They only get tougher each week and this is a tough game. This is a rival game and the Saints are playing a team that is desperate. Atlanta can't afford to get behind three games from the Saints.
The Falcons could be three behind the Saints with their next three games at home against Washington and then road games at Carolina and the New York Giants.
Meanwhile, the Saints next three are at home against the Panthers and then road games at 1 - 7 St. Louis and winless Tampa Bay.
Not looking ahead, but the Saints could still hold a three game cushion over the Dirty Bids after game ten for both teams. That would give New Orleans at least a three game lead over Atlanta with six games remaining the regular season.
New Orleans has dominated Atlanta since 2006. The Saints have won five of the last six in the series. New Orleans will look to protect their lead in the NFC South, the NFC and more importantly protect home turf in the dome.
The Saints will move the ball on the Falcons and after last week's win over Miami, this team will obviously not fold...even when down and down by a lot.
Those factors do not favor the Falcons in any way.
I think the best shot for Atlanta in this one is to get off to a hot start with their rushing attack. Atlanta is 9-0, when RB Michael Turner rushes for over 100-yards in a game. That is too important not to include. But as much as their rushing total is key for the Falcons, so is the number of times they rush the football. QB Matt Ryan is a solid player and more than capable of leading his team, but the Falcons still want to rush the ball more than they pass it.
If Atlanta's play calling is balanced, they'll hang around and have a chance in the game. If the Saints jump on the Falcons early and take them out of their game plan, it will be a long night for the Dirty Birds.
Look for Ryan to lean heavily on TE Tony Gonzales, as I think the Saints realize Gonzales is the biggest threat to the defense. I see a similar game unfolding like the Saints/Falcons meeting last season in the Georgia Dome. Atlanta jumped on the Saints early and forced the Saints to be one dimensional on offense.
New Orleans will do the same to the Falcons Monday Night. Look for balance, big plays from the passing game and the Saints ever improving run defense to slow down the Falcons running game.
The Saints have covered the spread in all six games so far. They're not only becoming the story of the NFL, but they're helping those who make plays on games to take the bookies to the bank.
Lay ten and go with the home boys. Never buck a trend and the trend right now is to bet on the Saints!
Saints 34 Falcons 21
The SAINTS Breakdown
The Saints take on the Falcons for the first of two meetings this season and Coach Sean Payton will look to improve his mark against the Birds to 6-1 as head coach of the Black & Gold.
Payton says the task is a difficult one, because Atlanta is a very good team. "They're a well-coached team. I think Mike Smith and his staff have done a great job there and defensively they're really playing exceptionally this season. We have a great deal of respect for where they have come from in such a short period of time, maybe like ourselves a few years ago in '06 with the acquisition of a few key pieces and all of a sudden you become a serious contender."
Payton also said his team knows how important this game is, because it's against a team in the NFC South. "I think Atlanta has done that with a lot of good decisions and a lot of hard work. That being said, being that it's a divisional game, I think our players understand the significance of that and they understand the opponent, because we saw them twice last year and we know that it's a tough challenge."
The Saints defense once again will be tested as Atlanta is a run first type offense. Although the Falcons numbers rushing the football are not as good as a year ago, they're still a dangerous team, when they get things going on the ground with Michael Turner.
Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams says the Falcons are a complete team that has a well balanced offense. "They do everything. They'll run the zone scheme. They'll do the gap scheme stuff and still run the power running game. They have an occasional wildcat attack, so they're able to play action you, max you up and throw the ball down the field. They've done a very good job of having playmakers on third down to keep the chains moving, so what is it? We're going to have to stop everything. It's like the old NFL films...look at this, look at this. Are you ready for this? Stop that, stop everything. We're going to have to be prepared to do that and it's going to be our guys matching up with their guys and being able to make those plays."
Williams and his defense surrendered twenty-four first half points last week and then limited the Dolphins to just ten in the second half. The Saints defense alone outscored Miami in the second half 14-10 with two interceptions returned for TD's in the Saints 46-34 win.
