Before the NFC South was sending three teams to the playoffs and to two of the last three Super Bowls, the NFC North was considered the toughest division in the NFL.
The Falcons (1-1) must be ready for the division’s rugged brand of football that the Bengals (2-1) have to play to compete annually against the Steelers, Ravens and to a much lesser degree Browns. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“The AFC North is always focused on bigger, power teams,” said Falcons center Alex Mack, who’s also a former Brown. “They really slug it out in the run game. Hard-nosed football was what we used to beat our drum to.”
Atkins is a generational force
After his stellar career at Georgia, the Bengals drafted Geno Atkins in the fourth round of the 2010 draft.
He’s gone on to become one of the best defensive tackles of his generation. The Bengals rewarded him with a four-year, $65.2 million extension in the offseason.
He’s a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All Pro, who appears headed for a yellow jacket and bust in Canton, Ohio after he rebounded from a knee injury that caused him to miss the 2014 season.
“I think he’s 100 percent,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “The reason I say that is you watch him and he’s as capable in the run game, pass rush, he’s disruptive. I just studied him for a long time. I’ve got a pretty good sense because of that studying, what he looks like.”
Mack and right guard Wes Schweitzer will be assigned to block Atkins, who played 70 percent of the snaps against the Panthers last week and had five tackles.
“He’s just a really powerful guy,” Mack said. “He likes to bull rush and he’s able to move enough to where you can’t just sit down and get ready to push him. He’s going to avoid you and go around you. He plays with a high motor too. He’s always going to the ball.”
Falcons plan to tackle
Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel made his point very clear in team meetings last week.
“We will tackle,” Manuel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the theme of his speech after the Falcons missed 15 tackles in a 43-37 overtime loss to the Saints.
Manuel doesn’t care that his unit has been ravaged by injury and he has to move on without his three top defenders in middle linebacker Deion Jones (broken right foot), strong safety Keanu Neal (knee) and free safety Ricardo Allen (left Achilles).
“It’s like every position that we’ve had an injury to it,” Manuel said. “There’s a combination of guys … these guys have to come in and make sure they own their role, whenever they are called upon make sure you dominate.”
Damontae Kazee had already taken over for Allen at free safety, as Allen was playing more strong safety. Jordan Richards is up for the strong safety role on run situations. Duke Riley is playing middle linebacker, while DeVondre Campbell is helping with the signal calling.
“First, I’m going to start with tackling,” Manuel said. “I’m going to start with that first with all of them.
"If we do that at a very high level, we will be very good. We are not going to ask any one man to do a job that's bigger than him. But we are going to ask you to dominate your role."
The unit will get a boost from the return of defensive end Takkarist McKinley, who missed last week with a groin injury.
“Takk has a tremendous gift,” Manuel said. “You know that Takk is going to give you everything that he has. He brings toughness to our defense. ... To have him this week is going to be exciting.”
Three key matchups
Bengals WR A.J. Green vs. Falcons CB Desmond Trufant: With all of the injuries, the Falcons will likely cling to their favored Cover-3 zone shell. However, when Green does come on the left side of the defense, Trufant will be on alert. Green has caught 16 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns. Trufant has 12 tackles, and one pass breakup.
Bengals cornerbacks vs. Falcons wide receivers: When the Panthers needed a third-down conversion last week, they went after Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, who has had the most passes thrown at him except all but one cornerback in the league. The Panthers completed three third-down passes on Kirkpatrick, who's 31 targets are second only to the 33 of the Eagles' Ronald Darby, according to profootballfocus.com. Bengal cornerbacks Darqueze Dennard and Will Jackson will likely have Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley in man-to-man situations. "They have their attention," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "This is why we have the guys that we have and they are going to have to step up and play their tails off."
Bengals RB Giovani Bernard vs. Falcons LB Duke Riley: There is a void in the Falcons' zones defenses and teams try to exploit it by throwing to their running backs. The Falcons gave up 14 catches to Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey and 15 to Saints running back Alvin Kamara. Bernard has 10 catches for 51 yards on the season and is dangerous in the open field. A missed tackle and he's gone to the end zone.
QB Corner with Matt Ryan
Here are three questions with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan on the Bengals:
On Geno Atkins and what problems he brings: "He's a great player. He's been anchoring the defensive line for a long time. I mean playing at an high level in this league for a long time. … He's a problem in the middle. But we've got good players up front, guys that are up to that challenge."
On the Bengals linebacker group: "Well, the front seven we don't see them that often and to me, they look like they're playing well. ... They're doing a nice job. Fit in the run game, they're aggressive against the run. They get downhill, do a nice job with that. Are solid in the zone scheme and the pass game as well. Dropping to the right spots, they're very consistent in what they do."
On safeties Jessie Bates and Shawn Williams: "They're a defense that plays a lot of split safeties and a lot of two-high zone. Those guys do a nice job of getting downhill and tackling from those spots in the run game, to keep from giving up too many plays. They also do a good job of keeping things in front of them in the pass game."
About the Bengals
» Marvin Lewis, the longest-tenured coach in Bengals history, is in his 16th season.
» Paul Brown (1968-75) and Sam Wyche (1984-91) are tied for second with eight seasons each. League-wide, only New England’s Bill Belichick has been with his team longer.
» The Bengals lead the series 8-5. They won the last meeting 24-10 in Sept. 14, 2014. The Falcons have won three of the last four meetings.
» The Bengal won their first two games. They defeated the Colts 34-23 and the Ravens 34-23, before losing 31-21 to Carolina.
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