FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — With the Falcons playing the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football in Week 2, you're getting Saturday Six Pack... on Sunday. Don't worry, we will be back on our regularly scheduled program next week, but we've got a prime-time matchup to preview right now.

So, that's exactly what we're going to do. Here are six things to watch come 8:15 ET this Monday.

Health update

The Falcons will be without inside linebacker Nate Landman for the Monday night bout with the Eagles. This is a blow to the defense for the reasons we will talk about in the next section, but Landman hasn't been 100% for a few weeks now as he's battled through a quad injury. But when he was also listed as having a calf injury in this week's injury report, too, it made that percentage quite a bit lower. After not practicing at all throughout Week 2, Raheem Morris ruled Landman out of Monday's game.

This doesn't necessarily change the starting lineup for Monday, seeing as Kaden Elliss and Troy Andersen were always slated to start like they did in Week 1. However, it does change the rotation seeing as Landman played 54% of the defensive snaps against the Steelers last Sunday. This likely means the Falcons will rely heavily on Andersen playing significantly more reps. JD Bertrand will be an important piece of depth at the position, too, since — at this point — the Falcons are only carrying three inside linebackers to Philly.

In other injury news, the Eagles downgraded receiver A.J. Brown to out of Monday night's game. He showed up on Philadelphia's injury report this week with a hamstring strain. He did not participate in Saturday's final practice of Week 2. He will not play Monday, which is a blow for the Eagles offense. Brown was Jalen Hurts' favorite target against the Packers in Week 1. Brown finished the night in Brazil with five catches on 10 targets, 119 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Brown's backup Johnny Wilson also has a hamstring injury. Like Brown, he did not participate in Saturday's practice. He was listed as questionable for Monday's game.

Stopping Saquon, containing Hurts

For the second week in a row, the Falcons will face a scrambling quarterback and top-tier running back. Last week, it was Najee Harris and Justin Fields. This week, the task gets significantly taller, as it's Hurts and Saquon Barkley on the other side of the ball.

In their Week 1 opening, the Philadelphia quarterback/running back duo was solid. Barkley debuted with the Eagles by becoming the NFC Offensive Player of the Week with a three-touchdown, 109 rushing yard day. Hurts topped out at 278 passing yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. With Brown and DeVonta Smith as receiving weapons, the Eagles were able to put up 34 points in their season opener, outlasting the Green Bay Packers for a win in Brazil.

The word that fits the Falcons' defensive plan begins and ends with the word "contain."

"The first thing we got to do is make (Hurts) stay in the pocket," assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said Friday.

Atlanta has only faced Hurts once before in 2021. Philadelphia beat Atlanta 32-6 in that game. The Falcons are hoping for a very different result this time around.

But they'll have to stop Barkley now, too. That's no easy task, either. In order to do so, defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake said the unit will "have to hunt in packs."

"We can't leave it on one player to get him down on the ground," Lake said of Barkley.

Lake continued by saying it will be "an extreme challenge" to beat a dominant Eagles offense on their home turf, but its a challenge the Falcons defense is up for.

"In order to win in that stadium, we're going to have to have a heck of a defensive outing, and that's against one of the top offenses in the league," Falcons safety Justin Simmons said. "We understand that, and we're up for the challenge."

Falcons offense on the rebound

There was nothing that consumed national headlines and talking head conversations like that of the Falcons' offensive performance in Week 1. Is Kirk Cousins really healthy? Why was there no play action? Why were the Falcons working out of pistol and shotgun in over 90% of their offensive snaps? What happened to working under center? Why did Cousins change his stance?

Well... all of those questions were answered. Zac Robinson explained his offensive philosophy. Cousins doubled-down on his health. They both reiterated that Sunday's performance in the 18-10 loss to the Steelers was not at all what they wanted or expected and they are preparing and planning to make a change.

And that's where the week of prep leaves us with Monday night on the horizon.

