Fantasy football Week 7 projections: Falcons-Ravens featuring Julio Jones, Matt Ryan and Steve Smith

The Week 7 matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Baltimore Ravens features two teams with explosive No. 1 receivers. We've got the fantasy projections for you courtesy of numberFire.

Quarterback Matt Ryan ran into a whole heap of trouble against the Chicago Bears defensive line last week. It wasn't all his fault given that the Falcons' offensive line isn't the best in the NFL right now. Ryan was hurried a lot in the game and got sacked four times, and as a result he only managed one touchdown, an interception and 271 passing yards. Throughout his career, fantasy owners have counted on Ryan to produce big-time numbers at home, but that's not a sure thing anymore. Given that the game Sunday is on the road and that the Falcons need to save their season, Ryan's ability to produce against the Ravens is a make-or-break deal, which could be really good or really bad for his fantasy owners this week.

When Ryan does toss the ball, some of his passes will fall into the hands of wide receiver Julio Jones. Jones started the season on fire, but in the last couple of weeks he's cooled off a little bit. That could be a byproduct of the Falcons' woes up front, but a talented receiver like Jones isn't going to be kept out of the end zone for long. While he hasn't scored in three weeks, Jones will be up against a Ravens defense that gives up the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season, which makes him a good candidate to find pay dirt in Week 7.

The Ravens and quarterback Joe Flacco picked apart the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. Flacco threw five touchdowns in the contest and all of them came in the first half. While he probably won't do that against the Falcons, who are superior to the Buccaneers, Atlanta doesn't have the most intimidating pass defense in the league either. Another multi-touchdown game from Flacco is a distinct possibility for his fantasy owners. Flacco hasn't played a regular season game against Atlanta since 2010, but he did throw three touchdown passes in that contest.

If he does manage to put multiple scores on the board, at least one of them is sure to end up being cradled by wide receiver Steve Smith. Although teammate Torrey Smith finally got going with a pair of touchdown catches last week, the elder Smith still found room to get his share of fantasy points. Steve has proven throughout this entire season that although he's been around the league a long time and racked up a lot of mileage, he is still a dominant playmaker. He could be in for another big day against the Falcons on Sunday.