Buffalo (4-1) at Atlanta (2-2)
Monday 7:15 p.m. EDT, ESPN.
BetMGM NFL Odds: Bills by 4 1/2.
Against the spread: Bills 2-3; Falcons 2-2
Series record: Falcons lead 7-6.
Last meeting: Bills beat Falcons 29-15 in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 2, 2022.
Last week: Bills lost to New England 23-20. Falcons had their bye week.
Bills offense: overall (3), rush (1), pass (7t), scoring (3).
Bills defense: overall (9), rush (28), pass (2), scoring (18).
Falcons offense:
overall (7), rush (6), pass (13), scoring (26).
Falcons defense: overall (1), rush (16), pass (1), scoring (15).
Turnover differential: Bills plus-1; Falcons plus-1
Rookie DT Deone Walker. At 6-foot-7 and 331 pounds, the fourth-round pick out of Kentucky has topped 30 snaps in each of Buffalo's past two outings playing behind starter DaQuan Jones. Walker is tied for second on the team with three tackles for losses and plays an important element in Buffalo's run defense.
RB Bijan Robinson. He had a career-high 181 yards from scrimmage, including a career-high 106 yards receiving and 75 on the ground, in a 34-27 win over Washington before the bye week. When asked what is the Falcons' identity, coach Raheem Morris said: “I think we’re a running football team that’s able to go out there and run it on just about anybody and when you want to run it.” Robinson has strong support from Tyler Allgeier. The Bills' rushing defense ranks only 28th in the league.
Bills TE Dalton Kincaid vs. Falcons safeties Jessie Bates III and Xavier Watts. Kincaid had a career-best 108 receiving yards last week. He leads Buffalo with 287 yards receiving and three TD catches.
Bills: Starting LB Matt Milano is not expected to play after aggravating a pectoral injury on Sunday. ... Starting DT Ed Oliver is trending toward returning after missing four games with an ankle injury. ... LT Dion Dawkins' status bears monitoring after he popped up on the injury report with a hand injury on Thursday.
Falcons: CB A.J. Terrell, one of Atlanta's top defensive players, could return after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury. ... WR Darnell Mooney left the win over Washington with a hamstring injury, leaving his status for this week uncertain. Mooney did not practice Thursday.
The series began with the Bills beating the Falcons in Atlanta in 1973 and included the non-conference teams meeting in Toronto on Dec. 1, 2013. The Bills lost their “home” game 34-31 in overtime at Toronto's domed Rogers Centre in what became the final outing of Buffalo's six-year “Bills in Toronto Series." Terry and Kim Pegula canceled the series a year later upon purchasing the Bills. The Falcons won four straight home games before a 23-17 loss in 2017 in the teams' last meeting at Atlanta.
The Bills are 22-6 following a regular-season loss dating to the start of the 2019 season. And they're 10-2 when playing a road game following a loss. ... With two TD passes last week, Josh Allen now has 68 career games with multiple touchdown throws, breaking the franchise record set by Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. ... Allen has committed three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble) in his past two outings after throwing one interception in his previous 12 starts, including playoffs. Allen is 45-28 when committing a turnover and 15-20 when turning over the ball in the second half. ... Since 2019, the Bills are 7-6 when committing three turnovers in an outing. ... RB James Cook was held to a season-low 49 yards from scrimmage (all rushing) after topping 100 in each of his first four outings. Cook also had his TD streak end at eight games. ... Buffalo last week failed to have a TD run for just the sixth time since the start of 2023. ... The Bills trailed New England 6-3 at the half, marking their fewest points in the opening half since trailing the Patriots 13-3 at the break in a 29-25 loss on Oct. 22, 2023. Buffalo dropped to 10-14 when trailing at the half since 2020. ... LB Terrel Bernard has had a hand in three of Buffalo's five takeaways with two fumble recoveries and an interception. ... The Bills are 11-4 when playing indoors and averaging 27.5 points per outing since coach Sean McDermott's arrival in 2017. ... The Falcons were 2-0 in Monday night games last season, winning road games against the Raiders and Eagles. ... This is Atlanta's first home Monday night game since 2017. ... Penix set career highs by completing 76.9% of his passes and passing for 313 yards in the win over Washington. ... Watts leads NFL rookies with two interceptions. ... The Falcons have allowed only five sacks, the second-fewest in the NFL. Indianapolis has given up only four sacks.
While WR Drake London is Penix's top target, TE Kyle Pitts had his first TD catch of the year against Washington and is looking for his fifth straight game with at least four catches. Pitts has been a risky fantasy play in recent years but is becoming a more trustworthy option with Penix at quarterback. His 70 yards receiving in Week 4 tied for the league high by a tight end.
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