ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Over the next few weeks, DenverBroncos.com will take a look at the team's 2012 schedule week-by-week, including a look at the last time the teams faced off, what to watch for this season and more.
Below is a closer look at the Broncos Week 2 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.
| o DATE: Monday, September 17 o TIME: 8:30 p.m. EDT o LOCATION: Georgia Dome o TELEVISION: ESPN (NTL) o OPP. 2011 RECORD: 10-6 o ALL-TIME VS. OPP.: 8-4 |  |
THE LAST TIME: In Week 11 of the 2008 season, the Broncos came away with a 24-20 victory in Atlanta. The win, which came despite the absences of injured cornerback 
All-Around Outing Makes it Two in a Row | Larsen Makes History | The Morning After | BTV Highlights
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Matt Ryan and the Falcons have won 23 regular-season games over the past two seasons, but suffered setbacks in the first round of the playoffs in both 2010 and 2011. The Week 2 trip to Atlanta will be a crucial early-season matchup between a pair of teams with lofty goals.
KEY MATCHUP:
The Falcons fielded one of the NFL's stingiest run defenses a year ago, giving up just 97 yards per game on the ground. In a game played on national television in a hostile environment, Denver will need to pick up yards on the ground to keep pass rushers like Atlanta's 13th-year vet John Abraham guessing on third down.
NOTES: The first regular-season Broncos-Falcons matchup since 2008…Both teams made the playoffs a year ago…This marks the 21st consecutive season the Broncos have played on Monday Night Football, extending the longest active streak in the NFL. It is the second-longest such streak all-time…It will be the first time in franchise history the Broncos have opened the season with primetime games in back-to-back weeks.
