Atlanta Falcons - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Matt Ryan or Nick Foles?

by Mike Rose

1/11/18

NFL

Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan

An NFC divisional playoff matchup is set to take place at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday afternoon when the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles welcome the No. 6 seed Atlanta Falcons into their home for the first time since 2016. Philadelphia won that game 24-15 and seems to have Atlanta’s number as the Falcons have dropped three of four to Philly in the recent rivalry.

However, the Falcons are the defending NFC champs and enter this matchup fresh off a win over the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round. Both quarterbacks will be on display as elite veteran Matt Ryan will look to take care of business against Eagles backup Nick Foles.

Fantasy Matchup: Matt Ryan (16.0 PFP) vs. Nick Foles (9.5 PFP)

Ryan has averaged 14.51 Dober Fantasy Points per game this season and enters this matchup as a 6.5-point favorite over Foles. This comes as no surprise as Foles has been a backup and Ryan has numerous weapons at his disposal like wide receivers Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu as well as running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

Against the Rams last week, Ryan threw for 218 yards and a touchdown while completing 70 percent of his passes. He finished with a quarterback rating of 101.8, which marked the seventh time this season in which he played to a quarterback rating over 100. On the year, however, Ryan led the Falcons offense to an average of just 22.1 points per game, good for No. 15 in the NFL. That mark is 11.0 points per game less than last season when the team averaged nearly 34.0 points each week.

During the regular season, Ryan threw for 4,095 yards with a 20-to-12 touchdown-to-interception ratio. His road performance was about equal to his home play as he had three 100-plus passer ratings away from Atlanta and three at home. He’ll get to face a stingy Philadelphia defense that ranks No. 4 in total yards allowed at 306.5 yards per game. However, the Eagles rank No. 17 defending the pass (227.3 yards per game). The Falcons offense will look to attack that defense early and often with the No. 8 passing attack that averaged just under 250.0 yards per contest.

Meanwhile, Foles has been the Eagles starter since Carson Wentz went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 14 against the Rams. Since taking over the reins, he’s thrown for 537 yards with a respectable 5-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a passer rating of 79.5. Despite losing Wentz, Philadelphia finished the year ranked No. 7 in total yards gained per game (365.8) and was the owner of the No. 13 ranked passing attack that averaged 233.6 yards through the air.

Foles just needs to play his game and minimize his mistakes as he gets to face a Falcons defense that sacked Rams quarterback Jared Goff three times last week. That same Atlanta defense is ranked No. 12 in passing yards allowed per game (214.3).

The Eagles, mostly with Wentz, locked up the No. 1 seed with a 13-3 season. The Falcons enter this matchup with a lot more experience than Philly so they will look to use that to their advantage. Philly is 14-2 in their last 16 games at home over the past two seasons, but I still don’t think that’ll be enough to dethrone the defending NFC champs.

Go with Ryan to win this matchup and install him on your Dober Play Cards this week.

NFC Divisional Round Fantasy Matchup: Matt Ryan (-6.5) vs. Nick Foles