Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, but it wasn't difficult to predict what happened yesterday in Madrid between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Going in the Bengals had the hottest offense in the NFL, and they had no problem continuing that trend against the Falcons - beginning with a 47-yard bomb from Joe Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase on their first possession to begin the scoring for Cincinnati, culminating in a 34-17 blowout win.
Atlanta had some bright spots but all of them were on offense, as the Falcons got dominated by a far-superior opponent on the other side of the ball. For their efforts John Breech at CBS Sports has given them a C- for Week 9.
"It's fitting that this game was played in Spain, because the Falcons' defense
looked like it was taking an afternoon siesta against a Bengals offense basically built to exploit Atlanta's weaknesses. The Falcons had no pass rush, and their secondary couldn't keep up with the Bengals athletic receivers, which created huge problems for Atlanta."
Next up the Falcons go from one elite threat to another of an entirely different kind. The Kansas City Chiefs currently rank eighth in yards allowed and third in scoring defense going into Week 10.
After that matchup the Falcons get their bye week, followed by another brutal defense - Minnesota is allowing the fewest points per game in the NFL this season.
Then Atlanta will get to face another high-powered offense, as they face a Detroit unit that ranks fifth in scoring.
Anything but an 0-3 record for this run should probably be considered a victory for a Falcons team that clearly isn't ready to hang with true contenders, no matter what their win over the injury-ravaged 49ers may have indicated.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons earn rough grade for blowout loss to Bengals
