Atlanta Falcons vs Saints: Predictions for big Week 16 game

Writer: Erik Sandelin

Game: Atlanta Falcons (9-5) at New Orleans Saints (10-4)

Breakdown: The biggest game of the year (so far). The Falcons win and they’re in the playoffs. Winand then win again next week and they defend their NFC South title. Lose and the pressure is really on, because they’ll *have* to win against the Panthers in Week 17 to guarantee a playoff spot.

I’ll be honest, I have a hard time seeing Atlanta winning this one. They look out of sync. They were lucky to win last Monday night, and lucky to win on December 7th against the Saints at home. The defense needs to keep playing at a high level and the running game needs to keep rolling, because Matt Ryan’s accuracy has been off of late and he’s been making some poor decisions.

Meanwhile, the Saints are playing at home. They’re going to be far healthier. Having Alvin Kamara back is going to make a dangerous offense that much more difficult to defend. I don’t think they’ll be victimized by penalties like they were last time around. Perhaps most importantly, I think they’re going to be playing with a huge chip on their shoulder due to that Week 14 loss.

Prediction: New Orleans 24, Atlanta 20