We Dat!: 10 Reasons Why the Falcons Will Defeat the Undefeated Saints
As the NFL regular season winds down, two teams remain undefeated, the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints.
The Colts have been here before and all signs point to the fact that they are not focused on the unbeaten mark. As they have done in the past, Indy will likely sit key players like Peyton Manning and rest them for the playoffs.
The Saints, on the other hand, really want to shoot for this milestone. Two weeks ago New Orleans dismantled the New England Patriots, proving that they can easily defeat the elite teams in the NFL.
Last week the Saints got a scare. Coming off a short week, the NFC South leaders headed to DC to face the Washington Redskins. It looked like a trap game, and the Saints nearly let victory slip away.
On Sunday, the undefeated Saints will go down to the Georgia Dome and play their second game against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons need a win and need it bad. After getting a shellacking at the hands of Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta stands at 6-6 and are outside of the playoff picture.
In the first meeting of these two teams, the Saints defeated the Falcons 35-27 in a Monday night game that came down to the wire.
The time is now for the Atlanta Falcons to pick themselves up, brush off the dirt, and send a message to the Saints and the rest of the league.
We dat!
In Week 7, the Saints hosted the Falcons on Monday Night Football. Though Atlanta made a last minute push, New Orleans came out on top by a single touchdown.
This time around, the Falcons are seeking vengeance. Never underestimate a rival that is up against the ropes and fighting for revenge.
Atlanta needs this win to prove their worth in the NFC South.
The most consistent weapon on the Falcons offense is Roddy White. Scoring touchdowns in seven of Atlanta’s 12 games thus far, “Rowdy” Roddy has big play potential.
White will have to take advantage of the Saints’ banged up secondary. In their Week 8 match-up, White had 108 yards and a touchdown.
No matter who is throwing the ball, they will need to get it in the hands of Roddy White.
After some heartbreaking losses (of both players and games), Atlanta still has an eye on the playoffs.
If the Falcons want to grab one of the two Wild Card spots, they are going to need to win out the rest of the season. That starts with the best team in the NFL, the Saints.
If the Falcons can come away with the win Sunday, they will need to go forward and beat the NY Jets, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Bucs.
First and foremost though, the Atlanta Falcons’ playoff dreams live and die with this game
Yeah, that’s right, Matt Ryan. Sure, Ryan has a toe injury and was held out of last week’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. This we know.
What we don’t know is if he will be returning to action against the Saints. After seeing Chris Redman do absolutely nothing against the Eagles, you would have to expect Ryan to be pushing to get back out there and save this team.
“Matty Ice” knows as well as anyone that the Falcons’ playoff window is closing, and he gives Atlanta the best chance to win.
Believe that if Matt Ryan can play on Sunday, he WILL play on Sunday.
History is on the side of Atlanta on this one. In the 80 regular season games between the two teams, Atlanta has won 45, as well as their only playoff pairing.
In fact, the Falcons have defeated the Saints more than any other team in the NFL.
Also, the odds are greatly stacked against New Orleans in their quest to go undefeated. Five teams have gone 12-0 since the 1970 merger. Of those five, only two have finished the regular season unbeaten, one losing in the Super Bowl.
Ask Deion Sanders what happened in the 1991 playoffs.
The typically potent Atlanta run game has been a mess since Michael Turner suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers.
Jason Snelling stepped in and looked impressive the following week in New York against the Giants.
The problems began when Turner tried to return to face Tampa Bay. He aggravated the ankle and left the game while the Falcons struggled to move the ball on a weak Buccaneers’ defense.
Jerious Norwood stepped in last week and got nothing accomplished against the tough Eagles D.
Now there’s talk of Turner returning Sunday to face New Orleans.
Regardless of who is running the ball, the Saints have struggled against the rush. Turner took off for 177 yards and a touchdown in their last meeting.
Expect more success on the ground Sunday.
Usually teams have an obvious advantage at home thanks to the support of their fans. Last week, in the Georgia Dome, an appalling thing happened. The hometown fans cheered on a opposing player, Michael Vick.
The former Falcons QB was cheered not only before and after the game, but during the action where Vick scored two touchdowns. Never have I seen fans so happy to get creamed by the visitors.
The ATL “faithful” can redeem themselves by cheering the “Dirty Birds” to victory against the New Orleans Saints.
The Atlanta Falcons have the most fiery head coach in the NFL. If Mike Smith feels that his team has been jilted, his face turns Falcons red and a PIRATED VIDEO IS ILLEGAL of R rated words fly out of his mouth.
After a late hit by the Washington Redskins’ Leron Landry on QB Matt Ryan got tempers flared, Smith jumped into the mix and had a few choice words for former Falcon DeAngelo Hall.
Count on Smith to have his players backs no matter what goes down on Sunday.
Coming off the Monday Night game in which the Saints decimated the New England Patriots, New Orleans had a short week to prepare for the Washington Redskins.
They surely didn’t expect the ‘Skins to give them such a challenge or take them to overtime. It took all the Saints had to pull off the victory last week.
Two games like the two the Saints just had will wear a team down. Now the Saints are playing their second road game against a division rival.
Expect New Orleans to look a bit hungover after the games they have had recently.
More than anything, the Falcons will be playing for respect on Sunday.
After a disappointing season, Atlanta is still 6-6 and has every opportunity to turn things around. Knocking off the unbeaten Saints is a perfect way to do just that.
Forget about being a “spoiler,” the Falcons are better than that. It’s time to prove to those that wrote the Falcons off that they jumped the gun.
The Atlanta Falcons are for real.
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Source >> Atlanta Falcons Blogs
but the New Orleans Saints Won!! Who dat?!?
December 13th, 2009 at 6:29 pm