Falcons must protect themselves against cheap-shotting rivals

I don't know what they are teaching down in New Orleans but it isn't anything good...

Once again, the New Orleans Saints' intentions have been questioned. With a history of reckless behavior on the football field, you always wonder what will come next. It is clearly more of the same after what we saw in their loss to the Eagles.

For an Atlanta Falcons team that sustained two injuries to their usually-healthy offensive line, they must protect themselves in Week 4 against a team that doesn't like them very much.

The Atlanta Falcons should be worried about injuries against heated rivals

The Philadelphia Eagles found out the hard way about the ethos of the New Orleans Saints. Late in their close game, the Saints knocked out their top receiver, DeVonta Smith, and cornerback, Darius Slay.

These were not typical injuries; they were injuries that should have never happened.

While held up as a play was ending, the slightly-built Smith was blindsided by defensive tackle Kristian Boyd. The big guy came barreling in and unnecessarily crushed Smith who suffered a concussion. If you haven't seen the play, it is despicable, no other way to describe it.

To make things worse, video shows Payton Turner spitting on Smith after the dirty hit, something he has since denied on X.

Later in the game, Darius Slay found himself one-on-one with offensive tackle Trevor Penning. In a matchup that had about a 130-pound difference in size, the big guy continued blocking Slay through the sideline before eventually shoving him well out of bounds. Slay had the leave the game with a knee injury which luckily didn't turn out to be season-ending.

Refs saw this and threw a flag on Penning who has a history of this kind of behavior despite being in his third season.

This Saints team needs to be investigated, plain and simple. I know how much we all naturally hate that team and want to see it spread but something is going on when you continually see these malignant plays.

It says something when a guy like C.J. Gardner-Johnson—who has been tagged as a "dirty player" and loves to test the line—is calling the hit on Smith the "dirtiest" he has ever seen.

This leads me to my huge question, if they are acting that way against the Eagles, what will it be like against the Falcons?

Don't be surprised if you see flags flying after the whistle. Fingers crossed that none of them result in any major injuries. This is a terrifying game for players to go into just for health concerns. They must protect their knees and heads at all times.