(Here’s your weekly serving of nine items on the Falcons at 9 a.m. every Wednesday this season.)
1. The no-spin zone: We don’t know for sure if entertainer Taylor Swift is coming to town to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, play against the Falcons at 8:20 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
We checked with the Mercedes-Benz Stadium folks. We checked with the Falcons. They don’t know yet. We’ll check with the Chiefs.
It’s too early in the week. Longtime watchers told us her public-relations team doesn’t help much and usually lets them know a day or two ahead of time of her arrival.
She was at the Chiefs game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
She was seated next to Ed Kelce, Travis Kelce’s dad (who is from Cleveland Heights, Ohio), at the season-opening game against the Ravens.
So, we’ll be on Swift watch later in the week.
2. Injury report: The Falcons didn’t suffer any major injuries Monday in the 22-21 win over the Eagles.
“(We are) pretty healthy,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “I’ll probably get a more in depth report a little later. I don’t think I’ve heard about anybody have any real issues as of right now, a couple little bumps and bruises that I’ve heard about. But I’ll get a more in-depth report … when I meet with those guys, probably about five o’clock.”
3. Quick turnaround: The Falcons got back late from Philadelphia and had to take a rest day before getting ready for the defending Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs.
“That’s just normal business for us,” Morris said. “When you play on Monday night, you play these night games. I know we are not as used to them around here the last couple of years, but you know, when you want to play these big moments and these big-time games, this is what happens.”
The Falcons didn’t get to enjoy the win for long.
“You’ve got to turn the page pretty quickly,” Morris said. “You got to be able to evaluate, assess what happened the night before, go find out what you (can do) better. Do some of those type of different things, and then start to look at your new opponent that’s coming up this weekend because you better be ready for those guys.”
4A. Thin at inside linebacker: Inside linebacker Nate Landman was placed on short-term injured reserve Sunday. That left the Falcons with three inside linebackers to face the Eagles.
“We’re probably a little thin having three on an active roster,” Morris said. “We do have one on practice squad, as you know, but we’ve got a lot of confidence in those three guys to go out there next year and execute what we need to get done … and allow Landman (quadriceps and groin) to get back and get ready to play for us when he gets healthy.”
4B. Morale of the team: Morris believes the win can be uplifting for some of the players on the team.
“For me, it’s not as emotionally driven as it is for some of the players, but some of the players, it just pumps a little bit of more,” Morris said. “It pumps more belief in them.”
5. Ruke Orhorhoro’s inactive status: Falcons second-round pick Ruke Orhorhoro has been inactive for the first wo games.
“You get six linemen that we are putting up right now,” Morris said. “Right now we are going with defensive lineman going with Eddie Goldman, Grady Jarrett and David (Onyemata).
“We’ve had Zach Harrison. We’ve had (Ta’Quon Graham), and we’ve had Kentavius Street up. Guys who have played a bunch of football, that have really been working that rotation right now. Those guys have been up first.”
Orhorhoro has done a great job in practice.
“He’ll have an opportunity to crack the lineup at some point,” Morris said. “I’m not sure when that’s going to happen. I’ve been really pleased with his practice habits. I’ve been really pleased with the way the guy’s going about his business. He just happened to be surrounded by a bunch of vets right now that are actually really intentfully doing a good job for us.
6. Robinson’s blocking: Morris also noted the blocking of running back Bijan Robinson.
“Yeah, that’s the vision for Bijan,” Morris said. “Bijan is a well-rounded back. Can go out there and do whatever you ask. (Some people were) probably more excited about him stepping up, making a couple of those blocks when it came to pass protection, doing some of those things. You’ve seen the chip blocks at the end on some of their biggest ends. Which was really exciting.”
The Falcons want Robinson not to have any limitations when he’s out on the field.
“But Bijan could always catch the ball in the backfield,” Morris said. “Bijan has always been known as a runner. Now, he’ll develop into this pass-pro guy. He’ll be able to help out some on the chips. The screen game, whatever the case may be. Whatever is called upon, Bijan can do. My son calls him Black Panther. He plays like it.
7. Series history: This will be the 11th meeting between the Falcons and the Chiefs. The Chiefs lead the series 7-3. The Chiefs have won the past two meetings, 17-14 on Dec. 27, 2020 and 29-28 on Dec. 4, 2016.
8. Where to watch, listen, livestream: What you should know about Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) and the Falcons (1-1), which is set for 8:20 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
TV: NBC: Mike Trico, Cris Collingsworth and Melissa Stark.
Local radio: 92.9 The Game. Play-by-play: Wes Durham. Analyst: Dave Archer. Executive producer: Beau Morgan. Engineer: Jake Cook. Pregame/Postgame show – Hosts: Chris Goforth and Mike Johnson. Dylan Matthews and Orin Romain (studio producers). Dylan Matthews (network studio producer) and Chris Thomas (local studio producer).
Satellite radio: SiriusXM NFL Radio. Falcons channel 225. Chiefs channel 226 and on the APP.
Livestream: Streaming inside the Atlanta market: Fans in the Atlanta market can stream the game on the Atlanta Falcons app. NFL app (subscription required). Out of the country: GamePass International. There are several other subscription services.
9. Depth chart: Here’s a look at the Falcons’ official 53-man depth chart heading into Sunday’s game with the Chiefs, which is set for 8:20 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Here’s the depth chart:
OFFENSE
QB: Kirk Cousins, Michael Penix Jr.
RB: Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, Avery Williams, Jase McClelland
WR: Drake London
WR: Darnell Mooney, Casey Washington
SWR: Ray-Ray McCloud, KhaDarel Hodge
TE: Kyle Pitts
TE: Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley
LT: Jake Matthews, Storm Norton
LG: Matthew Bergeron, Jovaughn Gwyn
C: Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil
RG: Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton
RT: Kaleb McGary, Brandon Parker
DEFENSE
ROLB: Lorenzo Carter, James Smith-Williams, DeAngelo Malone
DE – Grady Jarrett, Kentavious Street, Eddie Goldman
NT – David Onyemata, Ruke Orhorhoro
DE – Zach Harrison, Ta’Quon Graham, Brandon Dorlus
LOLB – Matthew Judon, Arnold Ebiketie
ILB – Kaden Elliss, JD Bertrand
ILB – Troy Anderson
LCB -- A.J. Terrell, Kevin King
RCB -- Mike Hughes, Clark Phillips III
NCB – Dee Alford, Antonio Hamilton Sr.
SS -- Justin Simmons, Richie Grant
FS -- Jessie Bates III, Micah Abernathy
Special teams
K -- Younghoe Koo
P -- Bradley Pinion
LS -- Liam McCullough
KR – Ray-Ray McCloud, Mike Hughes
PR – Avery Williams, Mike Hughes
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