1. The no-spin zone: The Falcons stood pat at the NFL’s trading deadline, which passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The Falcons did add receiver Van Jefferson and defensive tackle Kentavious Street via trades before the deadline approached.
The Falcons were linked to Washington defensive end Montez Sweat, who was traded to the Bears for a second-round pick. That apparently was too rich for the Falcons’ taste. Sweat is set to become a free agent. The Bears must plan to lock up the former Stephenson High and Mississippi State standout.
Sweat has started 67 games over 4-1/2 seasons and has 33.5 career sacks.
The Bears, like the Falcons, have been looking to improve their pass rush for decades. The Bears rank last in the league with 10 sacks, and the Falcons are tied for 26th (next to last) with six other teams with 15 sacks.
Some contend the Bears could have waited, kept their second-round pick and signed Sweat in free agency. They are set to have more that $100 million in salary-cap space.
The Falcons were also linked to defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who’s in his 10th season. He’s 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds.
The Giants sent Williams to Seattle for a second-round pick in 2024 and a fifth-round pick in 2025. They agreed to pay more than $9 million of his salary in order to receive the higher compensation.
Williams is in the last year of his contract, and the Falcons would have had to re-sign him when they already have money at tackle committed to Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata.
The 49ers sent a third-round pick to the Commanders for defensive end Chase Young, who was the second player selected in the 2020 draft. Young had a strong rookie season, but was slowed by injury in 2021 and 2022.
He has played in 34 games and made 32 starts over three-and-half seasons and has only 14 sacks. He’ll line up opposite of Nick Bosa.
The Falcons made a move to fortify their defensive line by trading for Kentavius Street on Monday. The 6-foot-2, 287-pound defensive tackle was acquired along with a late-round pick in 2025 from the Eagles, who received the Falcons’ sixth-round pick in 2024.
Street was a fourth-round pick by San Francisco in 2018. He mostly has been a reserve in the league and will reunite with defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, whom he played under with the Saints in 2022. Both also were at N.C. State at the same time.
The Falcons traded for Jefferson a few weeks back. The Falcons and the Rams agreed to swap 2025 picks, with the Falcons giving up a sixth-round pick and getting Jefferson and a seventh-round pick.
With the emergence of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp’s return from injured reserve, Jefferson was expendable.
Jefferson is the son of Shawn Jefferson, who played in the NFL from 1991-2003, including with the Falcons (2000-02).
Jefferson, 27, was taken in the second round (57th overall) in the 2020 draft after he played collegiately at Ole Miss and Florida.
Jefferson has played in the past three games and has four catches for 29 yards.
2. Scheme change for Heinicke: The Falcons won’t change the scheme if Taylor Heinicke starts against the Vikings, but they will tailor things to his strengths.
“Operationally, I think what you saw (against Tennessee on Sunday) – they both have their strengths in certain ways, but we were able to consistently stay on track a little bit better,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “A lot of those plays we hit, they weren’t just drop-backs or quick games. There were some good play-action shots, too. So, it wasn’t like this wholesale change.”
The Falcons had the ball with 2:19 and a chance to drive for a winning score. Jefferson dropped a pass on a fourth-and-1.
“The frustrating part was having a chance to win it, and we didn’t,” Smith said. “But there are always a lot of reasons why. It never comes down to one play, as bad as it may feel how the game ends, but to me, that’s coaching and the art of it.”
3. Turnovers woes: The Falcons are minus-7 in turnover differential, which ranks 30th in the league.
The Falcons have seven takeaways (four interceptions and three fumble recoveries) and 14 turnovers (six interceptions and eight fumbles).
If they don’t solve the turnover problem, the season will go up in flames.
“You consistently try to find creative ways,” Smith said about solving the turnover problem. “You have to look at, sometimes, why they’re happening? The one (against the Titans), you always teach the quarterback to have two hands on the ball. The other part, too, there are other factors into it as well. (Titans defensive tackle Jeffery) Simmons comes pulls out his A-game rush, he gets us across the edge and Jeff knocked it out.
“So, being loose with the football, there are things we have to work with that, so there’s everything. We can block that better. Obviously, in the pocket – like I’ve said, they’ve all been different, but there is a trend.”
4. Streaking Vikings: After a 1-4 start, the Vikings were warming up under quarterback Kirk Cousins before his injury and have won three in a row. Cousins was spreading the ball around to wide receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson until Jefferson went down with a hamstring injury Oct. 8 in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Chiefs.
