The Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles have a budding rivalry brewing that goes back to Atlanta’s 26-24 victory in the 2015 season opener. That game was Dan Quinn’s first game in Atlanta, and the two teams have faced off in several high-powered matchups since then.

The narrative on the Falcons has soured after Atlanta bombed in their season opener against Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons were down big, before punching into two late scores to make the final outcome, 28-12. With the Eagles coming to town on Sunday Night Football, the Falcons can ill afford to fall to 0-2 on the season.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson isn’t falling for the “banana in the tailpipe”, and believes the ugly loss to the Vikings was an aberration.

For Pederson, the Falcons are a “playoff caliber” team capable of a huge performance at home.

“I still think this is a very good football team,” Pederson said via the Falcons official website. “No indication this past weekend, that’s not who they are at all. This is a good, explosive offense as we know. Defensively, they can be very disruptive. They’ve got speed on defense; Grady Jarrett is one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. This is a playoff-caliber team.”

In the loss, Kirk Cousins only passed the ball 10 times for a Vikings team that dominated Atlanta on both sides of the ball. Add in turnovers from Matt Ryan and Devonta Freeman, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Pederson made it clear that the Eagles would have to account for Mohamed Sanu and Julio Jones or they’ll be “picked apart” by Matt Ryan.