Falcons punter Matt Bosher and Seattle punt returner Golden Tate will face off in one of the key battles when their teams meet at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
Bosher is having a strong season punting, and Tate, a starting wide receiver, is a dangerous returner. He revived the Seahawks last week when he caught a punt at their 4-yard line and returned it 71 yards to start a comeback against Tampa Bay.
“Well, he’s not going to fair-catch,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “It’s going to be very important that we do a good job with our directional punting and try to shrink the field. When you do that, then you have to be able to overpopulate that side of the field.”
Bosher has averaged 46.9 gross yards per punt and 42.2 net yards on 32 punts this season. Tate has 25 returns for 329 yards.
In addition to his punting duties, Bosher has recovered an onside kick and has three special-teams tackles.
“When he’s tackling, that’s not a good thing for a punter,” Smith said. “We’d like to keep him off the stat sheet in terms of tackles.”
Snelling available: Running back Jason Snelling was active last week, but was not 100 percent recovered from an ankle injury. He played on special teams, but did not have any carries from scrimmage.
“We anticipate that he’ll be better this week than he was last week,” Smith said. “We’ll get him out there.”
Snelling could help the rushing attack, which has averaged 64.4 yards per game and ranks last in the NFL.
The Falcons hopes that they can run the ball against the Seahawks, who gave 200 yards rushing against the Rams and 205 yards to Tampa Bay in their past two outings. St. Louis’ Zac Stacy rushed for 134 yards on 26 carries, and Tampa Bay’s Mike James rushed for 158 yards on 28 carries.
The Falcons have rushed for more than 100 yards in one game (Miami, 146) this season.
“We’ve got to be better at the point of attack,” Smith said. “We have to get the plays going. If we can get to the second level, we’ll have an opportunity with the type of running backs that we have — they all have different skill sets — but I think they all are effective when they get to the second level.”
Injury report: Wide receiver Roddy White, offensive tackle Sam Baker (knee), defensive tackle Corey Peters (knee) and linebacker Stephen Nicholas (thigh) all were listed as questionable on the official injury report.
White has not played in the past three games, as he’s been battling back from ankle and hamstring injuries.
White’s workload was increased over three days of practice.
Boost to offense: White's prospective return will be greeted by the struggling team and its quarterback.
The Falcons were outscored 61-23 in losses to Arizona and Carolina, and quarterback Matt Ryan threw seven interceptions in those games.
“The thing that you’re concerned about any time you’re coming back after a long layoff is the conditioning part of it,” Smith said. “Roddy has been a guy who’s made a lot of plays for us for a long time, and we’re just excited, that if he is back, he’ll be able to be effective for us.”
White, a first-round pick in 2005, played in 133 consecutive games before missing the Tampa Bay game Oct. 20.
About the Author
