Atlanta at Minnesota

Atlanta comes into the 2019 season with high hopes mostly due to a revamped offensive line after injuries decimated it last season. Also, the Falcons hope to have an improved secondary with Isaiah Oliver taking over a starting spot to go along with veteran Desmond Trufant. Matt Ryan begins his 13th season with hopes of being more protected this year after being sacked 42 times and he still completed 69.4 percent of his passes and threw for nearly 5,000 yards.  A major factor this year is that Devonta Freeman is back after missing all but two games and then having sports hernia surgery. The Falcons also hired Dirk Koetter as offensive coordinator to help with the running game, which obviously is important with Ryan's play-action fakes. Minnesota is depending on Kirk Cousins to rebound from a disappointing season and although his statistics were good, he faltered against the elite teams in the league. Dalvin Cook is one of the best running backs in the league, but hasn't shown that he can stay healthy. This is also the first meeting since 2017 between these two teams. Atlanta's improvements on both sides of the ball along with questions surrounding Cousins gives the edge to the road team in this matchup. Play the Falcons.