The Falcons were crushed in their opening game by the Tennessee Titans, losing 23-3. The Dolphins didn’t fare much better, losing 20-13 to the Chicago Bears and Justin Fields. Both teams hope to gather some more positives about their depth moving forward and eventually allow their starters to get some early practice reps in. Let’s take a look at how these teams stand heading into this game.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

Arthur Smith will be coaching this team for just the second time here. The first-time head coach lost his first game pretty badly and it will be interesting to see how he helps his team bounce back. They didn’t look like they put up much of a fight.

Meanwhile, Miami has been pretty strong in the preseason with Brian Flores at the helm. He went 3-1 last year in the exhibition games. However, the did team fall in the first preseason affair against the Bears. Flores is also 0-1 in his career as a head coach in the second preseason game.

Atlanta Falcons

We likely will only see a drive or two with Matt Ryan at the helm in this matchup. Once he steps out for the remainder of the game, Atlanta will be splitting reps between AJ McCarron and Feleipe Franks. Franks put together some nice drives in the first preseason matchup but none of them ever really capped off with touchdowns. Hopefully they can get a little more out of their rushing attack. Mike Davis will probably play a drive or two alongside Ryan and then we could get a dose of D’Onta Foreman and Qadree Ollison later in the contest. This may also be the first NFL game that we see Kyle Pitts perform in after the rookie was held out in the opening match up due to the coaching staff believing that he didn’t need to play.

Miami Dolphins

Miami fans are thoroughly excited to see how Tua Tagovailoa will play after an up-and-down outing against the Chicago Bears a week ago. He threw for 99 yards and completed 80 percent of his passes but did make an ugly read in the red zone which resulted in an interception. Tagovailoa could take advantage of a Falcons secondary that was torched last season. Jacoby Brissett will also get some snaps and that should make the Dolphins a good bet. With Tua and Brissett playing ample time – likely quite a bit against backups – the Dolphins should be able to move the ball.

Jaylen Waddle will be stepping onto the field with either one of those quarterbacks and should make more of an impact than he did last game. He didn’t pick up a single reception but made some explosive kick and punt returns in the contest.

NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Falcons vs. Dolphins?

FALCONS

Away

20

DOLPHINS

Home

23

Score
Predictions

Matchup