What offensive adjustments will we see Atlanta deploy in Philadelphia? Will it be one that is more in line with what was expected of this group? Will they have more than 50 plays in total to run? Will Cousins be better protected? What about Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Darnell Mooney's targets? Will they increase? And oh — what about Bijan Robinson? He was the bright spot for this offense last week, will he be joined in the spotlight this week?

There still much to prove by way of the offense in Atlanta. They have the chance to right the ship in Philly. The problem? They're in Philly, and that fanbase isn't keen on seeing the Falcons offense show any type of improvement.

The JB3+JS31 effect

As Matt Haley and Taylor Garner showcased in this week's Nerdy Birds, there was an obvious wrinkle in the Pittsburgh game plan by Arthur Smith to keep the ball far, far away from the Falcons' safety duo. And to Smith's credit, Fields' did exactly that, never once challenging the safeties through the middle of the field.

Is this a sign of a trend to come? You have to think it could be, but it's still too early to know one way or another. However, the early returns are promising. The Falcons defense was one of only two teams in the NFL last week to not allow a touchdown. A lot of what the secondary was able to shut down in the pass game was a big reason why (that and Grady Jarrett continues to anchor the middle of the Falcons defensive line in the run game, too).

Atlanta only allowed 133 passing yards in the loss. That was the fifth-fewest passing yards allowed by a team in the league last week.

The defensive performance wasn't perfect last Sunday, but it showed why this defense holds respect the way it does. The unit has another opportunity in enemy territory to do something else respect-worthy.

Falcons back in prime time

As Terrin Waack and Amna Subhan wrote Saturday, the Falcons are back in a prime-time slot for the first time in a long time. Here are the fast facts:

• Monday will mark the Falcons' first prime-time appearance since 2022 — when the Falcons lost to the Carolina Panthers, 25-15, in Week 10 on Thursday night.
• The most recent Falcons Monday Night Football game came in Week 4 of 2020 when the Falcons lost to the Packers, 30-16.
• Since 2020, the Falcons have only played in a prime-time game four times. The Eagles, on the other hand, have been in a prime-time slot a whopping 20 times.
• As for QB1, Cousins has made 13 Monday Night Football appearances. He has a 3-10 record, with three of those wins coming in his last four outings with the Minnesota Vikings.

At the end of the day, a game is a game. But there is a lot riding on this one. The Falcons want to prove this team was worth the hype of the offseason, and they want to do so in front of a national audience in order to leave no doubt.

"Last year, I think we were playing at 1 o'clock every week, which is cool," Bates said this week. "But it's pretty cool to see our team get on a prime-time type of game, where the whole world is watching."

Player of the Game prediction: Kirk Cousins

Cousins' debut with the Falcons was not the stuff of fairy tales. He threw two interceptions and one touchdown. He took the blame for a fumbled snap. The Falcons only had 155 passing yards in an outing that saw the offense only put up 10 points. It was not the performance Cousins wanted, and he knows it wasn't good enough.

The cleanliness of the offensive operation wasn't good enough, either. And between all the self-inflicted wounds, the Falcons couldn't get out of their own way.

"You cannot beat yourself," Cousins said Thursday. "Raheem said the night before the game, he said, 'Our offense, I have one goal for you. Be clean and crisp.' Sounds easy. It's not, and I knew it. I said, 'If we're a clean and crisp offense, tomorrow, we'll win.' We were not, and so we lost. I'm not blaming anybody. I'm saying myself. I've got to play better. I've got to operate better, and I was probably the center of it not being clean and crisp. So, that frustrated me deeply because I placed such an importance on that in running the operation clean and crisp. So, that's what has to be better Monday night."

And the prediction I have for you is that Cousins will be better this time around. I think he is posed for a bounce back.

In the week before Cousins' season-ending Achilles injury in 2023, he played in a stellar Monday Night Football game against the San Francisco 49ers. Cousins and the Vikings beat the would-be Super Bowl contenders 22-17 in the Week 7 matchup. Cousins had one of his best performances as a quarterback in the league that night, going 35-of-45 through the air with a whopping 378 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Not saying history will repeat itself this time around, but just that if there's someone who could use a statement performance like this, it's Cousins.