Another snooze fest of a Thursday Night Football game in the books. The 2021 rematch of Super Bowl 51 did not have any of the excitement that the 2017 game had with this version of the Falcons unable to get anything going. There was no lead to blow since they couldn’t even put points on the board. The Patriots defense completely dominated this game and at the end of the night, the Patriots had 4 interceptions and walked away with a 25-0 shutout win.
This game was completely controlled by the New England Defense and only had one offensive touchdown in the entire game. You know the game wasn’t very exciting when Patriots kicker Nick Folk was the player who walked away with the most fantasy points from this game. Folk connected on 4 field goals, including a 53 yarder, and added an extra point on the lone offensive touchdown. He outscored all position players and both quarterbacks as well.
Mac Jones did play well for New England. He completed 22 of 26 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. He did make one mistake and forced a pass that was intercepted. Jones was efficient when he was asked to pass, but with this game in control early, he wasn’t asked to do much more than manage the game.
Matt Ryan on the other hand had a rough night. He went 19 of 28 for 153 yards and threw 2 interceptions. Ryan was also sacked 4 times and had Patriots defenders in his face all night. His offensive line didn’t help, but Ryan was shaky and just couldn’t get anything going against the fierce Pats defense.
Nelson Agholor was the recipient of the lone offensive touchdown. He caught a pass over the middle from Mac Jones early in the second quarter and took it in for a 19-yard touchdown. Agholor led the Patriots with 5 receptions which he converted into 40 yards and the touchdown.
Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson split the backfield duties pretty evenly in this game. Harris got the start in his return from his concussion and carried the ball 10 times for 56 yards. Stevenson played a lot in the second half when the game was out of reach and finished with 12 carries for 69 yards. It did appear that Harris was the lead back, but Stevenson did once again look effective. If this game was closer, we probably would have seen more Harris, but I believe they chose to let him rest towards the end of a game they were in control of. Harris is still the back I prefer to start in Fantasy Football, but Stevenson makes a nice handcuff stash.
The only story in the Atlanta backfield was how clear it was that they were missing Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson, who has become their lead back after somewhat converting from receiver, missed this game with an ankle injury and you could tell he was missed. Quadree Ollison led the Falcons in carries with 9 rushes for 34 yards. Mike Davis got the start but only ran 3 times for 1 yard while adding 3 catches for 20 yards.
Kyle Pitts was held in check by the Patriots defense. He was clearly the focus of the Belichick defensive gameplan and New England held the rookie tight end to only 3 catches for 29 yards. Russell Gage led the Atlanta receivers with 5 catches for 49 yards while Olamide Zaccheaus chipped in with 3 catches for 23 yards.
The Patriots’ defense was the story in this game, and they finished the night with 4 interceptions and 4 sacks. They were constantly bringing pressure to Matt Ryan and finished the night with 12 quarterback hits. They had a defensive touchdown in the final minutes when Atlanta brought in Josh Rosen who was picked off by Kyle Van Noy and it was returned 35-yards for a touchdown. The very next play, Atlanta gave Feleipe Franks a shot and his first pass was picked off to give a fitting ending to this game.
Other Notes:
Hunter Henry had a quiet game, only catching 2 passes for 25 yards. Jonnu Smith did even less, finishing with 1 catch for 17 yards.
Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers both had 4 catches for New England. Bourne led the team with 42 receiving yards and Meyers added 39 of his own.
Wayne Gallman, who was featured in a lot of waiver wire articles this week, was a non-factor. He got 1 carry for negative 3 yards and no catches. He is not a thing.
That will do it for the week 11 Thursday Night Football Wrap Up. Make sure you head over to Razzball.com and check out Rudy Gamble’s Pigskinator as you get ready to set the rest of your week 9 lineup. You are always invited to follow me on Twitter @FantasyCoachJB and ask me any questions you may have. Hopefully next week’s Thanksgiving slate will give us games to be thankful for. Good luck in your upcoming matchups!
