The long wait is officially over. Football is back on Thursday with the first NFL preseason game of the season, as the Denver Broncos face the Atlanta Falcons in the Hall of Fame Game. The Broncos are favored by 2.5 points with an over/under of 34 points.
For Denver, this game represents the start of a new era. After back-to-back losing seasons, Vance Joseph was fired, and Vic Fangio was hired as a head coach for the first time. The Broncos also moved on from Case Keenum after one season and traded for Joe Flacco, who takes over under center. Even for a preseason game, the Broncos should be glad to be back on the field and eager to put the past two seasons behind them.
Meanwhile, the Falcons are only trying to put one bad season behind them. Injuries derailed Atlanta’s season early in the 2018 campaign, and they were unable to recover. However, just three seasons ago, they were in the Super Bowl, and two seasons ago, the Falcons won 10 games and reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs, so they will begin the 2019 season believing that they can hit the reset button and get back to the level they were at not long ago.
Nothing to See Here
The Falcons figure to be super-conservative with this game. Quarterback Matt Ryan barely played in the preseason opener last season, and with five games instead of four this year, he may not play at all. The Falcons also have little to sort out at wide receiver, so Julio Jones will play limited snaps as well. On the other hand, veteran backup Matt Schaub will get a bulk of the playing time. He’s been around long enough to excel during the preseason, so the Atlanta offense will have a chance to get something going.
Of course, the Falcons will also be hesitant to put their top defensive players on the field in this game after injuries decimated their defense in 2018. We know that Atlanta’s backups didn’t fare too well when pressed into action last season, so the Falcons may not be in a great position to play well defensively in a preseason game that will be loaded with second- and third-string players.
Gotta Figure It Out
Much like Ryan, the aforementioned Flacco isn’t likely to see much time in this game. However, the Broncos have a lot of work to do when it comes to figuring out their backup quarterback. Rookie Drew Lock will be given every chance to earn the job, so he could end up taking a majority of the snaps. We don’t know if he’s ready yet, but he might have a chance to move the ball against Atlanta’s reserves.
The Broncos are also a team with plenty of star power on the defensive side of the ball. Naturally, their starters won’t get much action, but there’s a fair amount of talent among Denver’s backups on that side of the ball. They won’t make it easy for the Falcons to score.
Add Up the Losses
Atlanta has lost eight preseason games in a row. It seems like an odd stat, but Dan Quinn’s team has gone winless in the exhibition season the past two years. That means the coaching staff doesn’t care that much about winning these games. With that in mind, bet on the Broncos to cover the 2.5-point spread in the Hall of Fame Game.
