It seems like ages since the Falcons last played at home. And it has been, as a bye week and road games in consecutive weeks has resulted in 28 days without a home game. They return to the Georgia Dome this week, facing off with the 4-4 New Orleans Saints, who feature one of the league’s most dangerous offenses. Here are a few keys to beating the Saints and moving to 6-3 on the season.
OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS
In order to beat the Saints, you have to be prepared to score a lot of points. The Atlanta offense has certainly shown the ability to do that this season, it has a good chance to do it against a New Orleans defense that is at the bottom of the barrel against the pass, and below average against the run.
Everyone has to be on his game. Matt Ryan and Roddy White will have to continue to hook up early and often, and Ryan will surely be throwing the ball downfield quite a bit against a Saints secondary that is notorious for giving up big plays. But the offense can’t be one-dimensional, meaning Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood need to both have big days out of the backfield.
The offensive line has the toughest matchup, going up against defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, as well as mammoth defensive tackle Shaun Ellis. In order for the offense to move the ball, it will have to turn in one of its best performances of the season.
ABRAHAM IN THE BACKFIELD
The Carolina Panthers’ defense is the only one to shut down New Orleans’ attack, and they did it behind a dominant performance from defensive end Julius Peppers, who had a sack, a forced fumble, and spent quite a bit of time in the backfield forcing Brees into early throws. The Falcons have their own dominant defensive end in John Abraham, and he needs to be dominant on Sunday. The rest of the front four have had its moments, but Abraham is the only one with the ability to take over the game. If he can do that, things will at least be a little more difficult for Brees under center.
The matchup with the Saints’ offense is nearly an impossible one for Atlanta. Brees is going to sling the ball around (the Saints’ passing attack is ranked No. 1 in the league), and will likely throw for a ton of yards in Sean Payton’s pass-first offense anyway. Plus, Atlanta’s secondary isn’t as good as the Panthers’, and Brees is unlikely to struggle with accuracy like he did in Charlotte. That means plenty of linebackers and safeties dropping back into coverage, forcing Abraham and the defensive line to do much of the dirty work up front by themselves.
If the defensive line can at least throw Brees off a little bit with plenty of hurries and a few sacks, it will help significantly. But if Brees spends a lot of time upright in the pocket, he goes from extremely dangerous and efficient to downright unstoppable. If that happens, it could be a very long day for the Atlanta defense.
TURNOVERS
Every pass-happy offense presents a challenge for the opposing secondary. But it also presents an opportunity to come up with a few game-changing plays via the interception. Brees is typically very safe with the football, but he throws it so much that he’s bound to make a few poor throws, which is the main reason for his seven picks this season.
Chris Houston, Domonique Foxworth, and the rest of the Atlanta secondary need to take advantage. They are going to give up a lot of yards. But if they can snag a couple of interceptions, it will change the game, as the Falcons’ offense is also likely to score against a weak New Orleans defense.
In high-scoring games (and all signs point to that being the case this Sunday), turnovers typically make the difference. Atlanta’s pass ‘D’ has a chance to make that difference on Sunday.
FINAL THOUGHTS
People are talking about the postseason with this team. If Atlanta can move to 6-3 this week with two more home games coming up in as many weeks, then that playoff talk will pick up steam.
But winning in the second half of the season is a challenge, as many teams (like New Orleans this week) will throw everything and the kitchen sink at their opposition in order to keep their playoff chances intact.
With that in mind, the level of intensity for this game should the highest that we’ve seen so far this year. Whether this young team can continue to play well with a desperate opponent lining up against it is yet to be seen. But if the first eight games are any indication, doubting these guys might not be such a good idea.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
