Redskins vs Atlanta Falcons Live Streaming:Week 9 NFL Betting

The Atlanta Falcons limp into Sunday’s Week 9 NFL Betting against the Redskins in the throes of their first losing streak under head coach Mike Smith.  Then again, both of their recent losses -- to the Cowboys and Saints -- have been on the road. Sunday, the Falcons return to the Georgia Dome, where they are undefeated this season and have won six straight dating back to the 2008 campaign.

As we approach the halfway point of the regular season, Atlanta finds itself in a race for one of the Wild Card slots in the NFC while New Orleans looks to be the runaway leader in the NFC South.  The Falcons enter this game as desperate as their opponents in Burgundy and Gold, yet for different reasons.

This is a team that came in to the 2009 NFL Betting campaign with high hopes coming off an 11-and-5 season that included a playoff berth under NFL Coach of the Year Smith, and Offensive Rookie of the Year, quarterback Matt Ryan.  Things haven’t been so easy the second time around for the 4-3 Falcons.

Some of their statistics may be misleading, however, as they’ve played against some of the more potent offenses in the league in New England, Dallas, and most recently New Orleans.  In their last two games alone, they’ve allowed a total of 72 points.  Monday night in New Orleans, the Falcons defense gave up 437 total yards though they did force the Saints into four turnovers.  Thus, it is no surprise to find Atlanta ranked near the bottom of the league in total defense (29th) and passing defense (31st).

Offensively, the Falcons can score with the best of them as witnessed by the 27 points they put up on Monday night in New Orleans.  Yet what has been troubling for this team is that Ryan has three multi-interception games this season, including three picks against the Saints.  After a slow start, running back Michael Turner (554 rushing yards, 8 TD) is coming off his best game of the season -- a 151-yard,  one-TD performance in New Orleans.  Offseason acquisition, tight end Tony Gonzalez is amongst the league leaders at his position in catches (33) and touchdowns (3).  Receiver Roddy White has five touchdown catches in his last four games.

Two keys to stopping the Falcons' offense will be shutting down Turner and getting to Ryan; yet both are easier said than done.  Turner appears to be hitting his stride as evidenced by his performance against the Saints.  Also remember that Turner was one of the breakout stars of the 2008 season when he rushed for 1,699 yards and a team record 17 touchdowns.  Ryan, on the other hand, was sacked three times in New Orleans.  Then again, he’s only been dropped a total of nine times this season, which is less than every full-time quarterback not named Manning or Brady.

Veteran kicker Jason Elam missed two field goals this past Monday and two others in the season opener, plus an extra point. Things got dicey this week when the team had to place long time long snapper Michael Schneck on injured reserve with a rib injury.  The team signed former Houston and Seattle long snapper Bryan Pittman on Thursday.