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Washington Redskins at Atlanta Falcons NFL Picks & Spread

Written by Jimmy Boyd

The 2-5 Washington Redskins take on the 4-3 Atlanta Falcons Sunday in a Week 9 NFC East versus NFC South showdown. Washington should have the edge in terms of freshness and preparation as it is coming off a bye while the Falcons will have a short week to prepare following a 35-27 loss to New Orleans on Monday Night Football. These teams have not met since Week 13 of the 2006 season when Atlanta earned a 24-14 win. That was a rare win in this series for the Falcons, though, as Washington has won six of the last eight to take a commanding 15-5-1 lead in the all-time series. NFL odds makers are giving the decisive edge to Atlanta this week, listing the Falcons as a 10-point favorite with the total set at 41.

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Falcons second-year signal caller Matt Ryan is an impressive 10-1 at home in his career. No wonder why the Atlanta fans love this guy. The fans are also taking a quick liking to future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez who has scored a touchdown in all three of Atlanta’s home games this season. The Atlanta organization was all smiles after making the playoffs last season when nothing was expected, but now the expectations have been raised and the Falcons have not been up for the challenge. Ryan has especially struggled in recent weeks, throwing seven interceptions and fumbling twice while only completing 51.8 percent of his passes in Atlanta’s last three games. He faces another stiff test this week against a Redskins defense ranked No. 2 in the NFL against the pass.

Defensively, Atlanta must get better if it hopes to get on a run to make the postseason for a second straight year. John Abraham is the kind of game-changer that kind get the “D” going, but he has disappeared since starting the season with a two-sack performance. He has only one sack since and didn’t even record a tackle against the Saints last Monday. The Redskins are banged and bruised up front so maybe we’ll finally see Abraham’s name in the papers this week. It is worth noting that the Falcons are 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games following a straight up loss. If you like Atlanta to bounce back strong at home Sunday, bet the Falcons at -10 at BetUS.

The Redskins felt they could challenge for an NFC East crown this season, but here they sit at 2-5 with more off-the-field issues than any team would ever ask for concerning the job status of head coach Jim Zorn. It’s apparent that Jason Campbell and the offense aren’t good enough to win pretty so they are going to have to win ugly by running the football without turning it over and relying on the defense to continue to do its part. They have a horse in Clinton Portis, whose 108.8 yards from scrimmage per game average for his career is the fifth best tally in league history with a minimum of 100 games. I know it makes it tough to run behind a banged up line, but the passing game has not looked promising. Washington must try to grind out games and when they see opposing safeties cheating too much on the run, hit them over the top. It is worth noting that the Redskins are 3-1-2 ATS in their last 6 games as a road underdog. If you think Washington can put together a strong game plan following its bye week to challenge the Falcons, bet the Redskins at +10 at BetUS.

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