Life looked peachy for the Atlanta Falcons three weeks ago. With a two-game lead in the NFC South and the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay after a season sweep, the playoffs felt certain. But after dropping the division lead to the Buccaneers during a four-game losing streak, the heat is on the Falcons and quarterback Kirk Cousins to save their season when Atlanta travels to face the Las Vegas Raiders. Atlanta is favored by more than a field goal in the second matchup of Monday night’s doubleheader.

How to watch Falcons at Raiders

The downfall of Cousins accelerated Atlanta’s spiral into mediocrity. The veteran signal-caller hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass during Atlanta’s losing streak — the longest such drought of his career — while throwing eight of his league-high 15 interceptions over that span. If Cousins struggles to find a rhythm against one of the league’s worst teams, calls will grow louder for Atlanta to make a change to first-round pick Michael Penix Jr.

Regardless of Atlanta’s situation under center, running back Bijan Robinson should get plenty of touches. During Cousins’ struggles, Robinson has 20-plus carries in three of the last four games as he closes in on 1,000 yards for the season.

Keeping quarterbacks and running backs healthy remains an issue for Las Vegas, which is on an NFL-high nine-game losing streak. If Aidan O’Connell (questionable) is sidelined, third-string quarterback Desmond Ridder gets a revenge-game opportunity against the team he started for last season. The Raiders’ abysmal running back committee remains last in the NFL in yards per game.

Against a below-average Atlanta defense with the NFL’s fewest sacks, rookie tight end Brock Bowers will be the focal point for Las Vegas. Second in the NFL with 87 catches, Bowers surpassed Sam LaPorta’s single-season rookie tight end receptions record during Week 14.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Las Vegas Raiders odds

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(Photo of Kirk Cousins: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A metro Atlanta city is honoring its place in music history.

The city of Doraville unveiled a new plaque today to mark the 50th anniversary of Lynyrd Skynyrd recording its hit song “Free Bird.”

The band recorded the song inside Studio One, a historic recording studio that once stood in the heart of Doraville.

The studio is no longer in operation, but Doraville residents say its influence lives on in the music industry and that the plaque was long overdue.

“This place was like magic in the 70s and everybody just kinda forgot about it,” said one attendee. “When I tell people that ‘Free Bird’ was recorded here they’re like ‘What? What are you talking about? Why isn’t there a thing?’ And I’m like ‘Exactly,’” said.

After the unveiling, a reception was held inside the Doraville digital studio, along with a live performance in honor of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.

The Atlanta Hawks battled the Milwaukee Bucks all the way to the final whistle in yesterday’s NBA Cup semifinal, but they came up just short in the 108-100 loss and now their run in the NBA Cup is over. Atlanta will go back to the regular season and hope to continue their climb in the Eastern Conference Standings. Despite the loss, there is plenty to like from what the Hawks showed.

While it is not 100% a playoff atmosphere, the NBA Cup is as close as you are going to get to playoff-type games in the regular season. Why is that important? Because this group has not played in those kinds of games yet together. That is one takeaway from their NBA Cup run, but what are some others?

1. Trae Young still shows up in big games

Young has not been very efficient this season in terms of shooting, but he leads the league in assists and has been effective in other ways. The bigger the game though, the better Young played and that has to be comforting for the Hawks to know that he can still do things like that. Young has had plenty of big game moments before in the playoffs, including the 2021 run to the Eastern Conference and the game winning shot in Boston in 2023. Again, NBA Cup games are not playoff games, but they are as close as you are going to get in the regular season. Young was awesome against the Knicks on Wednesday and awesome against Milwaukee yesterday, showing he can still step up in the biggest of games.

2. Atlanta can win with its defense

The Hawks defense has been much better this season and it was the main reason they won several games in the NBA Cup. Despite the loss yesterday, Atlanta held Milwaukee to 108 points and in the previous game vs the Knicks, they held them to 100 points. While the offense is still figuring things out, it is nice to know that Atlanta can lean on its defense while they do that.

3. The Hawks have three-point shooting problems

This was one of the concerns with the Hawks coming into the season and even in their wins, the shooting woes from three-point range showed. The Hawks have been able to shoot well at the rim and on other shots, but Milwaukee was able to take that part of their game away yesterday and when you combine that with poor three-point shooting, you get a loss. The Hawks are 24th in the NBA in three-point percentage after yesterday’s game.

4. The bench remains one of the NBA’s best

Atlanta has one of the best three man bench units in the league with De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Onyeka Okongwu. While finding that 9th guy has been a bit of a challenge, Atlanta has been able to beat teams with the trio of Hunter, Bogdanovic, and Okongwu and having that kind of depth is going to be crucial for Atlanta later this season.

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RECAP: Atlanta’s NBA Cup Run Ends in 110-102 Semifinals Loss to Milwaukee