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Editor’s note: The links are publishing on Friday instead of the usual Thursday due to holiday-related sloth from the top brass here at The Falcoholic. Enjoy!
Happy day after Independence Day, everybody! Fire up the grill again, crack open something cold, and most importantly, keep reading for July 5th’s Falcoholinks. Also please don’t blow your fingers off or set your yard on fire, if you haven’t already.
Under pressure
The Falcons enter 2019 with a strong nucleus of playmakers, but there are definitely a few players on the squad that will be under the microscope in the upcoming season. Vic Beasley of course headlines this group, as Atlanta elected to exercise his $12.8 million fifth-year option, but who else will have some added pressure to perform next season?
The leg and the legacy
Matt Bryant is one of the greatest kickers in NFL history, and reminiscing on some of his game-changing and game-winning performances is something that every Falcons fan enjoys. The Falcoholic’s Evan Birchfield took an interesting angle on Matt Bryant’s career in Atlanta: How did that famous leg factor into Matt Ryan’s legacy?
Eagles implications
The 2017 season ended with a heartbreaking loss against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional round, and the 2018 season began in a similar fashion: another opportunity to win the game in the waning seconds and failing to secure the go-ahead score. Outcome aside, Atlanta did a very good job during those two games in shutting down a vaunted Eagles offense, and Dave Choate explains what implications those games may hold for the Falcons’ defense.
Falcons rookies in Madden 20
So we know that after drinking enough cheap booze and stuffing your face with hot dogs today, many of you will retire to your one true love: Madden. Yes, there’s something intrinsically patriotic about drunkenly yelling at strangers when they beat you via Hail Mary with Nathan Peterman, so we expect a decent lot of you will be dialing up some Madden on the Fourth of July. EA’s Madden 20 rolls out on August 2nd, and they’ve recently unveiled their rookie rankings for the newest Atlanta Falcons. You can give those a look right here.