With Jefferson out, wide receiver Jordan Addison became one of Cousins’ top options. Hockenson has 53 catches for 478 yards and three touchdowns. Addison has 36 catches for 482 yards and seven touchdowns. The Vikings also have wide receiver Brandon Powell, who played for the Falcons in 2020. Powell has 13 catches for 142 yards.
Backup quarterback Jaren Hall is slated to start against the Falcons.
5. Rushing attack: With Hall, the Vikings will have to lean on their rushing attack, which is led by running backs Alexander Mattison and Cam Akers after they traded Dalvin Cook over the offseason. Mattison has rushed 106 times for 390 yards (3.7 per carry) and Akers, who was acquired in a trade with the Rams on Sept. 20, has rushed 30 times for 113 yards (3.8 per carry) and a touchdown.
The Vikings averaged 73.3 yards rushing per game, which ranks 31st in the league.
“We’ll obviously have to be ready to stop the run,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “Don’t give up shot plays. Then, you look at everything. (The) quarterback’s strength when they play and what their history – they’re not going to reinvent some offense.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter/AJC
6. Play-action fakes: The Falcons went for play-action fakes against Tennessee and were beaten for touchdown passes of 47, 16, 61 and 33 yards.
“You make a mistake in this league, somebody is going to try to expose you to see if you got it fixed,” Smith said.
7. Vikings pass rush: The Vikings’ pass rush is led by outside linebackers/defensive ends Danielle Hunter and D.J. Wonnum, who played at Stephenson High and South Carolina. The Vikings had four sacks and seven quarterbacks hits against the Packers.
Wonnum had two sacks and three hits against the Packers. Hunter has 10 sacks.
Safety Camryn Bynum is the Vikings’ leading tackler with 74.
8. Series history: This will be the 31st meeting. The Vikings lead 19-11. The Falcons won the last meeting 40-23 on Oct. 18, 2020 in Minneapolis. Julio Jones caught eight passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons.
9A. Where to watch, listen and livestream: What you should know about Sunday’s game between the Falcons (4-4) and the Minnesota Vikings (4-4), which is set for 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
TV: Fox. Play-by-Play: Chris Myers. Analyst: Mark Schlereth. Sideline: Kristina Pink.
Local radio: 92.9 The Game. Play-by-play: Wes Durham. Analyst: Dave Archer. Executive producer: Beau Morgan. Engineer: Miller Pope. Pregame/postgame show – Hosts: Chris Goforth and Mike Johnson, with Dylan Matthews and Orin Romain as studio producers at 11 a.m.
Satellite radio: SiriusXM NFL Radio. Falcons channel 85 or 225 or the App. Vikings channel 111 or 386 or the App. (Games also are available on the SiriusXM App. Fans can find their team’s channel under the “NFL Play-by-Play” tab or by searching their team’s name.)
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.
9B. Depth chart: Here’s the official depth chart for Sunday:
OFFENSE
WR Mack Hollins, KhaDarel Hodge
TE Kyle Pitts, John FitzPatrick
LT Jake Matthews
LG Matthew Bergeron, Jovaughn Gwyn
C Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil
RG Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton
RT Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton
TE Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt
WR Drake London, Scotty Miller, Van Jefferson
FB Keith Smith (Team list him as Pitts backup, but lines up at fullback in games)
RB Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier
Joker Cordarrelle Patterson
QB Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke, Logan Woodside
DEFENSE
DL LaCale London, Albert Huggins, Kentavious Street
DL David Onyemata, Ta’Quon Graham
DE Calais Campbell, Zach Harrison, Joe Gaziano
OLB Bud Dupree, Lorenzo Carter
ILB Kaden Elliss
ILB Nate Landman, Tae Davis
OLB Arnold Ebiketie, DeAngelo Malone
CB A.J. Terrell, Mike Hughes
S Jessie Bates III, Micah Abernathy
S Richie Grant, DeMarcco Hellams
NB Dee Alford, Clark Phillips III
CB Jeff Okudah, Tre Flowers
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Younghoe Koo
P Bradley Pinion
LS Liam McCullough
H Bradley Pinion
PR Mike Hughes, *Scotty Miller, Dee Alford, (Team lists Dee Alford as No. 1, but he has not returned any punts this season. Miller went in for Hughes vs. Titans)
KOR Cordarrelle Patterson, Mike Hughes
* Added as third punt returner since he went in for Alford versus the Panthers.
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