Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles: prediction, preview, pick to win

Atlanta Falcons (6-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (4-4)

KICKOFF: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia. TV: FOX, Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch, Pam Oliver.

SERIES HISTORY: 30th regular-season meeting. The Eagles lead the series 15-13-1. The Falcons won the last meeting, 26-24, on Sept. 14, 2015 at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons beat the Eagles 30-17 on their last visit to Philadelphia on Oct. 28, 2102 as Julio Jones caught a 63-yard touchdown pass.

GAMEDATE: 11/13/16

KEYS TO THE GAME: The Eagles defense will face its most difficult challenge of the season against Falcons QB Matt Ryan. The Falcons boast the league's top scoring offense at 33.9 points per game. The offense is averaging 429.2 yards per game, which is second in the league.

Only nine games into the season, the Falcons are shootout kings. They have five wins when allowing 28 or more points. That ties a full season NFL record for wins when allowing at least 28 points (also held by the 2000 St. Louis Rams).

"They do it all," Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks said. "They run the ball well. Matt is playing at a high level. And Julio is Julio. One of the best receivers in the game."

Julio Jones Leads NFL with 970 yards receiving and has 5 TDs. In last two games vs. Eagles, he collected 264 yards receiving, three TDs.

"It's a big, big challenge. But when we've had those challenges in front of us before, we've risen up to them. I'm excited to play. We're back at the Linc (Lincoln Financial Field). It brings us energy. I'm excited about it."

The Eagles are 3-0 at home this season and 1-4 on the road, including losses the last two weeks to a pair of division opponents, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. They blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to the Cowboys and lost in overtime. A potential game-winning drive last week died on the Giants 17-yard line.

Falcons DE Dwight Freeney is questionable and didn't practice Wednesday (thigh). He played 23 snaps against the Packers and sat out last week's game against the Bucs. Freeney, 36, may be wearing down. He recorded just five quarterback pressures in the past three games after registering 18 pressures in Weeks 3-5.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

--Falcons DE Vic Beasley vs. Eagles RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Beasley leads Falcons with 7.5 sacks. Vaitai gave up 2.5 sacks against the Redskins. Beasley helped to revive the Falcons long-dormant pass rush. He uses speed to torment tackles and is finishing stronger around the quarterback. Vaitai took over for the suspended Lane Johnson and improved steadily.

--Falcons QB Matt Ryan vs. Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins. Matty Ice is re4d hot and Jenkins is Philadelpia's leader in the secondary. Ryan completed 25 of 34 for 344 yards, four 4 TDs for 144.7 rating last week. He leads NFL with 2,980 pass yards and 23 TD passes. The diversified offense makes it difficult for teams to double-team Julio Jones. Jenkins has one fumble recovery, a sack and has returned an interception 64 yards for a touchdown. He also has 33 tackles.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Falcons DB Jalen Collins. Starting LCB Desmond Trufant suffered a shoulder/pectoral injury, missed practice Wednesday and reportedly is day to day. Collins, an under-achieving second-round draftee from 2015, came in for Trufant during the Tampa Bay game and played 49 of 80 defensive snaps (61 percent) with only two tackles and one pass breakup. That is not enough production. Collins served a four-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs to start the season. Sunday he should face WR Jordan Matthews, the Eagles' leading receiver with 42 catches for 507 yards and three touchdowns.

INJURY REPORT: Atlanta -- Out: RB Tevin Coleman (hamstring), DE Dwight Freeney (quadricep), TE Jacob Tamme (shoulder). Philadelphia -- Out: G Allen Barbre (hamstring), S Terrence Brooks (hamstring). Questionable: LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (hamstring).

FAST FACTS: Falcons WR Julio Jones, who will be playing his 75th career NFL game on Sunday, has 465 career receptions. No player in NFL history has more receptions in his first 75 games, with the previous high mark by of 462 catches through 75 games by Anquan Boldin. ... Eagles QB Carson Wentz broke the franchise record for passing yards by a quarterback in his rookie season last week. Wentz has 1,890 passing yards in 2016, besting the previous mark of 1,699 yards by Nick Foles in 2012.

PREDICTION: The Eagles started fast this season but now appear vulnerable and the Falcons don't plan to be polite guests.

OUR PICK: Falcons, 40-21.

--Frank Cooney