falcons-saints

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PREVIEW

Its only week 8 but its safe to say that with a win tonight the Saints can effectively cement their position atop the NFC South. The Saints (6-0 ) hold a two game lead over the Falcons (4-2 ), the only other threat in this division. If the Falcons do pull off the win, it leaves the Colts as the only undefeated team in the league, and would make the race in the NFC South a little more interesting down the road.

The Falcons have their hands full tonight. The Saints are not just lethal with the Brees led aerial attack, but can do equal damage with the run game. The already exposed secondary of the Falcons will need their “A” game to keep a team that has scored 45-plus points in four of their first six games. On offense the Falcons still are not getting the production they need from their ground game. Michael Turner has run for only 80 yards on 31 carries in his last two games, and when he’s not doing well, Matt Ryan just gets overloaded with pressure he is not ready for. The last 2 games spell out the issue – Ryan is completing only 55.8% of his passes (38 of 68) for 383 yards, 4 TD’s, and 4 INT’s.

The Saints’ rush D is only allowing 92.3 yards per game, and their pass D has a league leading 13 interceptions – 6 by Darren Sharper, who has been playing out of his mind. The Saints offense is a thing of beauty. They have lit up the scoreboard in their last 2 games, Drew Brees is playing like an MVP candidate, and their rushing offense is averaging 154.5 yards per game. Opponents cannot just contain Brees, as both RB’s Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas give the Saints a 1-2 punch out of the backfield that is hard to stop. Both of Brees’ main targets are averaging over 15 yards per reception and the line is doing a great job giving Brees time to hit them with the passes.

The Saints will likely lose at some point, but it shouldn’t be tonight. The Falcons may give the Saints a tough time especially if the defense can pick up the big plays. In the end though, there are just too many options to see the Saints cough one up at home under the lights on Monday Night Football.