the middle, or he can turn a screen into a home run. Not many, if any, WR’s — yet alone NFL players — have his combination of size, skills, and athleticism. So as I said, you can limit him, but you can’t stop him.

Last week was a quiet one for Julio by his standards, finishing with four receptions, 66 yards, and one touchdown. He has been hampered by an ankle injury, but has said everything is fine for him to play this week.

Mohamed Sanu is also hurt and questionable to play vs. the Raiders with an ankle injury. With limited passing options for QB Matt Ryan, Julio Jones could be seeing a lot of passes thrown his way this week. The Falcons only threw three passes past 20 yards on Sunday and would hope to open up the offense more against Oakland.

The Raiders need to improve in the secondary fast after the debacle from Sean Smith and company. The Raiders secondary allowed two 100-yard receivers, as Drew Brees threw for 400+ yards and four touchdowns.

Aug 27, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back DeAndre Washington (33) celebrates with Raiders guard Gabe Jackson (66) after scoring a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Out-muscle the Falcons defense

Like the Raiders defense, the Falcons defense didn’t have a great weekend either.

Atlanta missed a league-leading 12 tackles vs. the Buccaneers on Sunday. On the ground, they allowed 90 yards with no touchdowns, and through the air, they allowed 281 yards with four touchdowns. They aldo didn’t sack Jameis Winston once.

The Falcons got beaten up by the Bucs, and the Raiders will need to do the same. They can do so with the monster interior line they have in Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson, and Gabe Jackson.

Latavius Murray still leaves a lot to be desired, but if he was going to show up against any team it has to be the Falcons. He has players in DeAndre Washington and especially Jalen Richard nipping at his heels.

Jalen Richard needs to touch the ball mrore. Period. Every time he had the ball vs. the Saints he showed up, and we need to see more.

The Raiders offensive line should be able to get to the second level, hit Atlanta’s linebackers and open lanes for Oaklands running backs. Atlanta’s linebackers are a young group led Deion Jones, with a familiar face in Philip Wheeler. Jones brings all the speed to the position, but he is undersized, so the big thing for him will be getting to his gaps quickly or else he could be blown off the ball regularly by players like Osemele.

Wheeler, a former Raider, is still a quality player but he has lost a step and isn’t in the same form that he was while he played in Oakland.

The defensive backfield is the strength of this defense, primarily in top five cornerback Desmond Trufant (taken ten picks after D.J. Hayden…*cries*).

Alongside Trufant, they have an underrated player in Robert Horford. At safety they have Kemal Ishmael and former Purdue Boilermaker Ricardo Allen, with their first-round draft pick Keanu Neal out while he still is recovering from knee surgery.

Atlanta will give the Raiders a lot of troubles with their secondary, so the best way to beat them is to out-muscle them up front by running the rock.

Sep 11, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Willie Snead (83) fumbles as he is hit by Oakland Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden (25) and defensive back Reggie Nelson (27) during the fourth quarter of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Raiders defeated the Saints 35-34. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Play better team defense

Pass rush, oh pass rush, where art thou our pass rush?

Non-existent it was last week, I talked about how pressuring Brees would be a key to victory, and it started off well with a Bruce Irvin sack-fumble but after that, *crickets*.

Khalil Mack, to be fair, was handled by the most athletic offensive tackle and top five tackle in the game in Terron Armstead. Then when Mack went against Streif, they would throw things at him like TE or RB chips to negate him.

So one — the pass rush has to do better. The interior defensive line played okay — they were better against the run than the pass, but they will need to be better versus the Falcons run game.

We all know what happened to the secondary, but the linebackers also got torched. Some of that can be put on Norton and Del Rio though, as putting LB Malcolm Smith on WR’s is just plain unfair, and we can’t have repeat matchups like that again.

So as a whole, the defense needs to play better together. An effective pass rush makes it easier for those guys in the backend to cover, DB’s lining up on WR’s is a better matchup and guys filling their lanes and taking on blocks all equals better overall defense.

For a good defense to work, you need to work as a team, and each unit has its place.

Sep 11, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Lavonte David (54) tackles Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman (24) in the third quarter of their game at the Georgia Dome. The Buccaneers won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Keeping tabs on Devonta Freeman and the zone blocking system

Devonta Freeman exploded last year for Atlanta. From Weeks 3-7, he had 576 yards on the ground and nine total touchdowns. After that, he fizzled out, and so did the Falcons season.

While he slowed down last year and only had 20 yards on 11 carries with 1.8 ypc last week, the Raiders would be stupid not to keep an eye on him for this game, because he could easily blow up and take over the game, just like he did against the Cowboys last year.

To stop Atlanta’s run game, Oakland will have to attack the zones before the blocker gets to them, and close the cutback alleys that they create. The safeties and linebackers will be crucial for filling lanes, and the defensive line will be trying to limit them.

With the cut-block being outlawed, it’s a lot harder to run the zone like they use to, but it can still be very effective. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman are perfect for it with their ability to one-cut and then hit an alley.

Coleman was the better player last week, but he did most of his damage through the air on screens and out of the backfield. He is a speed freak, so keeping tabs on him is also key.

—

With this being the first home game and a chance to go 2-0, a win would do wonders for the Raiders this season. #JustWinBaby.