With Chase Young activated this week, we will see how many reps the former defensive Rookie of the Year will get today and what impact he has on this game as the Washington Commanders host the Falcons on what could be a wet turf. Not exactly the type of weather you want your prized lineman to make in his first game in over a year as he has worked his way back from ACL surgery.
The Falcons are having another inconsistent season, and Vegas has the Commanders as a 3.5-point favorite. For those who do not knowuch about the Falcons, they have Marcus Mariota at QB. He was signed to a 2-year $18.75 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent in the offseason. After the Falcons “Matty Ice” era ended with Matt Ryan, the Falcons ended up in a familiar spot as Washington as they needed a QB and all they could find was Mariota who had that Heisman pedigree and the second overall pick in the 2015 draft. It was a huge swing and miss by the Titans on the Mariota pick. Washington picked fifth in that draft and went with Brandon Scherff. Looking back at all of the bists in the first round, Washington did well with their pick.
In case you missed the news last week, quarterback Taylor Heinicke was named the starter for the Commanders for the remainder of the season with Carson Wentz and Sam Howell in some order as the backups.
“We’ll have a good feel [on Chase Young], I think this Sunday, see how he feels. He had a good day Wednesday, a very good day [on Friday]. We’ll see. I mean, it was pretty exciting on Wednesday. It really was, so we’ll see.”
— Head Coach Ron Rivera
Three key players out for Washington are Cole Holcomb (injured reserve) and DB Benjamin St.-Juste, and WR and punt returner Dax Milne. Questionable as of Saturday is TE Logan Thomas who was limited all week in practice and didn’t participate on Friday as he nurses a rib injury.
It was a quiet week for the Commanders and with Thursday off for the Thanksgiving holiday, it was Wentz who held an open house for any of his teammates who either didn’t have a place to go or just wanted to spend Thanksgiving with him. Heinicke chose to take Wentz up on the offer.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, the Cowboys and Giants met on Thursday in a battle of 7-3 teams. Let’s just say the Giants are 7-4 today and Washington with a win today can tie them in the win column at seven. The Giants and Commanders have two regular season games ahead on the schedule.
Matchup: Atlanta Falcons (5-6) at Washington Commanders (6-5)
Date|Time: Sunday, Nov. 27 | 1 p.m. ET
Location: FedEx Field | Landover, Maryland
TELEVISION: FOX WTTG-5 with Play-by-play announcer Adam Amin and analyst Mark Schlereth with Kristina Pink as the sideline reporter.
RADIO: Commanders radio network flagship station is WBIG 100.3 (Big 100) with Julie Donaldson as the host, Bram Weinstein on play-by-play, and London Fletcher as the analyst. On satellite radio channels Sirius 98, XM 231 and SiriusXM online 831.
Vegas lines: Washington is a -3.5 favorite with an Over/Under of 40.5 points
