The Atlanta Falcons (1-2) are set to host the Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Here are 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 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.
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