How the Atlanta Falcons put the Saints in their place

Sunday was a sweet victory for the Atlanta Falcons on of their biggest regular-season wins in franchise history. The Saints were a 13.5-point favorite, and everyone thought the Saints would win big. Thankfully it was the Falcons who won big in a 26-9 victory.

The Atlanta Falcons put the league’s most arrogant team in their place. There isn’t a fan base or franchise who passes the blame or screams “LOOK AT US” more than the Saints. They had to be brought down a notch and that happened on Sunday.

During the Matt Ryan era, the Atlanta Falcons have beat the Saints four times in New Orleans. Each time the recipe for beating the Saints has been almost the same: control the clock by running the football.

In the big upset in 2010 the Falcons had long drives with Michael Turner and the Falcons did just that in 2019 with Devonta Freeman and Brian Hill.

The big story of the day was the Atlanta Falcons defense. Before yesterday’s game, the Falcons had one of the worst defenses in the league. Holding the Saints to nine points was a nice change of pace. The Falcons racked up six sacks led by Grady Jarrett who had a monster game with two and a half sacks.

The Falcons bullied Drew Brees and showed the league the formula to beating the Saints. Brees is towards the end of his career and struggles to put velocity on deep passes. The Saints offense is also neutralized when Kamara is covered out of the backfield.

Deion Jones did not make any flashy plays but did a fantastic job of covering Kamara.

Another huge aspect of the game was the offensive line. The Atlanta Falcons offensive line quietly had an amazing game and only allowed one sack, which was on a blitz. Cam Jordan was practically invisible only recording two tackles thanks to Kaleb McGary. The rookie has had his ups and downs this season but had the best game of his career so far against the Saints.

The Falcons are still likely not going to make the playoffs with a 2-7 record. However, the Falcons can ruin their rival’s seasons down the stretch. The Saints best shot at the Super Bowl is having home-field advantage and losing to the Falcons will hurt their chances. They will not make it to the Super Bowl if they have to play the Packers or 49ers on the road in the playoffs.

So while we may not see our Falcons in the playoffs, we can some joy in knowing that they have made it tougher for our biggest rival. You can find joy in anything if you look hard enough.