ATLANTA – Every football coach at every level likes to talk about the "next man". Even in the NFL, where the salary cap guarantees that teams do not have a stock of blue rippers waiting their luck, the teams do not like to blame the injuries for any problems they might encounter.

But in reality, a formation of 53 players is designed only to face so much adversity.

The Atlanta Falcons had to say "next man up" at an unsustainable pace this season. In each of their first three games this season, they lost defensive starters due to long-term injuries: Safety Keanu Neal (ACL), linebacker Deion Jones (foot) and safety Ricardo Allen (Achilles ripped).

The question now is how much the extremely talented Falcons can withstand a season that started with the hopes of the Super Bowl.

A few inches from the only stop they needed, the Falcons saw the Bengals star, A.J. The Greens slipped under their defense for a 13-yard touchdown and seven seconds for a 37-36 win. The winning score came after the Bengals converted a fourth-round pair in a 16-game, 75-yard series and cornerback Desmond Trufant intercepted the interception.

Now that the 1-3 have little hope of having a healthy defense anytime soon, the Falcons are in a desperate situation. If they can not win a match where they have had 495 yards of offense, it's hard to imagine them being an important factor in the South of the NFC.

Meanwhile, the Bengals 3-1 got a superb performance from quarterback Andy Dalton (29 assists from 41, 337 yards, three touchdowns, one interception) and were able to use Tyler Boyd (11 catches, 100 yards) while Atlanta was paying a lot of attention to green.

But when it mattered most, Green could break free for the winning score.

Three other things we learned from Falcons-Bengals:

John Ross gets a redemptionAs things stand, Bengal catcher John Ross looks like a huge bust. After being ranked ninth by Washington in the 2017 draft, Ross's impact in the NFL was minimal and his rookie season earned him significant criticism from coach Marvin Lewis and the front office. of Cincinnati. This year, Ross was slightly better, but started Week 4 with only five out of 13 receptions. Ross, however, managed some of his top speed against Atlanta, scoring a 39-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It was the first time in his NFL career that Ross had landed a pass at over 9 yards. He also had a 13-yard reception in the third quarter.

Tyler Eifert does not manage to catch a break: Cincinnati's extreme talent is always productive when he's on the pitch, but unfortunately his starry career has deprived him of opportunities to do it regularly. Eifert was sent off after the Bengals' second game in the third quarter with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. Eifert, who seemed to be in a lot of pain while being loaded on the stretcher, seemed to have his right leg clumsily planted in the grass as he was attacked by De'Vondre Campbell. It's one of those times you do not want to see twice.

Eifert, a former first-round coach from Notre-Dame, played only two games last season and eight in 2016 due to back injuries. He also suffered an elbow injury in the first game of 2014 which left him for the whole season. He scored his 21st career touchdown in the first quarter on Sunday.

Happy birthday, Mr. President: President Jimmy Carter, who turned 94 on Monday, celebrated his birthday in the suite of Falcon owner Arthur Blank at the Mercedes-Benz stadium. Wearing a red Falcons jersey with the number "39" on the back, he was shown on the display board in the third quarter, blowing out candles on a birthday cake while the crowd was encouraging him . Blank was also celebrating his birthday: he turned 76 last Thursday.