It all starts with the run for Atlanta. The more they're able to rush the ball, the better chance they'll have to open up their playbook and try to attack the Saints secondary. Atlanta will look to get the ball to WR's Roddy White and Michael Jenkins.
New Orleans could once again be without a few key players on defense. LB Scott Fujita, DT Sedrick Ellis and Tracy Porter did not practice late in the week. Porter will more than likely play, but the others are still in question.
The Saints will look to pressure Falcons QB Matt Ryan, much like the Cowboys did last week. Dallas was able to come up with four sacks on Ryan and that pressure allowed Dallas to break open a close game late.
The Saints can pressure Ryan in a variety of ways. First, the offense can get off to a hot start and take the Falcons out of their game plan. Second, the defense can dial up a few blitzes; put some heat on the youngster and make him have to hurry his pass attempts and throw into difficult situations, especially with veteran Darren Sharper lurking. And third, the Who Dat Nation can help by being loud and making it hard to hear in the dome.
"The dome advantage for a home team, and specifically the New Orleans Saints and what we get from our fans, is significant. It's special and we appreciated that. Especially in a prime time game like Monday night will be; we're getting used to playing in these type of games. We certainly expect it to be as loud as we've had in there. I thought the last game against the Giants was magnificent. I think it will be a great atmosphere for our team to play in...and an edge," Sean Payton said of Saints fans.
On the flip side, the Falcons defense might try and do some of the same things the Dolphins did against the Saints last week. In the first half of the game Miami did a good job of putting pressure on Drew Brees and forced the Saints into several third down and long situations...mostly in the first half.
Coach Payton talked about the Falcons defense and how well they've pressured QB's in their first six games. "They rush the passer well. John Abraham's one of the guys who is one of the elite pass rushers in the league. I think the linebackers are playing very good football. They acquired (Mike) Peterson from Jacksonville. (Curtis) Lofton's in his second year--playing outstanding."
Payton went on to say the Falcons are a fast defense as well. "It's a group that's got great team speed on defense. It's a different front that we're seeing from a week ago, when we saw a 3-4 defense, much like they did a week ago at Dallas. Both teams are coming back and playing more of a 4-3 defense now. This was a team that won a lot of games a year ago and is 4-2 right now...and I think playing very well."
Look for the Saints to counter the Falcons pass rush with some short passes, and even keep a very close eye on Reggie Bush this week. Last week in Dallas' 37-21 win over Atlanta, RB Tashard Choice got match-up with linebackers on a few occasions and he was able to come up with a big play at the end of the first half that helped the Cowboys take the lead. I expect Coach Payton will look to get Reggie in a few of those situations.
Overall the Saints offense is eager to get back on the field, after last week's solid second half in which the Saints racked up over 300-yards of total offense in the final two quarters.
Drew Brees says the team has always had a lot of confidence, but with a win like last week, the level of confidence is even higher now. "The good teams look at it like that; take a win and take the negatives from that win and harp on that. Certainly you're building confidence each week with the ‘W' – especially if you're winning in a lot of different ways. And, the way that we won on Sunday is not the way that you typically win. And I think that's just a tremendous confidence builder for a team, but then again you have to look at what put us in that position in the first half and how we can avoid that in the future."
Conference: NFC
Division: NFC South
Head Coach: Sean Payton (4th Year 32-24 overall)
2008 Record: 8-8
The FALCONS Breakdown
The Falcons franchise did a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn around in a short amount of time. After the Michael Vick saga and the abrupt departure of former Coach Bobby Petrino, the Dirty Birds were in disarray to say the least. Atlanta then hired Mike Smith, landed RB Michael Turner in free agency and drafted QB Matt Ryan. The results were incredible as Atlanta went 11-5 last season and advanced to the NFC Playoffs.
Atlanta now seems to be a stable franchise and they've become one of the better teams in the NFC. With that said, the Falcons can ill afford to fall three games behind the Saints; they need this win to stay in contention in the South.
