The Atlanta Falcons are headed into a massive game against the Kansas City Chiefs this week where the hope is that they can avoid falling further behind in the NFC South after two straight losses.

A defeat would mean going into the bye week at 3-7 with the brink of their season being over already, and Atlanta is treating this game with extreme urgency as they should be. As the week goes on though, it's starting to appear the Falcons could be a little bit shorthanded in this matchup against a strong AFC contending Kansas City team though.

In the middle of the week, the list of players not participating in practice seemed to get longer rather than shorter, and guys could wind up missing this game. Zachariah Branch as well as James Pearce Jr. look like they are in particular danger of not suiting up.

Branch already did not play last week due to a hamstring injury he is dealing with which held him out of practice entirely on Wednesday, and Pearce is a bit more of a complicated situation. After returning from suspension last week, news began to emerge in the days leading up to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals that he was dealing with a back issue.

Pearce wound up playing just 15 snaps and was seen on the training table on the sidelines throughout the game. He also missed practice on Wednesday, and it does not look like he is trending towards playing as we get here at the end of the week.

It was always likely going to take Pearce some time to settle in, shake off the rust and become the type of impact player he was as a rookie after missing the entire first half of the season, however an injury setback is going to make that a whole lot more difficult than it was already going to be.

Should Pearce indeed miss this game against the Chiefs, it will be a whole lot more difficult to make things uncomfortable for Patrick Mahomes, which of course will make it harder to win the game. Perhaps he could return more healthy following the bye week, but if the team is 3-7 at that point, it may not make much of a difference.

In the final days leading up to this game, Pearce should be watched closely to see if he can find a way to get on the field.