By Julian Kimble
Back on Nov. 11, the Saints saved their season and handed the Falcons their lone loss of the season. Despite 411 yards and 3 TD’s from Matt Ryan and 11 catches for 122 yards and 2 TD’s from the ageless Tony Gonzalez, the Saints still outlasted the Falcons 31-27. Tonight, the NFL Network is giving fans one of the season’s few interesting Thursday night games as these two teams square off again with the Falcons seeking revenge and the Saints trying to keep their playoff dreams alive following a loss to the Colin Kaepernick-led 49ers last Sunday. Roddy White lit a fire under the Saints and the city of New Orleans after making some characteristically idiotic comments about the team and the city, and he would later eat those words. Tonight’s game is in Atlanta, and with postseason hopes and pride on the line, will the Falcons prevail or will the Saints bust them in the mouth like Chris Ivory did on that 56-yard touchdown run?
The Saints have the worst rushing defense in the NFL and the third worst passing defense, so you could argue that, overall, they have the worst defense in the league. If the Saints are going to pull this one off, it’s going to have to be a shootout. Their decrepit defense is not going to be able to stop the aerial attack of Matt Ryan to Roddy White, Julio Jones or Tony Gonzalez, and probably won’t be able to stop Michael Turner or Jacquizz Rodgers. Their only choice is to outscore them, which they’ve already done this season, and have the weapons to do it again. Marques Colston left Sunday’s game, but he’ll be playing tonight, so Drew Brees will be looking his way a lot. Colston had a modest three catches for 26 yards during their first match up, but he did score a touchdown. They’ll need more from him to win tonight. Jimmy Graham was spectacular as usual on Nov. 11, racking up 7 catches for 146 yards and two scores, so you can guarantee him getting a lot of targets tonight, especially in the red zone.
The Saints also didn’t have Darren Sproles on Nov. 11, and even though he’s more valuable to them as a receiver than a rusher, he’ll have to be an all-purpose beast for them to win tonight. They also have to run the ball like they did earlier in the month, because even though Drew Brees is going to get his numbers, a one-dimensional Saints team will lose. They got 139 combined yards and a touchdown from Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram in the first meeting, and they’ll need a similar output to keep the Falcons defense modest tonight. Other than this loss killing their chances at making the playoffs, the Saints have another source of motivationâtheir team bus was allegedly egged by Atlanta airport workers today. No word on whether or not Roddy White was involved. The Falcons still need to win this game, because despite being 10-1, they still have a lot to prove (I’m not a believer). Someone call me when they show up in the postseason. Anyway, this should be a great game, so make sure you’re in front of a television for the kickoff.