Last weekend, Matt Ryan turned in a dominant performance against a defense which admittedly has a pretty bad secondary. Like, bottom-of-the-barrel caliber. In this week's upcoming matchup, the Texans should provide a stiff test for Ryan on defense.
A fantastic (and grossly underrated) corner in Jonathan Joseph, a couple of talented young linebackers in Demeco Ryans and Brian Cushing, and a strong D-line led by Antonio Smith spearheads a unit that is currently the number one defensive group in the league.
All in all, they should prove to be a big step up from last week's matchup against the Vikings. If you have someone of comparable value playing an easier team defensively, I'd go ahead and suggest starting that player over your Falcon (in most cases). That said, here are your numberFire.com projections for week 13:
Matt Ryan, coming off yet another quality passing performance since the bye week, looks to have another good week, or at least decent given the defense he's facing. Roddy White, although he'll be matched up against top cornerback Joseph, should also get his fair share of targets and catches this week.
One guy who should have a better week than normal is Matt Bryant. He'll be kicking indoors, and given the matchup the Falcons could ending kicking several field goals on Sunday. Make sure he's in your lineup.
Finally, whoever starts this weekend (Julio Jones or Harry Douglas) should also be a pretty good play at receiver. The Texans No. 2 CB Kareem Jackson- although talented- is still only in his second year and has gotten torched a couple of times this year. Jones is obviously the more talented option, but his injury is still a concern. It's also hard to ignore Douglas' recent string of productive outings. I'd stay tuned to injury updates throughout the week.
For more on the Falcons, check out The Falcoholic; for the Texans, head over to Battle Red Blog.