Atlanta

Falcons

It’s a positive sign for London’s Week 16 availability against the Cardinals, though head coach Raheem Morris cautioned against assuming London will play Sunday. “Looking forward to seeing how much he’ll be able to give us this week,” Morris told reporters Wednesday. London has bee sidelined with a knee injury since the middle of November. The Falcons, eliminated from postseason contention, don’t have much reason to rush back (or play) their star receiver in the season’s final weeks. If London suits up in Week 16, he will be an elite option against an Arizona secondary that has been shredded of late. London’s return would put something of a damper on Kyle Pitts’ emergence and would make David Sills V unplayable in most formats.

“Obviously got to get to the practice week. I’m very hopeful he can go out there and play for us,” Morris said while labeling him “day to day, but more hopeful.” London looks like a true question mark for Week 16 based on this update from Morris. We still wouldn’t be surprised if he only tested the knee in practice later in the week. A cleared London would be a must-play against the Cardinals, obviously.

Pitts is in the fifth and final year of his rookie contract. Last night, he caught 11-of-12 targets for 166 yards and three touchdowns in the Falcons’ Thursday Night Football victory over the Buccaneers. Before the game, Falcons owner Arthur Blank reportedly visited the NFL Network’s pre-game broadcast set. Rapoport followed up the visit with a televised report saying Blank will “evaluate” all football operations after the season. Although head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot may end up being let go, Pitts may have played his way into a new contract, or at least a one-year deal on the lucrative franchise tag. Rapoport notes, though, that Pitts’ agent, David Mulugheta, “hates the franchise tag” and could play hardball in pursuit of a long-term deal. Stay tuned.

Gonzalez also connected on all of of his extra-point attempts. His 43-yarder with no time remaining just snuck inside of the post to give Atlanta the win. On the year, Gonzalez has made 11 of his 13 attempts, and he’s perfect on all 11 PATs. He’ll square off against the Cardinals in Week 16.

Only five players for the Falcons received targets in Week 15, and one of them was something called a Charlie Woerner. Still, Mooney was ineffective again, and he hasn’t “taken advantage” of the absence of Drake London. Mooney shouldn’t be in fantasy lineups going forward, and that includes Week 16 against the Cardinals.

It’s a solid line, but Sills had one of the worst drops of the year on what would have been a long score for the wideout on a deep ball from Kirk Cousins. He did help make up for it with several big plays in the fourth quarter, including a 21-yarder from Cousins on the fourth down on the game-winning drive. Sills is going to see targets as long as Drake London is out, but it’s hard to give him much more than a desperation FLEX designation against the Cards in Week 15.

Robinson did lose a fumble on one of his receptions, if you’re looking for a negative. It comes on a night where the Falcons gave Tyler Allgeier just two total carries, and none of them close to the end zone. His touchdown was a walk-in from six yards out, and it gives him six on the season. Obviously, Robinson is an RB1 going forward, and he should see a considerable amount of touches against the Cardinals in Week 15.

Three touchdowns from Kyle Pitts? In this economy? This was a remarkable effort from the tight end in what has been an impressive — if frustrating (until Thursday) because of the lack of scores — campaign. The Buccaneers simply had no answer for him, and the Falcons lack of other competent targets sans Bijan Robinson provided the volume. He’s now up to four scores on the season, and he’ll have a chance to add to that total with Kirk Cousins clearly feeling confident in feeding him as often as possible against the Cardinals in Week 16.

Cousins was very fortunate to not lose a fumble in the final drive of the game, but he was able to lead the Falcons to a game-winning field goal with no time left. All three touchdowns were thrown to Kyle Pitts, because of course they were. The veteran was much better than his dismal showing against the Seahawks in Week 14, and for the most part, he’s held his own since taking over as the starter for Atlanta. He’s still a lowend QB2 for Week 16 against the Cardinals.

Hughes is currently undergoing X-rays, and it seems more likely than not that he won’t be back for the contest. Cobee Bryant will replace Hughes at corner for the time being.