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Will the Falcons beat the Raiders? The Falcoholic weighs in

Our staff delivers their weekly predictions for Week 2, and we’re not feeling particularly bullish.

NFL: Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

DW

Falcons 21 - Raiders 35

I really hate predicting losses, but after what I saw on Sunday, I’m taking the “I’ll believe it when I see it” approach with this team. They look undisciplined and sometimes comically bad. The poor tackling was laughable while the offensive play calling bordered on self-destructive at times. I think the Falcons can win this game, but until they actually put together four complete quarters of quality football, color me a skeptic.

Dave Choate

Falcons 31 - Raiders 28

This feels like one of those games the Falcons probably shouldn’t win, but will anyways. I can see this be somewhat of a shootout, with a pair of ineffective pass rushes failing to put enough pressure on Matt Ryan and Derek Carr to impact the game, and plenty of yardage and scoring. I can also see Carr being a little more turnover-prone than Ryan in this one, which should be enough to make the difference.

Matt Chambers

Doom for the Falcons.

Doom.

Kendall Jackson

Falcons a little, Raiders a lot

Caleb Rutherford

Falcons 24, Raiders 31

The Falcons’ best chance at winning a game for a while passed them by in typical Falcons fashion: they did just enough to make you believe they could do it...and then they didn’t do it. We’re about to enter a real ugly stretch on our schedule and it starts this week with the upstart Raiders, who stole a game from the Saints in the Superdome. Don’t let experts fool you, the Raiders’ “patchwork OL” and “nonexistent pass rush” will be more than adequate against a Falcons team that is going nowhere fast.

Allen Strk

Raiders 33 - Falcons 27

Oakland has too much firepower offensively, particularly on the offensive line. It will be a long day for the front seven against the Raiders’ monstrous offensive line. There are question marks across their secondary. Julio Jones is bound to have a big game following a somewhat subdued performance last week. As long as they contain Khalil Mack, Matt Ryan and company should score plenty of points. Red zone efficiency could be their undoing again. Nothing suggests that this issue is going to change, along with the pass rush.