The Atlanta Falcons are coming off of a big road win against the Oakland Raiders which propelled them into a tie for first place in the NFC South. But this week the Falcons will have to travel into yet another hostile environment to take on the 0-2 New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
Rivalry games are always a lot of fun to watch. The fan bases hate one another and the players follow suite as well. There will be no love lost between these two teams, but state of each franchise are in much different places.The Falcons are on the up and up while the Saints are looking as if they will be picking very early in the 2017 NFL draft.
Despite the Saints being one of the worst teams in the league, they will still play the Falcons very tough. And because of that, the Falcons shouldn’t take this game lightly. Sure, if everything goes to plan, the Falcons will walk off the field with a fairly easy win. But it’s going to take the following things to pull that off. Here are four keys to knocking New Orleans off.
Atlanta Falcons Week Three Keys to Victory
Start Fast
The Atlanta Falcons did a good job of jumping out to a quick lead in week one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they took a 7-3 lead heading into the second quarter. But in week two against the Raiders, Atlanta stalled on every first-quarter possession which allowed Oakland to hang around a lot longer than they should have.
That is something that the Falcons can’t afford to let happen against the Saints on Monday Night Football. Atlanta will be playing in one of the most hostile environments when they travel to the Superdome. Starting fast is a must because rivalry games like these always wind up being one score games. But if Atlanta can step on the Saints’ necks early, this could be a very easy win for them.
The Saints are barely treading water after dropping their first two games of the season. Their offense has played well, but their defense is as suspect as it has ever been. And with the amount of momentum that the Falcons’ offense will be carrying over after their 510-yard outburst against the Raiders, Atlanta should have no problem scoring points.
Get off the Field on Third Down
Just because the Saints are 0-2 doesn’t mean that Drew Brees can’t drive the Saints down the field and score points. And if the Falcons want to leave the Superdome happy, their defense needs to force stops on third down.
Atlanta’s defense has been very good on third down to start the season. They have held Tampa Bay and Oakland to a combined 8 of 21 on third down. Games are most of the time won and lost on which teams’ defense plays better on third down. And if the Falcons want to win this game, they need to be the better team.
Holding the Saints to 38 percent on third down might be a little too much to ask for, but anything under 50 percent should be the goal.Expect to see the Falcons blitzing more on third down and taking some risks to try and slow down Brees.
Attack the Saints’ Weak Defense
The Falcons have garnered the second-most yards from scrimmage through two games with 902 yards and should have no problem putting up huge numbers against a bad Saints’ defense.
New Orleans is second to last in yards allowed with 903 and are giving up 336 yards passing per game. And with Matt Ryan playing as good as he ever has to start a season, the Falcons need to take full advantage of that.
The Falcons have got almost every offensive player involved in a big way to start the season. They have used their tight ends a lot and have spread the ball around to their receiving corps as well. And what has been sliding under the radar are there running backs, Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman catching the ball out of the backfield.
What they haven’t done very well is run the ball. Atlanta ranks just 17th in the league with 191 yards rushing but that could change against the Saints. New Orleans is giving up 115 yards rushing a game and haven’t even gone up against a top-teir running back yet.Expect Ryan to have another 300-yard game and for the two-headed monster of Freeman and Coleman to combine for 100 yards rushing or more.
Score Touchdowns in the Red Zone
Despite scoring a lot of points to start the season, the Falcons have left a lot out there. Atlanta has had to settle for three field goals of 29 yards or less and have turned the ball over once in the red zone.
Settling for field goals against a rival like the Saints is not what you want to do. the Saints are going to find ways to put points up on the board. And if the Falcons want to walk away with a win, they need to capitalize in the red zone.
The Falcons have no excuse for not scoring touchdowns in the red zone. They have a terrific core of players at every skill position that are all more than capable of making big plays.If the Falcons continue their trend of setting for short field goals against the Saints, this game will be a lot closer than expected.
