Atlanta Falcons vs Miami Dolphins Prediction, Odds and Preview - 08/21/2021

Game Time: 4:00 pm ET, Saturday, August 21st, 2021

Venue:  Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

Where to Watch:  NFL Network

Falcons: 0-1 (AFC East)
Dolphins:  0-1 (NFC South)

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds: Falcons +140, Dolphins -170; Over/Under:  36.5 points

Spread: Dolphins -3.5  

Falcons:  Ta’Quon Graham DT (hand) Questionable, J’mon Moore WR (undisclosed)  Out

Dolphins:  Sam Eguavoen LB (covid) Out, Albert Wilson WR (undisclosed) Out, Hunter Long TE Questionable 

Team1:

Matt Ryan QB

Mike Davis RB

Calvin Ridley WR1

Russell Gage WR2

Olamide Zaccheaus WR3

Kyle Pitts TE  (Yes!  That Kyle Pitts, the one every GM coveted publicly before the draft)

Jake Matthews LT

Matt Gono LG

Matt Hennessy C

Chris Lindstrom RG

Kaleb McGary RT

Dolphins:

Tua Tagovailoa QB

Myles Gaskin RB

DeVante Parker WR1

William Fuller V WR2

Jaylen Waddle WR3

Mike Gesicki TE

Austin Jackson LT

Liam Eichenberg LG

Michael Dieter C

Robert Hunt RG

Jesse Davis RT

Coaches:

Falcons:  Arthur Smith
Dolphins: Brian Flores

Against the Chicago Bears last week 2nd year quarterback Tua  went 8-11 for 99 yards and 1 interception. Back-ups Jacoby Brissett and Reid Smith both completed 6-10 passes. Brissett completed a touchdown pass to RB Salvon Ahmed.  Brissett is the most likely candidate to take the job from Tua if Tua doesn’t show growth over last season and potential for the future.  

The Falcons lost their preseason opener to the Titans 23-3 while playing the starters almost not at all.  Preseason game 2 will see little if any of Matt Ryan.  The bus will instead be driven by back-up QB’s AJ McCarron and Feleipe Franks.  This is a limbo year for Matt Ryan.  The Falcons need to see winning to stay the course, or extreme losing to have a shot at a top QB in the coming draft (Spencer Rattler to Kyle Pitts?... that sound pretty good).

Matt Ryan had 4,581 passing yards in 2020 while helming a 4-12 team.  You would think a top five quarterback would get lots of upgrades all over the roster to maximize winning during his waning time.  They added through the draft and only a bit through free agency.  The question we should be left with is why they didn’t trade Matt to the Rams or Broncos in the off-season when they had the chance and really start the re-build?

Tua doesn’t show up near the top five in passing. Try 34th with 1,814 yards in 2020… but that’s OK.  The kid was a rookie, he was banged up a bit coming in to the season and Ryan Fitzpatrick took away most of his snaps, most of the time.  You sort of wish the Dolphins had the foresight to spend the year developing him properly with Fitzpatrick taking all the starts.  Tua is only 2 years removed from college stardom and already he feels like discount rack, damaged goods.  The Fins should hope for better results this year, afterall the kid has a good roster around him.

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Another hot Aug preseason game.  If you have Miami Dolphins tickets for this upcoming game… they are worth their face value.  The Dolphins have to find out if Tua Tagovailoa has a grasp on the playbook finally after admitting he didn’t last season.  If that’s exciting to you, in a football game, and you want better tickets to see all the preseason action?  Don’t pay higher ticket prices… just wait for someone in the best seats to drop from Covid-19… and take their place (wipe down seat first)... remember it’s Florida.  The preseason was cancelled last year and the Dolphins missed their chance at an Atlanta Falcons game… but did fare well against everyone else. The entire season was a duel between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua for the starting job.  Fitzmagic did his thing boy, he put up tons of passing yards for a team that didn’t really want him to beat out Tua.  The result is he tried really hard and also put up tons of interceptions which enabled the coach to turn the team back over to Tua… until they tried Fitzpatrick again… until they tried Tua again.    The result of all this QB madness was Tua had 5 wins, Fitzpatrick had 5 wins.. Tua had 2 losses, Fitzpatrick had 4 losses… The Dolphins learned nothing and now Fitzpatrick has gone away to his millionth team in as many years… and Tua is left to prove that he can lead what is actually a very good roster into the Playoffs and beyond.

Matt Ryan has been the Falcons quarterback a long time.  He has led them through great times (a super bowl appearance, that should have been a win), and led them through the NFL cellar (last season’s 4-12 record).  His challenge if he chooses to accept it is to be the franchise's rock as they rebuild toward the future and eventually replace him with a younger guy.  Is he a Hall of Famer?... no, not unless something magical happens in the next couple seasons.  Enter Kyle Pitts, he is billed as something magical at the tight end spot.  He has the body, the speed, the good hands, to make Jerry Jones wax poetic about him in a pre-draft press conference.  The rookie has got a lot to live up to as the fourth overall pick from the tight end spot… but at 6’6 250lb and fast.  He may be the start of some good times for the Falcons.

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