What to expect from the Falcons' first preseason game vs. the Titans

In recent years, the Falcons' preseason has been a bit of a slog. While I firmly believe you can't usually extrapolate regular season results from preseason games, the last two years have seen putrid preseason followed by awful years, so I'm going to be watching this year's slate pretty attentively.

It all begins with the Tennessee Titans this Friday, and the Titans provide an interesting first test. This is a team with a rookie quarterback in Marcus Mariota, a rotation of young backs, a deeply unsettled receiving corps and players like Jurrell Casey on defense who are legitimately terrifying. They are not, on paper and I suspect on the field, a good team. Do they have enough talent to make things interesting for the Falcons Friday night, and to build a return to relevance in the near future? Yes.

For Atlanta, it'll be an excellent opportunity to test out a vanilla version of their new-look defense against a mobile quarterback and young, potentially explosive offense. On the offensive side of the ball, they'll be without Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman, which means the series or two the starters spend in the game will be a nice opportunity to test out the receiving corps.

We'll chat with Music City Miracles and bring you more coverage on the matchup in the days ahead, but for now, talk to us about your expectations for this first preseason game.