The Atlanta Falcons are definitely a bit shorthanded going into tonight's critical prime-time matchup on the road against the Green Bay Packers. Atlanta's roster is thinnest on the edge, where Jalon Walker is on IR, James Pearce is suspended and Samson Ebukam has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
However, this week's opponent is also missing a few key players. Star edge rusher Micah Parsons is currently on the PUP list, while Green Bay's top running back Josh Jacobs is on the Commissioner's Excempt list.
With Jacobs out the Packers have had the weakest run game in the NFL so far, managing just 64.5 rushing yards per game. Meanwhile, the Falcons have had the league's stingiest run defense, allowing only 63 yards per game on the ground. That
should make shutting down backups Marshawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks relatively easy for Atlanta's defense.
The real challenge for the Falcons will be stopping the Packers' big cheese on offense. So far that's what it's been wide receiver Christian Watson, who has totaled 35% of their receiving yards and 75% of their touchdown catches, most of that production coming in a Week 1 win over Minnesota.
With A.J. Terrell landing on the injured reserve list this week, Watson will often be lining up acroos from backup cornerback C.J. Henderson - which could be a disaster for Jeff Ulbrich's defense.
Above all else, Atlanta has to keep Watson from posting video game numbers and make somebody else beat them. That means they'll likely have to give Henderson a lot of help over the top with safety Jessie Bates III and get plenty of pressure on Jordan Love in the pocket.
If the Falcons can shut down or at least stop Watson from going off, the Packers will have to manufacture another variety of cheese to keep their offense going, and they may not have the pieces to do that right now.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons Week 3 X-Factor: Stop the Packers' big cheese