The Falcons have their new leader in Ryan and he's not having a sophomore slump. Through six games Ryan completed 120-of-191 pass attempts for 1,360-yards with 11 TD's and six interceptions for a QB rating of 90.2.
With that said, Ryan has struggled on the road with Atlanta. Ryan lost only one game at home in his young career, but he's been less than stellar on the road at 5-6. Those numbers coincide with the production of Atlanta's rushing attack.
When the Falcons have a productive day on the ground, not only does Ryan do well, but the Falcons usually win. The key is RB Michael Turner. Turner led the Falcons last season, making them the NFL's 2nd best rushing offense.
Turner rushed for 1,699-yards last season and averaged 106.2 rushing yards per game. This season his numbers have shrunk as most teams' game plans have been to slow down Turner and make Ryan pass. Turner is rushing for only 67.1 yards per game right now and that has affected the Falcons offense. More teams are creeping up to the line of scrimmage to try and force the birds to pass more often than not.
"Teams are trying to box in and make it harder on us to rush the football," said Falcons Center Todd McClure. The Falcons averaged 152.7-yards per game in 2008 and right now they're getting 102.8 yards per contest.
But Atlanta has done well on offense despite the shrinkage in their rushing numbers. Atlanta averages 24 points per game and their offense is ranked 19th with an average of 322.8-yards per game--102 on the ground and 220 through the air.
Matt Ryan's favorite target is Roddy White. White has hauled in thirty-three receptions for 435-yards with five TD's this season. Michael Jenkins has eighteen grabs for 224-yards through six games.
Atlanta improved greatly in the turnover department. In 2008 they finished "minus three" on the season. Right now Atlanta is "plus three" in the turnover differential, which is tied for 8th in the NFL.
The Falcons defense has been getting gashed thus far this season. The Falcons are 25th in total defense, because they allow 368.3-yards per game. Atlanta ranks 26th versus the pass allowing 250.7 yards per game, and their rush defense ranks 23rd with an average allowed of 117.7.
The Falcons will try to emulate the Dolphins by putting heat on Drew Brees. The Falcons have twelve sacks this season, with six of those QB take downs coming from defensive ends John Abraham and Kroy Biermann with three sacks each.
Atlanta's secondary, however, has been down right awful so far this season. Teams have been taking advantage of a young defensive backfield. The combination of Atlanta CB's has been targeted. Chris Houston, Brent Grimes, Chevis Jackson and Christopher Owens have all been inconsistent this season and that should be a major concern for ATL as they take on one of the best passing attacks in the league today.
Conference: NFC
Division: NFC South
Head Coach: Mike Smith
2008 Record: 11-5
Noteworthy
The Saints have a two game lead in the division over the Falcons and can push it to three with a win over Atlanta. Atlanta has not won a game against the Saints in New Orleans since 2002.
Atlanta Coach Mike Smith is a perfect 6-0 following a loss in his tenure as head coach of the Falcons.
Atlanta Falcons (4-2) @ New Orleans Saints (6-0)
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 @ Louisiana Superdome
4PM First Take / 7:35PM Kickoff on WWL 870 AM / FM 105.3
Series Record: Falcons lead Series 44-35
Last Meeting: December 7th, 2008 – New Orleans 29 Atlanta 25 @ Louisiana Superdome
Who Dat Nation...are you ready? It's an NFC South showdown as the 6-0 Saints battle the Atlanta Falcons at home in the Superdome? We'll bring you 9 hours of
wall-to-wall coverage, starting at 4pm— "First Take" with Mark Chifici and former Saints offensive lineman, Steve Korte. At 5:30—"Countdown to Kickoff" with
the "Cajun Cannon" Bobby Hebert and "Big Chief" Deke Bellavia. Game time is 7:30pm with the best play-by-play team in football—Jim Henderson, Hokie Gajan &
sideline reporter Kristian Garic. After the game—sound off on "The Point After" with the Founding Father of the Who Dat Nation—Bobby Hebert--live from
Deanie's Seafood in the French Quarter. It's football time...and the Who Dat Dream is alive on SAINTSradio—WWL-AM-FM-and dot com!
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