The Atlanta Falcons (2-4) take on the San Francisco 49ers (6-0) this week at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Neither team has had a bye this season, and the injuries are starting to pile up.
The Falcons had 11 players listed as questionable on Friday's injury report, and they already ruled out linebacker Divine Deablo and nickel Billy Bowman Jr.
The 49ers are coming off a short week after their win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, and they'll be without key offensive weapons against the Falcons.
San Francisco ruled out a pair of starting wide receivers in long-time Falcons nemesis Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel.
Evans leads the team with 420 receiving yards. Samuel is third on the team with 206 yards, and he's added 78 rushing yards on just nine carries.
Evans spent 12 years with the NFC South rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he's had more than his share of success against the Falcons. In 21 games, he has 1,652 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. He's only had more yards against the Carolina Panthers (1,760), but he's faced the Panthers 23 times. His per-game average against the Falcons is higher at 78.7 vs. 76.5.
He may be 33 years old, but he still went for six catches for 132 yards against the Falcons in December. It was the second-best game of his career against the Falcons, with his top game coming way back in 2016 when he had 150 yards and two touchdowns in a Buccaneers loss in Tampa.
With the Falcons having injuries at linebacker and nickel, missing Samuel comes as maybe even a bigger break. While he's listed as a wide receiver, he's built like a running back. He specializes in catching short passes and turning them into longer gains. He puts a lot of stress on the linebackers and nickelbacks of defenses.
The 49ers also list wide receiver Christian Kirk as questionable. With Brock Purdy playing the way he is, the 49ers still have Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle, who leads the team with five touchdown receptions. The running back and tight end are still players who will stress the linebackers and nickelbacks of the Falcons.
Brandin Cooks is next on the depth chart behind Evans, but the 49ers may rely on more two-tight end sets on Sunday.
On the other side of the ball, starting safety Marques Sigle has been ruled out. He's only played in four of the team's six games, and he's still the fifth-leading tackler. The 49ers will rely even more heavily on All-World linebacker Fred Warner to try to contain Falcons' running back Bijan Robinson.
The game kicks off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 1:00 p.m. EST and will be televised on FOX.
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